Wedding Customs & Traditions Forum

Hotel blocks

We have alot of out of town guests.We went to different hotels to compare prices and we have no clue how many hotels to reserve a block at. We were gonna do a lower priced one ($82) and a higher ($109) priced one.Is reserving 2 bad or should we just stick to 1?

Re: Hotel blocks

  • I don't see any problem with reserving two and letting your guests choose.  It's always nice to have options.


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  • As long as you're not responsible for the rooms if no one reserves them, having two shouldn't be a problem. We also reserved a "nicer" and a "more affordable" hotel, thinking our college friends might be more interested in saving a few bucks than our older family members. Options are always nice! Just remember hotel blocks are nice, but not required.. so don't stress out over it :)
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    I think it's nice to give guests a few options at different price points.  Realize that no matter what you block off, you'll still have guests who choose to stay somewhere else because they get reward points or have a free night or whatever, and don't let this bother you:-)   Definitely don't set up a block if you are responsible for paying for any un-used rooms, though!
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  • We're doing one hotel.  There are not a ton of options, this one is about 1/2 mile down the road and the rate is good!  Also, we will be hosting breakfast the following morning at the hotel before the guests leave, so it'll be nice to see everyone off.
  • Theres nothing wrong with that as long as you dont have to cover for any rooms if they are not booked.

    My venue is right in the middle of downtown Toronto so we have a lot of hotel options, a lot of FI's family will be coming from out of town and I have some family coming from overseas but they will probably stay at my parents house or get a hotel too, and I know some people like to spend more than others and others care where they are staying and others done so we have to look at a few options as well probably. 

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  • I just set up our hotel blocks and we are using 2 different hotels. We are doing one that is $109 and one that is $89 specifically for the reason of giving our guests the option of the beachfront hotel vs a more affordable place. We have a lot of out of town guests invited so I thought it was a nice gestures to set up the hotel blocks to get them a better deal than if they would book without a group rate.

    But as others said, just make sure the hotel doesn't charge or any unreserved room.
  • How exactly do you go about blocking off rooms at a hotel?  I dont even know if I should.  I have about 5 couples coming from out of state but 2 out of the 5 are either staying at my house or my parents.  Do hotels have minimums?  Should I think of blocking off maybe 5-7 rooms because our reception is about an hour away for most people and we are having open bar?
  • if you're thinking about reserving a block of rooms, give a call to the reservations department of that hotel and ask to speak to them about options to book a block of rooms.

    room blocks at hotels tend to be used most for large conferences and other events typically being held at that hotel. some wedding planners/brides want to do this for their out of town guests as well, which is generous but not necessary.

    choosing to reserve a block of rooms serves a couple functions.  1.  you tend to get a lower rate b/c you are "bulk buying" the rooms 2.  guests at a common function can stay together. 3.  out of town guests get a pre-vetted hotel option, rather than floundering and trying to find one that will work.

    to get the lowest rate, you'd need to guarantee a certain # of rooms for the date span you're talking about.  the problem with this is that you may be on the hook for un-"picked up" rooms.  be sure to have a good look at the room block contract to make sure that portion of the agreement suits your needs.

    if you do NOT want to be on the hook for rooms that don't get picked-up, you may not get the best rate, but you might get a lower rate, as hotels know that guests will tend to stay at the hotels suggested to them. 

    many people just choose a couple of hotels in their area (one high, one lower rates), put the info on their wedding websites as options, and let guests make their own decisions.    that's what we chose to do, and it worked well.  we also offered to figure out billeting options for guests that were coming from afar, but didn't have enough $$ for hotels.  that was on a personal and ad-hoc basis, but worked well too.
  • I did our blocks at Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. Both blocked 10 rooms a minimum but neither charges if the rooms are not reserved. Both hotels provided a discounted rate from their standard and we do not have to guarantee a certain number of reservations for our guests to receive that rate. Most hotels only provide the special group rate for a certain period of time so that if the rooms aren't reserved they can release the rooms to try to book them.
  • I personally would give my guests the option. I have friends who would prefer the less expensive place and I have other friends who would want the five star hotel. If it's free, why not give them both the option.
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