Reserving a block of hotel rooms for out of town wedding guests is a great gesture on the part of the wedding couple. Not only do wedding guests enjoy discounted room rates, but they also stay in one location rather than all over town.
While most couples know to block rooms, many hesitate when they realize that they may have to place a deposit.
A deposit that can be 10-50% of the total
For example, if you’re looking to block 40 rooms at $100 each, then the total cost of the rooms would be $4000.00. If the required deposit was 30%, then the couple would have to come up with $1200.00.
With wedding budgets as tight as they are, most couples don’t have the wherewithal to put up that kind of money.
What most don’t realize is that they don’t have to put down a deposit
Most couples can (and should) be able to block rooms at any hotel without a deposit. Rather than getting a regular room block, they need to ask for a courtesy room block.
This is the kind of room block where you don’t have to put down a deposit and there is no fees for unused rooms. Having set up over 4000 wedding room blocks, we know that most hotels offer them (they just don’t openly advertise it).
So what’s the catch?
There is no catch. Simply block the rooms online or call the hotel and ask for a courtesy room block. In most cases, the hotel will block 20-30 rooms for you as a courtesy (hence the name). As soon as the block is set up, you can email your guests the information about how to reserve their rooms.
About 30 days before your wedding, any rooms in the block that are not reserved will be resold by the hotel.
Pro Tip: Even if your guests are not sure about coming, have them make the reservations at the hotel anyway. Making the reservation will ensure that the rooms don’t get released by the hotel at the cut-off date. And if your guests decide not to come, they can cancel the reservation anytime within the last 30 days.
So how can you get a room block without having to put up a deposit?
If you already have a hotel in mind, then simply make a phone call to the group sales department and see if they will offer a courtesy room block to you for your given dates. Keep in mind that some hotels will not offer this kind of room block if it is during their peak season.
If you don’t have any hotels in mind, then try getting group rates online. Just fill out this group hotel rates form and hotels will email you their group rates directly. This service is entirely free.
If you are looking to block hotel rooms without a deposit, just copy and paste the following into the “Comments” section of the form:
“We would like to be near [Enter wedding venue name]. We will give preference to the hotel that requires no deposit (Open or courtesy room block). Thank you.”
Once you submit the form with the comments above, you will receive quotes for several hotels near your wedding venue. Just select the hotel that suits your needs and get it booked.
What should you do next?
Booking a hotel for out of town guests does not have to be complicated. Start by getting group rates for hotels.