Downtown Hotel Room Blocks for Wedding Guests Cost a Fortune
Posted on June 29, 2007 by Her and tagged wedding
This week I set out to try to arrange a hotel room block for our out-of-town wedding guests. I called many of the nicer hotels in downtown Chicago to ask for information and was shocked by the answers I got. Here we are, sending lots of potential customers to a particular hotel, and the hotels want to thank us...by charging us a fortune in "food and beverage minimums." Almost all the hotels I spoke with wanted us to sign a contract agreeing to spend a minimum between $500 and $2,000 on a "catered event" at the hotel, just for the privilege of reserving the room block! The managers cheerfully explained that this won't be a problem of we host our rehearsal dinner or farewell brunch at the hotel. But we already have a special place chosen for each of these events, and it's not at a hotel. I don't think I should have to pay a hotel for sending it customers. We decided we'll just send our guests a list of recommended hotels and their prices and let guests book their own accommodations. They'll probably be able to find these rooms at cheaper prices online anyway.
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kris | Jun 29, 2007
That's insane! Good decision on your part to place it in the hands of your guests.
Sarah | Jun 29, 2007
Did you say it was for a wedding? Try family reunion next time... they always try and gouge you when you mention the word wedding.
If you're not going to book any blocks, make sure you check the calendar for any big events - baseball, seminars, conference, etc. They can jack up the prices of rooms and also decrease the availability pretty quick.
1five9 | Jun 29, 2007
We used the Hilton Garden Inn on State and Grand. They had no minimums, but then we got married in January in a slow weekend so they were probably quite happy to fill the rooms. But if you haven't checked them out, please do. They were the nicest people to deal with when we were shopping for a room block.
MVW | Jun 29, 2007
I agree, that's total crap. Screw 'em (the hotels) and let your guests find their own accomodations (with your help, if needed). Our hotels, on the other hand, offered a discounted price if our guests reserved by a certain date (but it was in November, typically a slow event month). If it makes you feel any better, we had the reception AND the brunch at the hotel AND many of our guests stayed there - and they still managed to screw us in strange ways! I'm not sure there's any way around it. They do this for a living - you're just doing it once.
Frugal Homemaker | Jun 29, 2007
We just gave a list of hotels in the area, and did not even try to do a block of rooms. I almost never stay at the hotel the bride/groom have a block of rooms at, because I can almost always find a hotel much, MUCH cheaper. You did the right thing!
Wow, that's crazy. I am planning a wedding too, for October, so I understand the stress you are going through. We've booked 2 hotels and our letting our guests choose. If they don't want to stay in either of those, they need to search for their own. I have someone who wants me to try to find "dog friendly" hotels. I am going to send them a link to a website I found that lists those. I don't have time to do the running around for that too!
Perhaps that's just a big city thing. I booked a block of rooms at a hotel for my wedding and we did not have any of the wedding events there.
Gigi | Jul 2, 2007
I just reserved a block of 20 rooms in the burbs and she said that if it was more, we would have to do some kind of deposit or hold or guarentee. Must be a certain quantity.
That is crazy. You might want to try locally managed hotels, if you can find one. The big chains like Sheraton or Hilton have set policies on these things. You can bargain with the little guys.
However, letting people find their own rooms is probably the best way to go.
Allum | Jul 3, 2007
Try again but be sure not to mention why you need the rooms and also have HIM call and see if he gets a different answer. I've blocked off rooms in hotels for family reunions and never experienced that..but i was always sure not to tell them exactly why. When you say 'wedding' they hear 'money'. so, they try to get you w/everything.
They should offer a group discount. Most other places do.
BD | Jul 10, 2007
That's ridiculous. I negotiate rooms for a group of business travelers and I can't remember ever hearing there's a food or beverage minimum for blocking out rooms, in any city, for any month. Try having someone else call back and not mention a wedding, and see what happens. Also mention the total number of room nights you'll need (if there are 20 rooms each for three days, that's 60 room nights) and do your research online to see what the hotel's best published rate is for the dates you're looking at. You ought to be able to get 20% off of that easily. Just say it's for a family gathering.
mary | Jul 16, 2007
the weekend after Thanksgiving in Chicago there are NO rooms (or rooms as vastly inflated prices) due to the RSNA convention (the largest medical convention in the world). It lasts that entire week after Thanksgiving. Make sure that you see what conventions are there at the time of your wedding and that people plan accordingly. Rooms are booked by large corporations years in advance for RSNA.
chitowngirl | Jun 29, 2007
Totally ridiculous!
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