Blocking hotel rooms?

TBee99

Is this a must? We are having about half of our guests coming from out of state, but some are balking at the prices of shoreline CT in the summer. I'm thinking of just giving them recommended hotels, and letting them pick where they want to stay. Thoughts?

Vanessa630

As long as you don't have to sign a contract and guarantee a certain number of rooms get filled, I don't think it can hurt.  Most places will offer the rooms at a better rate than guests could get by themselves.  Also, it guarantees that rooms will be available (probably up until a month before your wedding). This is especially important on the shoreline in the summer (or if there is another wedding in the area). It was definitely worth it for us.  We provided additional recommendations for cheaper hotels where we didn't have rooms blocked so that guests had a range of options. It was really easy to do this for Mystic since there are so many.

MoonlightSilver

My hotel blocks cost me nothing, ensure there are rooms available for my guest, and give them a cheaper price than they could get outside of the block. I absolutely think they are necessary if you have out of town guests! I booked two hotel blocks, so my guests could have a choice of hotel, and then I also listed a couple of other hotels in the area that had different price ranges, so they had all the options available to them.

calindi

I don't think it hurts.  If they don't like the prices, they can look elsewhere, but like you said - it's the CT shoreline in summer, there might be limited space.  Or prices might skyrocket.  Since you're not locked in, you could just say, "We've blocked rooms at the Hampton Inn, however, here are some other local options:"

Hampton Inn was the cheapest we found, though currently their Priceline quote is going for $25 less than our room block, and my Mom is PISSED! 

We're staying at the Mermaid Inn in Mystic, to have a more private, quiet place to stay. Plus we love B&Bs!  I love the idea of having a nice relaxing breakfast with FI before he becomes my husband!

lfreeman24

I agree with previous posts as long as it doesn't cost you anything I think you should. Its a nice gesture for guests and in some situations can save them a lot of money.

Our block at the HIlton is about $50 cheaper than what hotels.com is quoting it. 

cdbishop

I agree, it offers a discount as you are helping to fill the hotel.  I blocked off rooms at the inn and middletown and it is $50 cheaper than the normal room rate.

TBee99

Hmm...interesting responses. We were only quoted $30 less and we had to sign a contract, which I didn't feel comfortable with (we would be responsible for ALL the rooms even if no one booked there). Is that normal?

lfreeman24

I think its normal to have to sign a contract but not necessarily to have to fill the rooms. For us we were able to block 24 rooms without having to fill them. 25 and we were required to fill. Some hotels definitely do try to make you fill the rooms, but maybe you could shop around to see if there are others that don't? 

ekk120

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_connecticut_blocking-hotel-rooms-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:65Discussion:de1925e6-a608-4f46-a1bf-fa93ca912854Post:751bd7bf-d872-4c8b-bb91-b440c8675178">Re: Blocking hotel rooms?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>Hmm...interesting responses. We were only quoted $30 less and we had to sign a contract, which I didn't feel comfortable with (we would be responsible for ALL the rooms even if no one booked there). Is that normal?</strong>
Posted by TBee99[/QUOTE]

<div>We didnt block our rooms off yet, but I did call around to about 4 different hotels in our area and 3 of them required us to fill the entire block! So unfortunately I do think it can be commonplace for them to do this. But like you I was uncomfortable with it so we havent signed anything just yet.</div><div>
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rswan412

Most of the places I looked at, they said that we are required to fill at least 10 rooms to get the discounted rate. We signed a contract, a month before the leftover rooms are released to the general public, and if we don't fill the rooms, then the rate goes up for the guests. I know I will be filling the rooms, and if we are one room short, I would probably just pay for the one room for one night.

That being said, I think it's awesome to get a block of rooms- that way you know most your guests are in the same place, especially at the shore in CT- they book quick, and the prices could surge unexpectedly.