Hotel Blocking Etiquette

AlexaF2014 · May 2014

I've been to two weddings where a significant number of guests were from OOT. One wedding blocked rooms at a hotel for guests and the other didn't. The wedding with blocked rooms made it easy to find a hotel at a decent rate, but turns out the hotel was a 45 minute drive from the ceremony/reception (both in the middle of nowhere). The wedding without blocked rooms left us with a difficult time finding a hotel that was in our price range, but we ended up getting a nice one about a 10 minute drive from the ceremony/reception.

Our wedding will be mostly OOT guests, and I'm wondering if it's etiquette to block hotel rooms, or if it's just a courtesy.

mysticl · May 2014

It's a courtesy. I listed about 10 hotels close to my wedding venue on our website and only 2 people used one of them. We got married in a beach town (because we lived there) so several people opted to book at the beach even though it wasn't really close to the venue. I had guests who booked at certain hotels because they had that hotel's rewards plan.

syoun1nj · May 2014

It's a courtesy, but I prefer it because it often gets guests a discount and (hopefully) the couple chooses a hotel that is convenient to the venue so I don't have to guess.

It's also free for the couple to block rooms so I don't really understand why people don't do it. If a guest doesn't like the hotel choice they are still free to choose another. Even when a wedding is local I often like to get a hotel so I can party and not worry about driving.

mysticl · May 2014

syoun1nj said:

It's a courtesy, but I prefer it because it often gets guests a discount and (hopefully) the couple chooses a hotel that is convenient to the venue so I don't have to guess.

It's also free for the couple to block rooms so I don't really understand why people don't do it. If a guest doesn't like the hotel choice they are still free to choose another. Even when a wedding is local I often like to get a hotel so I can party and not worry about driving.

In some situations the couple can be on the hook for any rooms that aren't booked.

Gizmo813 · May 2014

We did this too. Of course, my mother had a problem with it, because we only blocked rooms at ONE hotel instead of TWO at two different price points, because etiquette. My response to her: 1. It's a courtesy. 2. The room wasn't outrageously expensive to begin with ($100 a night .. which, for where I am is pretty good.) 3. If it's too expensive for some guests, they are more than welcome (said in the nicest way possible) to research other hotels in the area. Nobody is forcing them to stay at the one we blocked rooms in.

HisGirlFriday13 · May 2014

It's a courtesy, but etiquette is fundamentally about being courteous to your guests.

We blocked rooms at two hotels; one less than five miles from the reception venue and one about eight miles away. The further away one was cheaper (Holiday Inn Express), and the closet one was a little pricier (Candlewood Suites.)

Not all of our guests used them, but most who stayed overnight did use them.

Some of our guests went online and discovered that there were other hotel chains in the area and used those chains because they got points there.

Because we were getting married in my relatively small, middle of nowhere hometown, it was important to me to have a hotel block near the reception venue so people didn't have to travel that far.

From hotel to church to venue to hotel again, roundtrip, would have been about 30 minutes and 15 miles.

Creating a hotel block doesn't mean guests HAVE to use those hotels, but it's a nice option for them.

PennyBlossom2311 · May 2014

We ended up blocking rooms at only one hotel. It was the bed and breakfast where the ceremony and reception would be taking place. We also covered the accommodations on the night of the wedding. Over half of our guest have taken us up on it. It's a courtesy but with it being a destination wedding, we didn't want a hotel stay to be the reason some couldn't attend. Idk you don't have to block rooms but I have appreciated in the past, especially if I am unfamiliar with the area.

smalfrie19 · May 2014

Thankfully, a majority of my guests are local, but I do have a handful of OOT guests. Fortunately, the closest hotel is less than half a mile from the venue, so people who are OOT and are staying there don't have to drive (if they don't feel like it) and its harder for them to get lost.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2014

I would block the rooms. You may need to call around a bit for one where you're not responsible for unbooked rooms. Negotiate for the best price, maybe even get breakfast thrown in.

casey8784 · May 2014

I blocked rooms at 3 hotels that were different prices points. All of our guests, except for my parents, are OOT, and just over 1/2 are using them (so far). On our website I also listed a bunch of local bed & breakfasts in the area, and I think a few guests decided to go that route instead. Only one of the room blocks (the most expensive one) is going to make us pay for the left over rooms at the end. The other two, we were able to negotiate that "fee" away since our blocks are pretty large.

emmyg65 · May 2014

Another reason to reserve a block is that having your guests in one place makes it easier to have an after party. That's the main reason we did it. Plus 80% of our guests were out of town.

OwningAHome1981 · May 2014

mysticl said:

syoun1nj said:

It's a courtesy, but I prefer it because it often gets guests a discount and (hopefully) the couple chooses a hotel that is convenient to the venue so I don't have to guess.

It's also free for the couple to block rooms so I don't really understand why people don't do it. If a guest doesn't like the hotel choice they are still free to choose another. Even when a wedding is local I often like to get a hotel so I can party and not worry about driving.

In some situations the couple can be on the hook for any rooms that aren't booked.

Correct. Some hotels make you fill a certain % of the rooms. Otherwise you are responsible for what doesn't get filled.

It is maybe a good idea to get a sense ahead of time who would stay. We assumed most OOTers would stay. We asked the BP and many friends and family if they were planning on getting a hotel or just going home. Then we booked a number of rooms in a block based on who told us they'd likely stay.

phira · May 2014

It's not required for good etiquette, but it's a nice thing to do. I recommend only blocking at hotels that let you do it for free. Typically, when that's the case, guests need to book their rooms "early" (our hotels require 5 weeks and 3 weeks each); after the deadline, the hotel releases the rooms from the block so that non-guests can book them. That way, they don't lose out on filling those rooms.

mysticl · May 2014

I did find one hotel that wouldn't do a block. Instead they would do a discount for anyone coming to the wedding but they wouldn't hold any rooms waiting for guests to book. If they got booked up with other people then so be it. However, to get that perk we had to hold the reception there and it was too expensive for us.

FizzySips · May 2014

It is a courtesy, but can also serve to steer your guests away from staying in any specific areas of town you think they should avoid.

lyndausvi · May 2014

For most people it's a courtesy. For a small amount of people it's almost a necessity. I know couples who got married during a special event weekend in their towns. Without the block there would have been no way for guests to get a room.

If you have a lot of OOT people I think it's always a good idea. People are more apt to hang out together if they are at or near the hotel with the block. Or at least that is the way it works in my social group. Not saying you have to hangout with other wedding guests. It's just seems to happen.

AlexaF2014 · May 2014

My thought process was that blocking a hotel is a way of giving a good idea of where the ceremony/reception is, what hotel is good/is in a good part of town, and hopefully getting a lower price for guests.

Guests are adults though, and are in no way obligated to use the hotel just because it is blocked (ie if they can get a better deal on hotels.com or hotwire, or if they use a certain hotel chain for points). I'm blocking hotels for my guests. Part of me was wondering if I was wrong for being a little tiffed that one wedding didn't block rooms or if I should get over it.

indianaalum · May 2014

When you book a block, also check on whether hotel has free shuttle. THAT comes in extremely handy.

I agree with PP who said "don't book, unless it is free" with the amount of hotels out there, I would never pick a hotel that made you pay if you didn't book them all.

My hotel gave us a free shuttle,

Our room free if so many rooms got booked

and discounts for all the room

Look around and see what they have to offer

SomethingBeautiful08 · May 2014

My other advice on blocking, if you chose to, would be to start the process early. I probably would have gotten a block of rooms if I had started earlier. As soon as the date, and location are set in stone and as soon as the guest list is close enough to get a good idea of how many rooms to block, start calling around to local hotels to see what their options are. As them how busy they expect to be on your weekend and what their blocking options are. It might take a few hours on the phone, but it should be worth it to have some options.

missnc77 · May 2014

syoun1nj said:

It's also free for the couple to block rooms so I don't really understand why people don't do it.

Yeah, no. It's not always free. We're on the hook for 50% of the rooms if less than 50% get booked.

syoun1nj · May 2014

missnc77 said:

syoun1nj said:

It's also free for the couple to block rooms so I don't really understand why people don't do it.

Yeah, no. It's not always free. We're on the hook for 50% of the rooms if less than 50% get booked.

Yes, I should have clarified: don't use a hotel that isn't free.

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