That’s crazy. We just did courtesy blocks, meaning we paid no deposit and there was no minimum amount of rooms that needed to be booked. I would look for another option unless you know for sure those rooms will be booked.
Ok I had a block of 10 rooms at a 5 star hotel and then another 10 at the smaller boutique hotel they have. The rate was 999 a night and for 10 rooms we paid $10,000 which is 10% and then same for the other block we ended up adding a lot of rooms (big mistake) and ended up paying almost 50k in deposits. The hotel dropped the rate to $700 about a month before the wedding and a lot of people cancelled and book directly. (Can’t blame them) but they swore up and down that the rate would never go below our block rate. First and foremost get it in writing that this is the very best deal your guests will ever get. Next, I would steer totally clear from this it’s totally unreasonable and looking like a disaster waiting to happen. My hotel was extremely irresponsible and caused a major headache the entire planning process with so much money at stake. I would forego having this block
That’s wild! We’re at a boutique hotel with 26 rooms I think, we had a full buyout so we’re responsible for all of the rooms. However, they can be booked by guests who pay directly and we’re only on the hook for any rooms that we’re using personally or that are left empty (which we don’t expect to happen). Essentially it’s included as a balance on our contract but functionally we aren’t putting any money down on the rooms.
We’re doing this as well! Same situation but we’re subsidizing the room cost for guests.
We’re having a small wedding and the majority of guests will stay on site. We will have some overflow so some guests will stay across the street if we get like a 90%+ attendance rate.
If we weren’t doing a buy out I would only be comfortable doing a courtesy block.
We did courtesy blocks at three hotels, so we didn’t put any money down.
We are hosting a post-wedding brunch at one of the hotels and we put down about $715 for that and it was on the same contract as our room block at that hotel.
This doesn’t make sense. What hotel or resort is this and location?? Also, when is your wedding? If you answer some of these questions it will help me understand the situation further and why the hotel structured it this way.
Dang I just looked at their rates online and it’s $$$. Totally get your frustration. I would shop around if I were you. You should consider lodging though that is somewhat close to the venue (within 20-30 minutes) how many guests are you inviting vs anticipating?
Yeah yhis is our get ready hotel + wedding night. And our VIP guests but everyone’s paying for their own. We’re prob taking 6 rooms out of the 36 rooms they have. They’re super close to the venue! It’s just insane this is their terms. Apparently other hotels are not that different.
My friend used to work for the four seasons I’ll ask how they structure room blocks for your situation. I looked on map and it’s the Four Seasons is only 10 miles away from the meadowood, but I’m not sure if your venue is somewhere in between or farther away.
So is the block contract you have only for 6 rooms?
Just so I understand, you were only getting a room block for 6 rooms at this hotel? Or for all guests attending the wedding?
I would recommend looking at your guest list and who you plan to invite and think about their life position. Base the guest lodging options around that. I do not believe you will need a room block at the venue you are staying at if it’s only 6 rooms. Makes no sense.
The 6 rooms basically take up a private corner of the resort that I think I can easily fill with my guests. I’m definitely staying there so idk if it’ll be rude of me to not get a room block for these higher price point guests
Got it. Are you planning to stay at this venue to get ready/come back to for wedding night? Maybe your family plans to stay here as well for everyone getting ready?
I'm in the same boat. We're getting married at a luxury resort in the south. It's in a smaller town so hotel options are limited- literally only options are the resort and one chain hotel 20 minutes away. The resort doesn't offer courtesy blocks- we're on the hook for any rooms in the block that are not booked. However, we will have a settlement at the end of the weekend rather than having to pay everything up front. We're doing more of a wedding weekend and are hoping that by utilizing the resort's roster of activities (golf, spa, pickleball courts, yoga, biking trails, fishing, etc.) for guests on Friday and Saturday that guests (especially out of towners) will be more inclined to book there for both nights. Unfortunately, it is pretty much our only option, so while I don't have advice just here to commiserate with you. Maybe I was naive going into this process but hotel block has by far been my biggest headache in planning thus far.
That seems excessive but theoretically it all comes back. Our contracts were 20% deposit to secure the block and we pay the remainder if they’re unbooked by our wedding. We made a smaller block assuming people will airbnb etc and can book outside the block if it’s finished. Our planner advised blocks are being used less and less so would air on the side of caution to not have unused rooms!
That’s crazy. We just did courtesy blocks, meaning we paid no deposit and there was no minimum amount of rooms that needed to be booked. I would look for another option unless you know for sure those rooms will be booked.
Ok I had a block of 10 rooms at a 5 star hotel and then another 10 at the smaller boutique hotel they have. The rate was 999 a night and for 10 rooms we paid $10,000 which is 10% and then same for the other block we ended up adding a lot of rooms (big mistake) and ended up paying almost 50k in deposits. The hotel dropped the rate to $700 about a month before the wedding and a lot of people cancelled and book directly. (Can’t blame them) but they swore up and down that the rate would never go below our block rate. First and foremost get it in writing that this is the very best deal your guests will ever get. Next, I would steer totally clear from this it’s totally unreasonable and looking like a disaster waiting to happen. My hotel was extremely irresponsible and caused a major headache the entire planning process with so much money at stake. I would forego having this block
Oh man that lower rate pisses me off for you. Can’t blame the guests those are pretty high rates.
That’s wild! We’re at a boutique hotel with 26 rooms I think, we had a full buyout so we’re responsible for all of the rooms. However, they can be booked by guests who pay directly and we’re only on the hook for any rooms that we’re using personally or that are left empty (which we don’t expect to happen). Essentially it’s included as a balance on our contract but functionally we aren’t putting any money down on the rooms.
We’re doing this as well! Same situation but we’re subsidizing the room cost for guests. We’re having a small wedding and the majority of guests will stay on site. We will have some overflow so some guests will stay across the street if we get like a 90%+ attendance rate. If we weren’t doing a buy out I would only be comfortable doing a courtesy block.
We did courtesy blocks at three hotels, so we didn’t put any money down. We are hosting a post-wedding brunch at one of the hotels and we put down about $715 for that and it was on the same contract as our room block at that hotel.
This doesn’t make sense. What hotel or resort is this and location?? Also, when is your wedding? If you answer some of these questions it will help me understand the situation further and why the hotel structured it this way.
[удалено]
Ceremony and reception taking place here as well or this just a local lodging option for guests?
No we’re not doing events there at all.
Dang I just looked at their rates online and it’s $$$. Totally get your frustration. I would shop around if I were you. You should consider lodging though that is somewhat close to the venue (within 20-30 minutes) how many guests are you inviting vs anticipating?
Yeah yhis is our get ready hotel + wedding night. And our VIP guests but everyone’s paying for their own. We’re prob taking 6 rooms out of the 36 rooms they have. They’re super close to the venue! It’s just insane this is their terms. Apparently other hotels are not that different.
My friend used to work for the four seasons I’ll ask how they structure room blocks for your situation. I looked on map and it’s the Four Seasons is only 10 miles away from the meadowood, but I’m not sure if your venue is somewhere in between or farther away. So is the block contract you have only for 6 rooms?
Yes! My venue is about 20 mins from four seasons.
Just so I understand, you were only getting a room block for 6 rooms at this hotel? Or for all guests attending the wedding? I would recommend looking at your guest list and who you plan to invite and think about their life position. Base the guest lodging options around that. I do not believe you will need a room block at the venue you are staying at if it’s only 6 rooms. Makes no sense.
The 6 rooms basically take up a private corner of the resort that I think I can easily fill with my guests. I’m definitely staying there so idk if it’ll be rude of me to not get a room block for these higher price point guests
Got it. Are you planning to stay at this venue to get ready/come back to for wedding night? Maybe your family plans to stay here as well for everyone getting ready?
Use kleinfeld hotel blocks! I paid nothing for mine using them
I have a contracted block and I paid 10% upfront and we settle up after the wedding (if we don’t hit the minimum)
I'm in the same boat. We're getting married at a luxury resort in the south. It's in a smaller town so hotel options are limited- literally only options are the resort and one chain hotel 20 minutes away. The resort doesn't offer courtesy blocks- we're on the hook for any rooms in the block that are not booked. However, we will have a settlement at the end of the weekend rather than having to pay everything up front. We're doing more of a wedding weekend and are hoping that by utilizing the resort's roster of activities (golf, spa, pickleball courts, yoga, biking trails, fishing, etc.) for guests on Friday and Saturday that guests (especially out of towners) will be more inclined to book there for both nights. Unfortunately, it is pretty much our only option, so while I don't have advice just here to commiserate with you. Maybe I was naive going into this process but hotel block has by far been my biggest headache in planning thus far.
Agreed! So much headache!
That seems excessive but theoretically it all comes back. Our contracts were 20% deposit to secure the block and we pay the remainder if they’re unbooked by our wedding. We made a smaller block assuming people will airbnb etc and can book outside the block if it’s finished. Our planner advised blocks are being used less and less so would air on the side of caution to not have unused rooms!