Hotel blocks

bridegirl29

I am getting ready to set up room blocks for my OOT guests. Did you call the various hotels to get the quotes and set things up, or did you actually visit the hotels to talk to someone in person? What did people find easier? All the hotels that I am looking at are in the same town that I am living in so it wouldnt be hard to drive to them but I wasnt sure if anyone actually did that. Thanks for your help!

meredithp819

I just called a handul (4-5) hotels that were in the vicinity of our venue and asked for quotes. I also looked at all their websites to get an idea of what they offered and what they looked like. I then picked the cheapest one that appeared the most normal!

choppinbroccoli22

I did that, too. My dad got a better rate on priceline anyway. How annoying.

Shazzie116

I emailed two different places and got one response that was very cut and dry (for an expensive hotel with not so great rooms) and very sweet, personal email from the second with a variety of reasonable room rates. We went with the second, and since then we also have a second option established for accommodations (closer to the venue, same price, but an inn rather than hotel). If I were you I would go with not only who gives the best quote, but also who seems in your gut to be the best to deal with. I don't know if you're doing welcome bags or planning any sort of brunch or anything, but the better rapport you have, hopefully the better they'll treat you and your guests in the process.

jquirke9881

I did not visit, just called... but I was dealing with national hotel chains so i knew the basic quality I was getting.  I also chose to go with the hotel that was easy to work with and friendly... I wanted my guests to have an easy experience. 

anyalee

I strongly suggest you go to get a tour of the hotel!  Unless you've been there before.  There are a bunch near my venue so I went to look at about 6.  Some were much different than they appeared online!  I toured them then called to negotiate rates.  Know that you can negotiate the rate!!  My rooms are normally $159/night.  He first offered me $129.  Then I got him down to $119.  And finally managed to get him down to $99.  It also helped me that my wedding is "off season".

bridegirl29

anyalee... how did you go about asking for a tour? Did you just walk in and tell them you were getting married and were looking for hotels for guests to stay at?

LexiMS

agree with hotelplanner.com, thats whats we did.  You can compare a lot.  When I went to actually look at the hotel, yes, I did get a tour and saw the actual rooms.  I asked to see multiple, I didn't want them to only show me a "nice" room and have people get ugly ones.  However, we only did one hotel, so I felt I really needed to check it out.

killian09

I called like 20 hotels trying to get a good rate (on my city graduation weekend wedding). Then I toured the hotel that gave the best rate b/c I hadn't been inside before and I wanted to make sure it was nice. I was able to negotiate the terms a little bit on the phone. (Got them to throw in extra rooms w/o a guarantee from me that I would cover 80% of the booking if necessary.)

anyalee

bridegirl29- Yes.  Just show up and them them your looking into getting a room block for your wedding and you'd like a tour.  Usually they have different types of rooms they can show you.

bridegirl29

Thanks everyone for all your help and ideas! I will definitely be calling around for the best deals and tour the ones I am really interested in. I want to make sure my OOT of guests are comfortable since many of them will have to fly in for the wedding and all this information is very helpful. Thanks again!

jkepros

I used hotelplanner.com also.  It was good bc I could use the rates quoted on hotels to negotiate at places that  DIDN'T respond to my inquiry--I got one hotel to lower their quote by $80!  We narrowed it down to 3, visited them/met with someone there to get a tour, and then chose 2 (1 "expensive" hotel near our venue, and a budget alternative about 2 miles away, but still T accessible--getting married in Boston).GL!