Many guests attending the class reunion are going to be coming from out of town.
Class reunion planners consider it a best practice to block a group of rooms at a local hotel so classmates can stay together.
In blocking hotel rooms, what you may not know is that hotels offer free rooms based on the total number of rooms reserved (and paid for). Hotels refer to this as the comp ratio.
For example, Let’s say that you blocked 100 total room nights (i.e. 50 rooms for 2 nights etc.) with a comp ratio of 1:20. In this case, if all 100 room nights are reserved and paid for, then the class reunion will be given five room nights for free.
You can use these to pay for the planning committee member’s rooms, honorary guests rooms, or as a gift to classmates that cannot afford the rooms on their own.
How Would You Know Which Hotels Offer A Comp Ratio?
You could try calling hotels individually but that will take a long time to accomplish. The preferred method used by many class reunion planners is the following:
- Fill out this Group Hotel Rates form.
- In the comments section, make sure you add “We are planning a class reunion and would like a hotel for our out of town classmates. The hotel has to be near [Insert school name]. We will give preference to a hotel that offers an attractive comp ratio, a free hospitality suite and no deposit”
- As soon as you submit the form, you will receive group rates for hotels by email. Along with discounted group rates, you will also get details on their comp ratio and any other amenities the hotel is willing to offer. Read “How To Select A Hotel For Your Class Reunion“
- Select which hotels you want to contact and schedule site tours.
What Is A Normal Comp Ratio For A Class Reunion Group?
While there is no “normal” comp ratio, there are certain guidelines that can be followed. Many luxury hotels (4-5 stars) will only offer a 1 in 50 comp ratio. Mid priced hotels (2-3 stars) will generally offer 1:20 or 1:30 as a comp ratio. While the above guidelines are not set in stone, if you are getting anything worse than what is mentioned here, then you should get additional quotes to see what the competition is offering.
Who Gets The Free Hotel Rooms?
Most class reunion planning committees will give the free rooms to the volunteers. The first free room traditionally goes to the reunion chair for having invested the time to organize the event. If there are additional free rooms, they are given on an as needed basis to the members of the planning committee.
In some rare cases, the class reunion planning committee opts to take the “credit” from the hotel in the form of a discount off the banquet bill. Doing this helps everyone since it lowers the total banquet cost for the entire class reunion.
Using the steps above will help you get some free hotel rooms for your class reunion committee members. With all the time that everyone puts into planning the reunion, the reward of a free room is well worth it.
What should you do next?
Get started by filling out our Group Hotel Rates form.