Help!! Block of hotel rooms?

ehighley

Hi ladies. I am in a bit of a bind.

We have booked a block of rooms for our wedding at the new Hyatt Place/OSU in Grandview Yard. However, we haven't even sent out our invites yet and the block is already almost 1/3 full! I am now concerned we are not going to have nearly enough rooms, and the hotel is sold out that weekend (April 29-May 1) and cannot add any rooms to our block.

I have been calling virtually every hotel around trying to find somewhere that:
1. Has rooms open on April 29 and April 30.
2. Would allow us to reserve a block of 8-12 rooms for each night (without making us sign a contract, hopefully).
3. Is within a 5-10 minute drive of downtown.

Any ideas?! Any contacts that you would be able to suggest I reach out to?

TIA!!

nnoble4

you can go to experiencecolumbus, they actually have someone that will send something to each hotel in the area you want and they will bid for your event. you'll set a deadline, and all the hotels will have until then to respond, then you have time to make a decision.

EmDizzle

Folks at the downtown Drury were SO nice... same with the folks for the national phone call center that I actually talked to frequently as that's who I set it up with.  Our wedding was the weekend of the Columbus Marathon (!) and every other hotel practically laughed at me then hung up >:(  even though I was calling over a year in advance!  But the folks at the Drury were ready to do whatever they could.  And they gave us a great rate ($90/night) for downtown.  I got rave reviews from guests too.

That said, I was actually in the same boat... about 1/3 the guests had booked rooms (as I started spreading word early on) before invites went out and I was in a panic too - did I need more rooms?!
I ended up getting 10 more rooms added on to our block (somehow?!), but we ended up never needing them.   You've just got a lot of smart planners on your guest list, but you'll probably be okay in the end.   But it is stressful and trying to secure a small block of rooms won't hurt. 

KellyRVT

Holiday Inn Express on Olentangy. Brand new, very nice and I am sure they will accommodate you. 

nnoble4

random question: how do you know how many people have booked up rooms?

EmDizzle

Usually when you set up a block, hopefully your guests referenced the block when the set up the reservation (the incentive to mentioning it is likely a good rate).  The hotel keeps track of this, and I think the Drury emailed me an updated list monthly of the names holding reservations on our block, and I requested a list a couple times (like within the two weeks before the block expired).  It was nice being able to make sure at least the folks I knew needed rooms had them booked before the block expired (I did send a few texts and emails out that week). 

ehighley

Thanks, ladies!! I really appreciate the help. I actually came across two nice places this afternoon that would allow me to book a courtesy (non-contracted) block of 10 rooms the weekend of my wedding - the Westin downtown and the Embassy Suites at the airport. I went ahead and held the rooms at both places so that my guests will have options if indeed our block at the Hyatt Place fills up.

Em - Thanks for the words of wisdom! I think I may just be a little overly worried for nothing. You're right - some of our guests probably just like to plan ahead. We'll probably be fine! But I feel a lot better now that we have back-up options.

nnoble - Like Em said, the hotel does track the names of everyone who books in your block of rooms. They are keeping me updated on how many rooms have been booked and can tell me who booked the rooms. Its nice info to know!

And just a word of advice for anyone who has not yet booked a block of rooms for their wedding. Its never to early to do so, especially if your wedding is downtown!! We started looking 10 months out (last July!), and nearly every hotel within a five mile radius of downtown was already sold out because of two large conventions that weekend. Thank goodness the Hyatt Place hadn't opened yet and was able to do a block for us, because I'm not sure we would have gotten a large enough block otherwise!

MissOwl

i second the drury! awesome prices, fantastic location, nice room.