Wedding anyone else having issues with room blocks?

[janinegirly]

i blocked 20 rooms for my wedding ages ago..i didn''t really know the in''s and out''s since i''ve never had to do it before. i allotted 5 for the friday and 15 for the saturday and was told i can''t expand it till it''s filled. back in the beginning, i was more worried about guests picking up rooms b/c otherwise i''d have to foot the bill! (at least 10 rooms had to be taken or else my cc gets charged...)

anyway, about 3 mos before the wedding one of my friends says friday''s all booked. i call the hotel (which is where my reception''s at..our ceremony is early saturday so a lot of ppl want a room the night before) and they say hotel''s fullly booked because there''s like 12 other blocks on hold, 2 other wedding blocks (!)..so they can''t budge. But, they also told me that blocks usually get relased a month prior, so to sit tight, all will be fine.

So at first i thought ok fine. NOW they''re telling me that once blocks do get released, the price quoted for guests will go up..almost 50%! To about $235 for a small room! i''m so p/o''d..first they tell me to relax and wait till a month before. THEN they say price will be jacked up even though it''s not the guests'' fault there''s all kinds of blocks reserved even before invites when out. And the kicker is my fiance needs a room too (we tried 3 mo''s ago) and they are telling us too bad. All frustrating considering we''re spending tens of thousands at this hotel for our wedding and being treated like part of a herd!

Ugh, I''m trying to speak with more senior people (talking to too many diff people saying diff things), but i''m feeling stuck. there are other hotels (some distance away), but i''m wondering if anyone has had to deal with this OR works in the business and knows the trick of the trade. Like can''t they honor a group rate if it''s a particular circumstance? Don''t they hold back rooms for emergencies (like restaurants do with tables)? thanks for listening to my vent..

 

[mikebzt]

Having worked in the hotel business for many years I might be of some assistance. What you will need to do is go up the chain of command. If your Catering person can not help you I would first tell them that it is going to effect there tip. This might get them to work a bit harder on the situation. If that does not work I would contact the Director of Sales. This might work but they really could care less about catering. Now you would want to talk directly to the general manager and and tell them your frustration and see what he or she will do. They should be receptive. If not mention that you are going to blog about them and they horrible service you are getting on theknot.com

Good luck

 

[janinegirly]

thanks! i actually did end up going to director of sales who basically assured me my guests would be top priority and they would honor the guest rate even after the cut off date.
so seems to have worked.

great points, thanks for sharing..

 

[labbielove]

I am sorry you''re having these issues-
My understanding (at least with ours) was that they start out setting aside a fixed #, but as those fill they add more.
Doesn''t seem that they should''ve filled up 3 mos. ahead without having contacted you.
Ours expired yesterday but my sister called today and was still given the rate, but only because they weren''t otherwise booked.

It sounds like you are doing the right thing by going up the chain. And you are right- all the $$$ you are spending should entitle you to more than this- unfortunately people answering the phones don''t necessarily care, but a more senior manager certainly should.

Let us know how you make out.