Room Block dilemma

sms274

I just got a price estimate on our room black at the Arizona Grand and I can't believe it. After their resort fee (not including tax) our guests rooms will be $180 dollars each! That just seems so outrageous to me. We are spending a significant amount of money on food and bar and will have several out of town guests (almost a third of the 200 people) so I can't believe they want so much per room from our guests. I have looked into hotels near by but I REALLY don't want my guests staying at the hotels on Baseline across from AZ Mills, so many have no idea about the area and I would feel awful having them there. I did find a hotel about 2 miles or so away that are either 60 or 80 a night (I don't remember exactly). I am tempted to put that as the only option for rooms but feel that I should include the resort since the wedding is there and some guests won't care about price. Plus then I would feel obligated to provide transportation form the wedding to the hotel I put on the invite which isn't a huge deal, jsut one more thing to worry about and kind of inconvenient seeing as I wanted a venue in a hotel/resort because of the convenience of the rooms, but it completely backfired on me. I even asked my event manager there about the room rates and she said that she thought they would be around $90 before the $30 resort fee) had I known it would be so much more I would have gone with a different venue.What do you girls think? What are you doing about room blocks/transportation?

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

What is the regular price per night for that weekend?  When you do a block of rooms they can only lower the rate so much.  I used to work in sales at a Scottsdale resort and there is just only so much they can do without going below their profit line.  IMO $180 a night for that resort does not sound to bad, it is a really nice resort!  I bet most of your guests will want to stay there and will not think it is such a bad price, especially if they are coming from other big cities.I am getting married at Troon North and the closest hotel is the Four Seasons, and that is $525 per night!  So what I did was put on our wedding website that hotel, since it is the closest to the venue, plus another more reasonable hotel, which is a Residence Inn by Marriott for $109 per night.  If I had the option to spend $109 for a hotel like Residence Inn or $180 for the Arizona Grand, I would not even hesitate to pay $70 more for such a nice place, especially if that is where the actual wedding was!I think you should give your guests two options, the Arizona Grand since it is the most convenient, and another more reasonable place.  You can do more than one room block, you are not responsible for the rooms if they do not get booked, so it does not hurt to have room blocks at two hotels.

nde99

When is your wedding? I came across the same problem because we are getting married in March in North Scottsdale. I ended up finding Xona Resort, which is right next to the Princess and they are giving us an amazing deal. They are even providing free transportation to and from the wedding for our guests using their 3 hotel buses. I would contact those other hotels and see if they would do the same for you. FI's parents are hosting a happy hour the day before the wedding at Xona (we are doing our RD on Thursday) and because of that they have taken $150 off of their 2 bedroom suite. With all of the $$ you're spending at Grand, they should be more willing to work with you. I think it is worth the time to look into other places. Even if you don't book w/ those other hotels, you could bring that information back to AZ Grand and they might match the offer. Businesses never want their profits to go elsewhere! If you do go with another hotel, I would still keep Grand on your list of accommodations as some will want to stay there, regardless of price.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

I just re-read that you said the event manager told you a price, did she happen to tell you that price in an e-mail?  Regardless, I would talk to the Director of Operations and explain what you were told, even if it is below their profit line they can make it happen.  There is no reason that an event manager should not know the exact price of rooms, or at least a close range.  I had a chart on my desk that said the exact price that I could quote my clients for any given day and any room type.  A good resort (which they are) will honor something that one of their employees said, regardless of how it affects their bottom line!

sms274

Thanks ladies, rates are $210 regularly not including tax. I do not have the price she quoted in an email but I did write it down I believe when she told me while I was visiting the site prior to signing a contract. My wedding is in May - we are actually having it the weekend before memorial day so the water park that is there won't even be in it's summer season yet. I just feel like they could do much better as we will have a minimum of 30 rooms being booked - more likely 60 rooms when all is said and done.I know that it's really not that much for such a nice resort but I feel if Sheraton Wild Horse Pass can offer closer to $99 a room per night they should be able to compete.I have looked into other accommodations near by (which arent resorts but still nice) and found one that will be fine to provide but I believe both AZ Grand and this place require that you sign something saying you will pay for any unpurchased room under the 10 minimum and if our guests do opt out of the AZ Grand I certainly do not want to be held responsible for paying for all of those.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

I do think you should talk to the Director of Operations, or the General Manager.  Explain what you were told and see what they can do for you!  They should at the very least give you a slightly better rate.  Good luck!

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

Oh, and no resort should ever hold you responsible for rooms your guests do not book!!!!  I worked in hotels for years and have never heard of a resort doing this.  Resorts have cancellation policies, most allow you to cancel 24 hour prior, some 72 hours, but regardless you have the right to cancel. This is the risk a hotel takes, they may not sell out if people do not keep the rooms they say they will.  Usually how a room block works is they reserve a certain number of rooms up to a certain point, after that they release the rooms so they have the chance to book them with regular guests.  I would not sign anything that held you responsible for paying for these rooms!!!