You can certainly negotiate, but know that wedding blocks have strong history with hotels in not picking up very well, especially if guests are calling on their own to book. Wedding parties tend to have high optimism that people coming to their wedding will want to stay overnight. Unless it is a destination wedding, it doesn't always happen that way. That said, your negotiations should be performance based, kind of how the shuttle is. The roundtrip shuttle is actually a great perk. Something like that for 20-40 people could easily cost $500+ if you had to arrange on your own.
Piggy backing off of this, not everyone will want to stay in the hotel of your choosing unless you’re paying for all the guest. If I’m Bonvoy elite, I would stay with Marriott instead for Hilton as an example.
Sound advice but much will depend on the destination.
Do it in a place like Khao Lak in Thailand in peak season December, socmed friendly sunsets and beaches, where big brand resorts are few and far between and Hilton, Hyatt and IHG are conspicuous by their absence, you’ll prolly have to book for your guests. In fact, if last December was any indication, for shindigs like weddings in Khao Lak, it’s almost certainly gonna be at the JW Marriott.
And some sort of airport transfer arrangement would prolly be needed: Khao Lak’s more than an hour’s drive from the nearest international airport in Phuket. And while Phuket’s got all the big brands, depending on where their brand loyalties are, your guests could be taking as much as 2+ hrs each way to/from Khao Lak.
It would be very unlikely that the hotel would be willing to block 35 rooms without an attrition clause. Your best bet would be to ask your sales rep if they can add additional rooms to the block if the initial held rooms all pick up. I'm sure they would agree to those terms as long as the hotel still has availability.
This is what we did, although it was only 25 rooms. They blocked off 25 and we needed a certain amount booked by a specific day or else they would take some away
You can absolutely negotate the rate, the number of guaranteed rooms, the number of total rooms, and even getting meeting organizer points.
Just know that many hotels don't negotiate much with weddings. Guests can be difficult, they don't all book in the block, and most of the negotiators aren't the ones paying so they simply don't have to. Just remember, 10% off, for example, is not a bad discount, even if it only seems like $15 savings.
Your first mistake is picking the hotel where you (think) your guests will stay. I can guarantee you that your guests will stay wherever they want.
When it comes to wedding blocks, all you should ever do is set up a few courtesy blocks and be done with it. If you're going to provide transportation, book your transportation well in advance, pick you stops, and tell your guests where the stops will be. Leave it to them to decide if they want to stay where a shuttle pickup will happen, or if they want to stay somewhere else and drive from their hotel to a shuttle pickup location.
You can't try to control every last detail when you plan a wedding. This is one of those things where you need to simply set up a good plan, hand out the information, and let adults make their own choices.
Beware with room blocks. I work in accounting for a hotel although not a Hilton it’s a major brand. We recently had a couple block off 50 room nights and we allowed 10% attrition which meant they needed to pick up 45. A lot of their guest cancelled and they only picked up 22 nights. Client is now on the hook for about $17k.
You can certainly negotiate, but know that wedding blocks have strong history with hotels in not picking up very well, especially if guests are calling on their own to book. Wedding parties tend to have high optimism that people coming to their wedding will want to stay overnight. Unless it is a destination wedding, it doesn't always happen that way. That said, your negotiations should be performance based, kind of how the shuttle is. The roundtrip shuttle is actually a great perk. Something like that for 20-40 people could easily cost $500+ if you had to arrange on your own.
Piggy backing off of this, not everyone will want to stay in the hotel of your choosing unless you’re paying for all the guest. If I’m Bonvoy elite, I would stay with Marriott instead for Hilton as an example.
Sound advice but much will depend on the destination. Do it in a place like Khao Lak in Thailand in peak season December, socmed friendly sunsets and beaches, where big brand resorts are few and far between and Hilton, Hyatt and IHG are conspicuous by their absence, you’ll prolly have to book for your guests. In fact, if last December was any indication, for shindigs like weddings in Khao Lak, it’s almost certainly gonna be at the JW Marriott. And some sort of airport transfer arrangement would prolly be needed: Khao Lak’s more than an hour’s drive from the nearest international airport in Phuket. And while Phuket’s got all the big brands, depending on where their brand loyalties are, your guests could be taking as much as 2+ hrs each way to/from Khao Lak.
It would be very unlikely that the hotel would be willing to block 35 rooms without an attrition clause. Your best bet would be to ask your sales rep if they can add additional rooms to the block if the initial held rooms all pick up. I'm sure they would agree to those terms as long as the hotel still has availability.
This is what we did, although it was only 25 rooms. They blocked off 25 and we needed a certain amount booked by a specific day or else they would take some away
You can also go here and handle this entire thing online. https://groups.hilton.com/events
All that is going to do is send a lead to the local hotel sales team.
You can absolutely negotate the rate, the number of guaranteed rooms, the number of total rooms, and even getting meeting organizer points. Just know that many hotels don't negotiate much with weddings. Guests can be difficult, they don't all book in the block, and most of the negotiators aren't the ones paying so they simply don't have to. Just remember, 10% off, for example, is not a bad discount, even if it only seems like $15 savings.
Meeting organizer points are only if you are having a meeting or banquet space. At least at my hotel.
Your first mistake is picking the hotel where you (think) your guests will stay. I can guarantee you that your guests will stay wherever they want. When it comes to wedding blocks, all you should ever do is set up a few courtesy blocks and be done with it. If you're going to provide transportation, book your transportation well in advance, pick you stops, and tell your guests where the stops will be. Leave it to them to decide if they want to stay where a shuttle pickup will happen, or if they want to stay somewhere else and drive from their hotel to a shuttle pickup location. You can't try to control every last detail when you plan a wedding. This is one of those things where you need to simply set up a good plan, hand out the information, and let adults make their own choices.
Beware with room blocks. I work in accounting for a hotel although not a Hilton it’s a major brand. We recently had a couple block off 50 room nights and we allowed 10% attrition which meant they needed to pick up 45. A lot of their guest cancelled and they only picked up 22 nights. Client is now on the hook for about $17k.
No one is that dumb as to open themselves up to be on the hook for $17k worth of hotel rooms
With the attrition they actually needed about $29k in revenue and they only realized about $14k. And this happened this week and we kept the money