Hotel blocking questions

loanbpham

Hello. So I have a few questions about blocking hotels for OOT guests.1. How far in advance do you do so?2. Do you normally choose just one hotel?3. What is a safe price to book them at? I don't want to choose a dump because it's cheap and obviously not going to choose the Ritz either. I just am not sure what is a happy median for people when they're already paying for the flight here. To some people....$80 is great and to others..it's expensive.  Thanks

StefandTodd

We booked about 8 months ahead of time, chose only one hotel, and it was the Hilton so we thought the $99 price per night was decent (also, in Sacramento proper...right by the fairgrounds during the State Fair, etc). My dad did tell me he was able to get a better rate by booking his plane tickets and rooms in a package deal though, but NO ONE complained the price was too high.

MillerGirl26

We booked our hotel blocks about 8 months out as well. The rooms range from $74-105/night. We offered 1 Queen bed rooms, 2 double bed rooms, and even 2 room suites. I think we got great prices, and everyone has commented on the great rates! We booked blocks at the Marriotts (Courtyard and Residence Inn)

cromero49

Since I haven't been on the ball lately I didn't get room blocks until 4 months out.  I got them at 2 hotels and 1 is $109 and the other is $139.  Hotels have different policies for room blocks though.  One of mine I could do a block of 10 just fine, but any more than 10 and I would be responsible for paying for unbooked rooms if I didn't cancel in time.  The other hotel I am on the hook for all the rooms so I need to make sure I cancel in time if they don't get booked.  Also, for both hotels the rooms must be reserved a month or more in advance to take advantage of the rate.  B/c of this we'll be sending out our invites even earlier than we planned and our website will have this info.

sm23

We did a hotel block about 6-7 months before our wedding. I would've waited longer except guests started asking us about it so I went ahead and did it.You can choose one or more hotels. We decided to just do one (less to think about) but included the names and contact info for other hotels in the area on our web site, in case some of our guests wanted something cheaper or fancier. The hotel we blocked at is pretty nice, but considered mid-price for the area we're getting married at.As far as price, it really depends on your guests and the area you're getting married in. If you're getting married in San Francisco, Napa, Monterey/Carmel, etc. I'd expect hotels to be more expensive. If you're getting married farther out in the suburbs, then it's cheaper... Ours is costing $139 I think. $80 is a damn good deal for a hotel in the bay area. If you have people with varying budgets, you can always do a block at an $80/night hotel, and one at a cheaper one (if you can find it), or just refer them to other options without doing a block.

loanbpham

Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure about the timeline. I wend to hotelplanner.com and they actually gave me a ton of bids on hotels. I found that the Hyatt Place in Fremont will charge $69 on the weekends for the blocked rooms. It looks like a nice hotel and the price is very reasonable.