Room block rates

Our hotel block rate was $119. When we blocked it (1 year out) you could get a room that same weekend for $109 if you did the nonrefundable pay up front Marriott option. But our rate included free wifi, they would hand out a welcome bag to each guest (that we made), and that rate would stay $119 throughout the year. Closer to our wedding, the whole hotel was basically booked and rates per night were $170 for Friday and $200+ for Thursday. I don't think it hurts to mention it's for a wedding. We got all 3 nights for free since we filled our block all 3 nights.

Most hotels know if you're blocking rooms for a wedding, most couples are looking for a courtesy block, where you're not financially responsible for the number of rooms you don't pick up that you told them you would, which is why they may not offer a great discount.

However, if you are signing a contract and saying that you are guaranteeing X number of rooms, they should offer a group discount as well as additional concessions, which I highly suggest you negotiate at the time of contracting.

Even if you don't mention wedding right away, a sales manager will ask you several questions which will eventually lead to them knowing its for a wedding or at the very least a social event.

Yes, I agree with Future Mrs D. It may not look like much of a deal now, but 9 months from now, when your guests are booking their rooms, it will be cheaper than the normal rate if they were to just book on their own.

My brother is dealing with this now. He's getting married in November in San Diego. The rooms he got blocked are $184 per night. That's kind of expensive. But the hotel told him that if he didn't get a room block, the rates for those same rooms would be $220 per night. So, I guess it's a deal, relatively speaking! lol You've just got to think about it long term.

When we blocked a small numbers of rooms at the Hyatt where we got married, they offered a slightly discounted rate from what you could find online. The thing is, that guaranteed that our rate was locked in all the way up to the wedding date. For those who were looking for the same room that weekend outside our block, the rate had increased to over double the nightly rate and then sold out.

Thank you everyone! I honestly hadn't considered what the cost would be as the date neared until you guys mentioned it. Considering it's a fairly popular destination in the summer, I could see the rates increasing significantly as the summer nears. Thanks everyone for putting things in to perspective for me! I feel much better 😊

To add one extra point. The room block also ensures that ur party has “x” amount rooms reserved, which is great especially if ur hotel gets totally booked. Our hotel is hosting 3x weddings the same weekend as ours & is totally booked. Thankfully we have the room block & still have about 5 rooms left.

Air Bnb are great!!!

Our room block rate at the SpringHill Suites is $109. If guests do the non-refundable pay ahead option, it's $104. The regular rate is $129. Our hotel is in the middle of a downtown area so I know they'll be more expensive closer to the wedding!

We just met with a lady at the Courtyard Marriott this weekend to discuss rates, its about $20.00 less per night for the guests. I am glad we started looking into this early on though because what we didn't know was that a huge soccer tournament comes in to month of our wedding and the hotel will usually get sold out. So I definitely think its worth getting the block. You never know what will be happening that weekend. I also did a link to AirBNB on our website to give guests another option.