Guest Experience: Hotel Room Blocks & Guest Transportation
When it comes to your wedding guest experience it’s best to think of the whole package. Out-of-town guests are traveling to your wedding, so you want to make sure you make their experience as stress-free and straightforward as possible. Securing a room block and transportation to and from the hotel is the best way to ensure a great experience for your guests.
Tips For Choosing Hotels for Room Blocks
Call around to different hotels near your venue. Gather pricing options to compare. Take note of what they offer your guests. Do they provide free wifi, complimentary continental or hot breakfast, is there a pool, fitness center, free parking, valet services, in-hotel restaurants or bistros, complimentary shuttles for the guests? You also want to check to see if the hotel is close to good restaurants, shopping, activities and how easy it is to get to and from highways/major roadways? If you are able to visit the hotels in-person to get a sense and feel of the space as well, that can really help you narrow down the hotel options that will be best to offer your guests in the area.
Look over the hotels check in and check out times. If they conflict with timing for your wedding activities, ask if it might be possible to schedule early check ins or late check outs for your block, as needed.
Check to see if your room block will qualify for the hotel’s rewards program. Some hotels offer a rewards program that will allow you and your guests to earn points for upgrades and free hotel accommodations in the future. If you aren’t already a part of the hotel’s rewards program, ask how you can join and see what rewards might be possible for joining their program.
Once your room block has been secured, ask the hotel for a direct link or code for your guests to use to book their accommodations. Adding this link or code to your wedding website will make it quick and easy for your guests to book their accommodations for your wedding weekend.
I typically recommend setting up room blocks at 2 to 3 different hotels in the area. This allows your guests options to choose from and will allow for more rooms to be secured, upfront, for your wedding weekend.
A lot of hotels will not allow room blocks to be set up until about 9-12 months before your wedding date. But, make sure not to wait to secure your room blocks. There may be other events taking place in the area around your wedding date so you want to make sure you secure your blocks sometime between that 9-12 months before your wedding to guarantee accommodations for your out-of-town guests.
Ask the hotel if the room blocks would be secured as a courtesy block (meaning the guests are each responsible for booking their own rooms on their own credit cards and there is no financial responsibility on you as the couple if the rooms do not book) or if they would be book on attrition (meaning you pay for a select amount of rooms upfront and are financially responsible for all those rooms, whether they book or not).
Questions to ask when Securing A Room Block
How many rooms can I secure on an inital agreement? Can I add additional rooms to the block, once these rooms book up?
What is the cancelation policy?
What is the parking situation? Do they offer free parking?
Do they offer free/complimentary transportation to your venue? Or work with/recommend a third party transportation company?
What are the amenities included for your guests?
Can we provide welcome gifts for my guests upon arrival?
What is the cut-off date for your guests to book by?
If there is still availability, can our guests make a reservations with the discounted block rate after the cut-off date?
Is breakfast included for the guests?
What activities/locations do you recommend in the are for guests to enjoy?
After you secure your room blocks at 2 to 3 different hotels, you will want to reach out to some different transporation companies in the area who can help transport your guests to and from those hotels. There are a few things you want to make sure you discuss with the transporation company to ensure you secure the right amount of transportation for your guests needs and plan for proper timing for pick ups and drop off. Here are some things to consider with transporation below:
How far away is the venue to each of your hotels?
Will your Ceremony be taking place during/around high rush hour traffic times? (this may impact how much time your shuttles need to get to and from the venue)
What time is your Ceremony set to begin?
What time is your Reception over?
About how many people do you expect to be staying at each hotel?
Would you like one shuttle per hotel or one shuttle that can visit multiple hotels?
Do you have any guests who need handicap accessible/ADA compliant transportation?
Once you select the hotel options and secure your guest transportation informatuion and links, make sure you add everything you can to your wedding website. This will help them choose the best options in the area for themselves but will also serve as a great resourse for questions about your wedding weekend. This will not only help your guests make great decisions and feel comfortable and stress free but will also help save your sanity. ;)
Happy Planning <3
Naticia
