Guides / Hotels
Room block pricing: how much should a hotel discount a wedding block?
A block is a promise of rooms you might never sell. Price the discount against attrition, not against the couple's smile.
Skip the reading. The tool does this maths for you, free, as you type.
Price a blockA room block holds rooms off the market for a group. Some of those rooms will be booked. Some will not, and the couple will not pay for them unless the contract says so. The block rate has to be set knowing that.
The formula
Block rate = rack rate × (1 − discount). Expected revenue = paid rooms × (1 − attrition) × nights × block rate. Revenue at risk is the difference between the full block and what will really be picked up.
What a good number looks like
Fair for a block that fills a quiet weekend.
Generous. Ask for a deposit or a cut-off date in return.
You are paying to host the wedding. Only for a weekend that would otherwise be empty.
What to do about it
- Put a cut-off date in the contract. Unbooked rooms go back on sale a month out.
- Assume 20% attrition on weddings unless you have your own history.
- Comp rooms are a discount too. Count them.
Now do it with your numbers.
Free, no account, saved on your device. The verdict comes back while you type.
Price a block