Hotel Blocks filling up...

casey8784 · March 2014

Back story: Our October wedding is kind of "destination" since it's at least 2 hours away for everyone - including us. We've reserved room blocks at 3 hotels that are walking distance to the downtown areas: 40 rooms at one hotel, 30 at another, and then 10 at a nicer hotel. We included the info on the website as well as the Save-the Dates that we sent out around Thanksgiving. We also emphasized that there will be a convention in town that weekend, as well as other weddings (October is the 2nd or 3rd most popular month for weddings in this city) so guests should book well in advance, especially if they already know that they can come (barring any unforeseen circumstances, of course)...

The "issue": Earlier this week I got a call from the hotel with the 40 room block saying that we will not be able to add any more rooms cause the rest of the hotel is now booked up (we had started with a block of 15 and added in groups of 5 or 10 when needed). The hotel with the 30 room block had told us from the beginning that they could not offer more than the 30 at the discount rate. These 2 hotels have been more "popular" with our guests than the third hotel cause they're rates are about $50-$75 cheaper than the third hotel.

Both of these larger blocks now have less than 10 rooms left, combined. My FMIL thinks that we should contact everyone who has not yet made a reservation, to give them a heads up that the room blocks are almost filled. My mom thinks that we've done more than enough by reserving 3 blocks, and since we also mentioned that there are dozens of bed&breakfasts in the immediate downtown area, and listed some of the nicer inexpensive ones on the website. Also, she's in the mind that especially since we had advised booking early, our guests are grown ups and can figure out finding a place to stay on their own. I feel like a heads up email would be nice so no one gets a surprise if they call and find that there are no more rooms available in the blocks, but at the same time I don't want to feel like we're pressuring them to book "now now now!" since the wedding is still 7 months off...

(for a frame of reference, the number of people/units/families that haven't booked yet could easily equal 50 more hotel rooms if most of the people RSVP 'yes,' which I know is realistically not going to happen...)

bethsmiles · March 2014

You blocked the room and gave your guests the information, that's all you need to do. Your guests are adults, they don't need to you nag them about figuring out travel plans.

AprilH81 · March 2014

Ask the hotels for a pick-up report (which if you aren't aware is a list of people who have booked rooms under the group block).

If there are names of people who you KNOW are coming (say grandparents or siblings) that haven't made a reservation you can reach out to them, but I wouldn't send out an email/message reminding people to book rooms. I would only do that to VIPS.

People are adults and are responsible for their own travel so by and large you should leave it be.

ei34 · March 2014

I'm with your mom- you sent STD's and told your guests that this is a busy weekend. If you feel that a heads up email to guests would be nice than go for it. But really, as long as you'd originally blocked enough rooms to accommodate all of your guests, you're in the clear. Good luck!

phira · March 2014

Yeah, I think you're done. It would have been unrealistic for you to have enough rooms blocked so that EVERY guest could book a room at a discount, so obviously, the early bird gets the worm in this case. People who wait to book their rooms will have to deal with it.

I do feel your pain. We're not having a destination wedding, but we wanted to block some hotel rooms in the city for people who were flying or taking the train in (it's about an hour away from our venue). Naturally, there's a huge medical conference the same weekend, so no hotels would give us a block at a discount.

lyndausvi · March 2014

AprilH81 said:

Ask the hotels for a pick-up report (which if you aren't aware is a list of people who have booked rooms under the group block).

If there are names of people who you KNOW are coming (say grandparents or siblings) that haven't made a reservation you can reach out to them, but I wouldn't send out an email/message reminding people to book rooms. I would only do that to VIPS.

People are adults and are responsible for their own travel so by and large you should leave it be.

This is what I would do also.

climbingsingle · March 2014

I'm with your mom. You've done more than enough.

delujm0 · March 2014

You've done enough...i would check to make sure that your VIPs at least have booked. If not, you can tell them about the situation. But i'd reserve that for immediate family, grandparents, and wedding party menbers only, so that you don't sound like a nag. :-)

cowgirl8238 · March 2014

lyndausvi said:

AprilH81 said:

Ask the hotels for a pick-up report (which if you aren't aware is a list of people who have booked rooms under the group block).

If there are names of people who you KNOW are coming (say grandparents or siblings) that haven't made a reservation you can reach out to them, but I wouldn't send out an email/message reminding people to book rooms. I would only do that to VIPS.

People are adults and are responsible for their own travel so by and large you should leave it be.

This is what I would do also.

Another vote for checking with VIPs

MandyMost · March 2014

I totally agree with the advice given about checking in with VIPs only.

But also, you booked 80 rooms, but if all your guests come to your wedding you estimate you'll need 130 rooms, is that math correct? If I were you, I'd see if you can get some other (complimentary) hotel blocks, even if they're not in ideal locations.

casey8784 · March 2014

MandyMost said:

I totally agree with the advice given about checking in with VIPs only.

But also, you booked 80 rooms, but if all your guests come to your wedding you estimate you'll need 130 rooms, is that math correct? If I were you, I'd see if you can get some other (complimentary) hotel blocks, even if they're not in ideal locations.

Yes, that math is correct. And yea, we going to look into some of the other "larger" hotels that are a few miles away from the downtown area. Wouldn't be as easy to get downtown (the bus system in Newport is kind of sucky from what I remember) but most people who drive will have their cars with them...

phira · March 2014

I've honestly never heard of people blocking enough rooms for EVERY single guest unit, so I don't think it was an etiquette faux pas not to do so. A lot of times, people block rooms at 1-2 hotels in the area, but people are totally free to book somewhere else, or not book at all. I also know plenty of people who wouldn't necessarily have a problem driving 2 hours home from a wedding.

Point is, I don't think the OP did something wrong by not blocking hotel rooms for every single guest.

casey8784 · March 2014

phira said:

I've honestly never heard of people blocking enough rooms for EVERY single guest unit, so I don't think it was an etiquette faux pas not to do so. A lot of times, people block rooms at 1-2 hotels in the area, but people are totally free to book somewhere else, or not book at all. I also know plenty of people who wouldn't necessarily have a problem driving 2 hours home from a wedding.

Point is, I don't think the OP did something wrong by not blocking hotel rooms for every single guest.

Right. At this point, we probably won't do another block somewhere, but just list more alternatives with rough price ranges on the website.

Also going to put to call my mom if anyone has any questions about lodging, but at the same time, like I've (and other PPs) have said, the guests are adults and should be able to book a room on their own...

getaclue44 · March 2014

casey8784 said:

MandyMost said:

I totally agree with the advice given about checking in with VIPs only.

But also, you booked 80 rooms, but if all your guests come to your wedding you estimate you'll need 130 rooms, is that math correct? If I were you, I'd see if you can get some other (complimentary) hotel blocks, even if they're not in ideal locations.

Yes, that math is correct. And yea, we going to look into some of the other "larger" hotels that are a few miles away from the downtown area. Wouldn't be as easy to get downtown (the bus system in Newport is kind of sucky from what I remember) but most people who drive will have their cars with them...

Not sure where you booked but our block was at Newport Beach Hotel and Suites. Right next to Flo's Clam Shack and across for first beach. It was popular because people loved walking the beach and getting their seafood fix.

kiwikiss56 · March 2014

A lot of people don't book hotel rooms until the actual invitations come out. If I was a guest and I called the 3 places you have room blocks for and they were all full I honestly would probably be frustrated. Especially if I was unfamiliar with the area. I would suggest adding some more rooms somewhere even if it is not an ideal location. Even just listing off some other hotels that have vacancies on the website would be helpful.

Agree with others about letting VIPs know the room blocks are filling up!

lc07 · March 2014

Generally, I don't book travel until I receive the actual invitation so I'd be bummed out that the room block was already full far before invitations go out. STDs really just get me thinking about whether or not we can attend your wedding and making it a priority over other events. I don't think that's really your fault that the blocks filled up, I just would be confused if they were already unavailable the same day I received the actual invite.

casey8784 · March 2014

jdandrea said:

MandyMost said:

I totally agree with the advice given about checking in with VIPs only.

But also, you booked 80 rooms, but if all your guests come to your wedding you estimate you'll need 130 rooms, is that math correct? If I were you, I'd see if you can get some other (complimentary) hotel blocks, even if they're not in ideal locations.

Yes, that math is correct. And yea, we going to look into some of the other "larger" hotels that are a few miles away from the downtown area. Wouldn't be as easy to get downtown (the bus system in Newport is kind of sucky from what I remember) but most people who drive will have their cars with them...
Not sure where you booked but our block was at Newport Beach Hotel and Suites. Right next to Flo's Clam Shack and across for first beach. It was popular because people loved walking the beach and getting their seafood fix.

We booked at Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, the Marriott, and Hotel Viking. We were trying to do hotels that were in walking distance of Thames Street and the Bowen's Wharf area, since the majority of our guests are from out of town. Newport Beach Hotel and Suites is a good hotel; I think I'll be giving them a call tomorrow. There are all the hotels out on West Main in Middletown (holiday inn, courtyard marriott, etc), but I was hoping to avoid to having the guests so spread out.

ashleyep · March 2014

lyndausvi said:

AprilH81 said:

Ask the hotels for a pick-up report (which if you aren't aware is a list of people who have booked rooms under the group block).

If there are names of people who you KNOW are coming (say grandparents or siblings) that haven't made a reservation you can reach out to them, but I wouldn't send out an email/message reminding people to book rooms. I would only do that to VIPS.

People are adults and are responsible for their own travel so by and large you should leave it be.

This is what I would do also.

To anyone lurking - if your wedding is at a Hilton, you can use the "Hilton Guest List Manager" online to see the status of your block - who has reserved, etc. It was a pain to set up because their website wasn't working properly, but now I don't have to call or email the hotel, yay!

Hotel Blocks filling up...

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