Unused rooms in a block of hotel rooms

February 24, 2023 5:45 AM

A friend arranged with a hotel in Vancouver, BC, for a block of hotel rooms at a reduced rate for his upcoming wedding. He arranged for more rooms than are needed. How can he avoid a large bill for the unused rooms?

The wedding will be in the beginning of April, and there is a 1 or 2 week window now for the rooms to be booked at the reduced rate.

Can he try to 'advertise' the rooms to let outsiders use the discount link? Is there any way for him not to have to pay for the un-rented rooms. There are about 17 nights remaining in his block. The rooms normally rent for over $300/night. The special rate is $189/night (CDN$).

posted by mbarryf to Travel & Transportation around Vancouver, BC (9 answers total)

Did your friend sign a contract? They need to read the contract and call the hotel.

No contract? Call the hotel.

Signed a contract and is definitely on the hook? K but are you sure? The contract is likely going to have some terms around allowable shrinkage, minimum commitment, something like that. The contract may also have resell terms where the hotel has to make a good faith effort to book those rooms to outside guests before you're on the hook for it. You'd have to inform the hotel that you don't expect to fill the additional rooms. So again your friend will need to call the hotel.

If they've already gone through all these steps and for sure will be in debt to the hotel and that's why you're asking this question...I have no advice sorry. Just in my experience there's nearly always progress that can be made by picking up the phone and having a polite, kind, but strongly intentioned conversation with an actual human.
posted by phunniemee at 5:56 AM on February 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: Are you sure he understands the arrangement correctly? In my experience, you can block rooms for a rate up to a certain date ahead of the event. After that point, the hotel releases them to general reservations. I have not heard of any wedding planners being on the hook for unbooked rooms, and can't imagine why anyone would be willing to do that.
posted by Think_Long at 6:10 AM on February 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

Best answer: I agree this will be controlled by the contract (if there is a contract, which there probably is). Note that it is possible the hotel may want the rooms back because they think they can make more money with them now versus when they did this deal with your friend - so your friend should not automatically assume that he has no negotiating power. If your friend calls the hotel, he should try to sound like "hey I may have some extra rooms, is there any way for me to release them to you" as opposed to "help I am stuck with all of these rooms!!" etc. There may be some middle ground where the hotel takes some but not all of them back, for example.
posted by Mid at 6:11 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Tell him to call the hotel and ask them to release the remainder of the rooms. In my experience (former event planner) that's all the hotel needs, especially this far in advance. I'm Canadian so YMMV.
posted by purplesludge at 6:51 AM on February 24, 2023

Best answer: Agree with everyone who says to check the contract, if any. But Think_Long has it. Usually when you get a "block of rooms" at a hotel what you have done is to have those rooms held aside at a discount price up to a certain date, after which the discount is no longer applicable and any unbooked rooms in the block are released for general booking. I've never heard of this sort of thing being a commitment to actually book and pay for the exact number of rooms in the block, but I suppose it's possible...
posted by slkinsey at 7:10 AM on February 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm not canadian but in the US it is very common to be charged if you don't meet the minimum on your block when you are planning a convention or business meeting. I haven't done this for personal events.

One time we did not meet our block the hotel allowed us to use half of the dollar value on catering so we could add an afternoon snack break that had previously just been beverages. Perhaps your friend could have them upgrade the rooms for some VIPs at the wedding if they are not holding the ceremony at the hotel.
posted by Narrow Harbor at 7:39 AM on February 24, 2023

I'm not canadian but in the US it is very common to be charged if you don't meet the minimum on your block when you are planning a convention or business meeting

That's typically a different setup. The hotel will give you the convention space for free or some really low price if you can guarantee a certain number of rooms (i.e. revenue) to the hotel. For a wedding the room is usually bought full price w/ catering and the room bookings are gravy.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:48 AM on February 24, 2023

It is 100% possible that OP's friend is on the hook. It's how the contract for my wedding venue worked. We guaranteed they would get 10 nights of hotel bookings from our guests. If they had gotten less than that, we were contractually on the hook for the difference. Hopefully this is not what is happening here, given they are 17 nights short, and this is not the arrangement usually referred to as a "room block", but it absolutely does happen.

What is "usual" from the point of view of strangers on the internet is beside the point. Check the contract. If your friend is on the hook his next step is to talk to the venue about his options.
posted by caek at 1:04 PM on February 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

The normal industry standard for such thing works as Think_Long explains. Unbooked rooms are released at a specified point in time. I have never heard of a hotel sticking the party with a bill for unbooked rooms.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:06 AM on February 25, 2023