Hotel Rooms

Something that I didn't realize needed to happen as early as it did - hotel rooms.

After the question of the date, that is the question I continued to hear.  Lucky for us, our venue gives us a free room at one of these three hotels nearby: Hyatt, Wyndham, or Hilton.  So we started with those three, but also looked for others to find the best choices for our guests.  I also found a website that works with you to find the best group deals for the needs you have, grouptravel.org/.  It was interesting to look at the site, but I didn't end up using it and just contacted sites on my own.

I contacted them all to find prices and ask them questions to be sure we were getting the best choices for us.  Below are the questions I asked each of the hotels:

• How will you let us know who has reserved rooms? Will you email us, or could we contact you to get a list?
• Is there a point person who coordinates these types of events, or will I be dealing with a different person every time I call?
• Do you have an online code for our guests to receive the group rate or do they have to call the hotel directly?

• Is a deposit required? If so, how much? When is the deposit due? May I make partial payments? When is the final payment due?
• Is there an attrition clause?
• It says there is a minimum of 10 rooms that need to be filled, what happens if that number is not reached?
• What responsibility do the bride and groom have in the contract?
• Can you add more rooms if you fill up your block at the same discount?
• At what date will the rooms be released
• Can guests extend their stay at the discounted rate if they want to make it a longer weekend or short vacation?

• Will the guests room be scattered throughout the hotel or will they be close to each other?
• If we wanted to possibly do out of town bags for our guests, does your hotel allow for that and if so, do you have a policy regarding how they can be given out? How can I deliver OOT bags?
• Do you have a room available for a day after brunch or to open gifts in? If so, is there an extra cost?
• How exactly does the shuttle service work - are there specific times the shuttle will come or do the guests just call to be picked up?

 After hearing back from hotels and not hearing back from others, we decided to go with the Hyatt and Wyndham Hotels.