help! hotel block problems

daniellabelle

this may or may not be the place to post this, but i don't know what to do at this point and i'm hoping you ladies can help me.

despite booking a hotel block for my OOT guests in JANUARY for my wedding next month, for some reason it is not showing up in the hotel's sytem when they are trying to call and reserve rooms. the sales director will NOT call me back - i have been calling her daily for two weeks, plus every 1/2 hour today. 

i am really shocked at this, i picked a hilton hotel thinking they had this kind of thing down pat and there wouldn't be any errors. my invitations have all been printed and mailed with the hotel block informatin on it, which was confirmed with a salesperson before they were printed. that salesperson has since quit/got fired/'left'. i have a lot of family coming from jersey, michigan, iowa, etc., to california (probably 60% of our guest list was OOT). the hotel block was going to make a big difference in whether or not they would be able to come, so not only is this whole ordeal making me look stupid but i'm afraid i'm losing guests because of it.

so what do i do? do i call/e-mail all my OOT guests and recommend a different hotel? offer to reimburse the difference in rate for those who have already booked rooms there? your help is greatly appreciated, i am really stressing over this!

s-aries8990

Is there any way that you can physically visit this hotel?

daniellabelle

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_help-hotel-block-problems?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:3b5cbd4f-1312-418d-af62-22ea1ce6ea29Post:52b1cc3c-cceb-42a2-b0ea-b58d8e97ae33">Re: help! hotel block problems</a>:
[QUOTE]Is there any way that you can physically visit this hotel?
Posted by sydaries[/QUOTE]

<div>i'm going to go there today after work and knock some skulls together. unfortunately i am sure the woman i have been trying to get a hold of will not be there as it will have to be after 5pm :(</div>

achiduck

Was there an expiry date? My hotel block expired 30 days before the wedding so any rooms not booked at that point became available to the general public.

daniellabelle

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_help-hotel-block-problems?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:3b5cbd4f-1312-418d-af62-22ea1ce6ea29Post:4eea701e-eeb5-48be-9fbe-90eb0c36d9e0">Re: help! hotel block problems</a>:
[QUOTE]Was there an expiry date? My hotel block expired 30 days before the wedding so any rooms not booked at that point became available to the general public.
Posted by achiduck[/QUOTE]

<div>i was told by the salesperson who left that the expiry date would be two weeks before the dates i reserved the block for - november 2.</div>

OliveOilsMom

Have you tried to speak with someone other than the sales director, like the manager of the hotel.  I would explain your deep frustrations to someone over the sales director's head.

And PP is right, that some hotel blocks are released about 1 month before the wedding. 

getaclue44

Do you have a contract?? That has been so helpful to me. I would also call around to other hotels to see if they can help you.

SKP82

We had a contract with our room block.  Do you not have any paperwork/correspondence from the hotel?

JoanE2012

Try reaching out to someone else.  Tell them you can't get in contact with the sales director.  Ask them for the name of the sales director's boss. 

On a related note, you do have a contract, right?

courtski2004

When you do get in touch with someone, be sure to get something in writing to confirm your arrangement since it sounds like that didn't happen from the beginning. Hotel sales staff (who typically handle room blocks at larger hotels) have a high turnover rate and I just didn't trust their word that they would honor the given rate, types of rooms, etc. for my large OOT guest count.
I also asked that they include a clause stating that I would not be charged or held liable for any rooms within the block that were not booked, as some hotels will require a card to be placed on file for this type of thing.

Did the hotel guarantee a special rate for your guests?

Sharpschruter22

I am a national sales coordinator for our entire chain of hotels. As PP's have mentioned, do you have a contract? If so, they must abide by it. Sales staff do have high turnover because it's a tough job! Talk to the General Manager when you go to the hotel today and hopefully they will get this figured out for you. They should also change the rate for the guests that have already booked, to the rate you negotiated with the sales mgr. The GM can fix anything, just remember that folks are more willing to help when you are nice about it, rather than going in and demanding the problem be fixed. If they don't help after you being sweet about it, THEN get nasty about it. Good luck!

daniellabelle

thank you for all the suggestions! i did not have a signed contract, but i have all the communications, proposals, and guarantees from the staff saved in my e-mail folder.

i FINALLY reached the manager of the hotel, gave him the evidence, and it appears that he's going to sort it out for me and make sure my guests get the rate i was promised. thanks to y'all i told him i wanted a signed contract and he'll allegedly be emailing it over. we'll see.

DMoore421

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_help-hotel-block-problems?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:3b5cbd4f-1312-418d-af62-22ea1ce6ea29Post:5637a92d-f2a5-4ab5-9934-69d998d66f03">help! hotel block problems</a>:
[QUOTE]this may or may not be the place to post this, but i don't know what to do at this point and i'm hoping you ladies can help me. despite booking a hotel block for my OOT guests in JANUARY for my wedding next month, for some reason it is not showing up in the hotel's sytem when they are trying to call and reserve rooms. the sales director will NOT call me back - i have been calling her daily for two weeks, plus every 1/2 hour today.  i am really shocked at this, i picked a hilton hotel thinking they had this kind of thing down pat and there wouldn't be any errors. my invitations have all been printed and mailed with the hotel block informatin on it, which was confirmed with a salesperson before they were printed. that salesperson has since quit/got fired/'left'. i have a lot of family coming from jersey, michigan, iowa, etc., to california (probably 60% of our guest list was OOT). the hotel block was going to make a big difference in whether or not they would be able to come, so not only is this whole ordeal making me look stupid but i'm afraid i'm losing guests because of it. so what do i do? do i call/e-mail all my OOT guests and recommend a different hotel? offer to reimburse the difference in rate for those who have already booked rooms there? your help is greatly appreciated, i am really stressing over this!
Posted by daniellabelle[/QUOTE]



do you have your contract with hotel block info in it?   I know I already have my block for my wedding next september - but 1 month out they will release any un spoken for rooms ... if you are inside the 1 month - the block may have already been released -(my hotel isn't a hitlon so i am not sure what the specifics of your block were )