February 1, 2024 • 37 mins
Embark on a journey into the world of wedding hotel accommodations with Century Hotel Group's very own Liz and Kiersten, who join me, Kathy Piech-Lukas, for a heart-to-heart on the latest Your Dream Day Wedding Planning Podcast episode. Discover the ins and outs of wedding hotel blocks — a strategy that might just be the key to a stress-free celebration for your guests. We'll guide you through the what, why, and how to set up a block for your guests and giving you that much-needed peace of mind. With Century Hotel Group's extensive expertise, we unravel the perks and the importance of locking in those room rates early, especially when your wedding might clash with the city's next big festival or event.
Feel like a VIP as Liz and Kirsten spill the beans on how to navigate the twists and turns of hotel group bookings and rates. They dismantle the common myths, offering clarity on the true benefits of booking within the block, like flexible cancellation policies and the potential for sweet discounts. Tune in to hear how personalized online booking links and a dedicated wedding page can simplify life for your guests. This episode is your golden ticket to understanding the fine print in contracts, the downside of using a travel website to book a room instead of a hotel block, and avoiding surprises.
Pull back the curtain on the hotel booking process with insights that go beyond the norm. We'll talk about the delicate balance hotels strike in filling rooms while supporting your big day, how rates are as fluctuating as airline prices, and the impact of unforeseen events on the hospitality industry. Plus, get the lowdown on how to welcome your guests with personalized touches like welcome bags and organized shuttle services. Let's ensure that every detail is polished to perfection, so your wedding guests bask in the joy and luxury of your dream day. Join us for this episode and arm yourself with the knowledge to elevate your wedding planning to the level of excellence you deserve.
To listen to more episodes visit www.yourdreamday.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are making our own story as we go, as we go, as we
go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hopin' we are, hopin' that we'll go.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
So we're ever after, ever after.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hi, this is Kathy Piech Lukas with your Dream Day.
Welcome to your Dream DayPodcast.
And today we are going to talkabout hotel blocks.
What is a hotel block, how doyou use them for your wedding
and what do you need to know sothat you can get one?
And today I have Liz andKiersten with Century Hotel
Group who are going to tell ushow to do just that.
(00:52):
Hey guys, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hi, how are you?
We are so excited to talk toyou today.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So what is Century Hotel Group?
Because that's not a hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, Century Hotel Group is a smaller management
group that is growing quickly.
Our management group owns andoperates many different hotel
brands but very specifically IHGproperties, Hilton properties
and Marriott properties.
So we have all those three bigbanners in our portfolio.
(01:27):
Century Hotel Group operatesthe Holiday Inn Express and
Suites and Meason, which is thehotel I get to work at, and it
owns and operates the SpringHill Town Place, which is the
newest property that they'veopened, and Kiersten here with
me is the director of sales onsite of that property we also
(01:47):
take care of.
Century Hotel Group takes careof the Homewood Suites in Mason.
And then we have a coupleproperties in the Miamisburg
area, specifically the Home 2 inAustin Landing and the Hilton
Garden Inn in Austin Landing,and they take care of the True
by Hilton in Beaver Creek and atown place in Lima, Ohio.
(02:11):
And we're very excited with twonew properties opening over the
next two years, the first onebeing a Residence Inn that will
also open up in that Miamisburgarea.
And then the most excitingproject is the contribution to
the brand new Hilton Garden Innproperty that's currently being
(02:32):
worked on and will open, I think, within the next two years.
But it's a historical projectat the beautiful historical
downtown property of the DaytonArcade.
Indeed, so wow, For a goodamount of time there will be a
Hilton Garden Inn property there, and we're all excited to see
(02:52):
that come true for the rest ofthe year.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Very cool.
So we got a scoop on something.
I love it, love it, love it,love it.
You guys have a lot ofexperience in dealing with hotel
blocks, and that is somethingthat every couple planning a
wedding should offer to theirguests.
What is a hotel block?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
So, first and foremost, I would say a hotel
block is just a way to kind ofalleviate some stress, take away
some things from our wonderfulbrides that are already running
around like crazy.
So I think by reaching out to ahotel block, we're going to
take away some of that.
We're going to deal with yourguests.
We're going to make sure thatthey have everything that they
(03:31):
need coming from arriving,planning their trip, what's in
the area, what restaurants arenear, what are some things that
they can do while they're withus.
By setting up a hotel block, youknow you do have the luxury of
being able to work with uspersonally throughout the entire
process.
So you know we'll be able toanswer those questions.
(03:52):
We'll be able to take care ofany of the convenience See that
you know some of their guestsmight need.
We'll be able to lock them intoa rate.
We'll be able to, you know,help their friends and family
with anything that they mighthave.
We'll also get, you know, somefun perks out of it when you're
setting up a block through ahotel, depending on which brand
(04:14):
you're with.
You know, if you are a diehardMarriott, we're going to make
sure that that Marriott planneris going to earn three points
per dollar that's spentthroughout that entire group.
There's always that fun fact ofbeing able to offer a
complimentary room upgrade tothose bride and grooms or get a
signature cocktail at our barand make sure that's at a
(04:35):
discounted rate.
You know, trying to just makeit fun and just add a little bit
more to some of the things thatthey want for their big day.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So when should a couple start doing this, start
creating a hotel block for theirguests?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We save the earlier the better, and I will often
tell planners such as yourselfthat the bride and grooms should
be looking at their hoteloptions the same time that they
pick their venue.
Very much that early to atleast look at where you're going
and talk to the hotels aboutrates and what they can offer
(05:08):
your guests, and why we suggestthings book as early as possible
because hotels can be very busyand often like, depending on
your area, and when the weddingis might dictate the
availability in a hotel.
Hotels in every area have hotdates where there might be
something big coming to theirarea and it's harder to
(05:30):
negotiate any type of group ordiscount that might come in and
overlap with those event dates.
But we've seen our crazy thingshappen where somebody contract
their wedding and they get arate set that's great for that
day and then, lo and behold, twomonths go by and this is a very
specific example and the hugecountry music festival gets-.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I was gonna say we discovered this as we were
talking today, because I've gota client who's getting married
at the end of July and we weretalking about we need to get a
block set up, and I learned thatthere is a music festival the
same weekend as her wedding andhotel availability is going to
be through the roof.
So it's also helpful because,like you said, if they book at
(06:16):
the same time they booked theirvenue and that event has not
been announced yet they're goingto get a steal of a rate.
But at the same time, even iffor this particular client,
we're going to be setting up herhotel block this week, her
guests are actually going to beable to have a place to sleep
because a lot of these hotelsare going to be sold out, and so
if you're in that type ofsituation where your guests may
(06:37):
not have anywhere to go if youdon't have a hotel block for
them, Well, or they're stayingmuch further away or they're all
split up in different hotels ata higher rate, sometimes
strange cancellation policies ordeposits needing to be paid on
those individual reservations Ifyou're not dealing specifically
with the hotel and getcontracted for all the things
(06:58):
that this particular group mayneed.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So the contracts are ever changing with what can be
offered, what is expected inreturn.
But the most important thingabout getting it booked is
number one, getting your groupbooked.
You can easily take a look at abunch of different hotels and
decide what's a good fit for youbased on what's available at
that time period.
But the earlier you book, thebetter chance that you get the
(07:25):
best rate available in a groupblock and you get the room types
, the number of rooms thatyou're hoping to have, all
situated at one or two hotels,usually for a wedding.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Well, and one thing that I think a lot of couples
don't realize they just assumethat only the out-of-town people
are going to get a hotel room.
That's actually not the case.
A lot of times couples peoplewho are going to the wedding
think of this as a littleweekend getaway, and they may
live 20 minutes from the venue,but they may want to actually
have a little getaway of theirown and then they get a room in
(07:59):
the hotel block and they can getback there safely and they've
had a couple too many spirits.
They can sleep it off.
But there are also things tooLike we had our we're going back
20 years but we had our hotelblock at a Holiday Inn Express
and they had a board room thatwe were able to pay a small fee
(08:20):
for and we had breakfast inthere the next morning for our
guests and they were able to sayhi to us if they didn't really
get to talk to us the day before, and that was a wonderful that
is absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Kiersten and I were talking before the podcast about
what to start with and what tolook for in a hotel and how
important some of the things areand how you might think, oh, I
only want to stay with thisbrand.
But then you realize it's thefurthest hotel from your venue.
Maybe the reviews at thatspecific brand are not up to
(08:56):
what you would expect.
What else did we talk about,Kiersten?
Proximity to the venue?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Approximately to the venue, Well, anytime we go on a
trip, my husband is "Mr Research.
He researches everything to thepoint where the new model comes
out, and then we have to startthe research over again.
But he always goes onTripAdvisor to read the reviews,
because what can happen withproperties is you might get a
(09:21):
new management company in there,or you may find that there's a
decline in the service over thecourse of a couple of years.
So even if you stay at a hotellike, say, in 2021, fast forward
three years those reviews maynot be the same as they were
when you stayed at the property.
So it's very important to alsoget honest reviews from the
(09:42):
venue that you booked, becausetheir name's on the line too
when they refer you to somebodyand they're not going to point
you in a wrong direction becausethat's going to make them look
bad.
So it's also like you weresaying it's also important to
see what's close, in proximityto the venue, because the venue
is going to hear who's a goodhotel.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I would absolutely agree about it and in the world
we live in today, with so muchbeing done online between
booking your restaurant, bookingyour hotel, buying your shoes
online- whatever it may be.
I would say most people, beforethey purchase something, will
100% read reviews on the productbefore they just purchase it,
(10:26):
especially if they're decidingbetween product A and product B.
There's things to consider ineverything, whether it's price
or delivery time, but people aregoing to read the reviews.
So I would tell you it'simportant for your guests to
check out those reviews, becausea hotel can have great pictures
, but you don't know when thosepictures were taken.
(10:46):
And then one of the biggest andmost important things in a
hotel is how you're beingtreated by the staff in the
hotel, and I would tell you thatthose reviews are often the
ones we see.
The most is how people areeither happy or unhappy with
service, and I'm happy to sayour hotels have great remarks
(11:09):
when it comes to our service.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I'll tell you.
One time somebody shared aquote with me and I'm not sure
who said it, but it's alwaysstuck with me and, being in the
hospitality industry, it's soimportant.
People aren't going to rememberwhat you said to them.
They're going to remember howyou made them feel.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Absolutely, that is exactly right.
And I think, being in thehospitality industry too, that's
something that you learn, youtake into consideration when
you're meeting with all of theseclients and anyone that's
staying at your hotel.
In general, Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
How does one go about booking a hotel block?
Where do they start?
They pick up the phone, theycall the hotel, and what happens
after that?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So we can request many different ways.
My favorite is when somebodycalls.
Absolutely, but I do do I meanthe world we live in?
There's a lot of stuff doneelectronically, so I get a lot
of requests via email as well asphone calls, and people will
actually just physically saywe're going to go get hotels
(12:12):
today and, you know, stop at 10hotels in the area.
Well, that's great.
I always suggest calling firstand setting an appointment to
view the hotel, just so thatyou'll be able to talk to the
sales person at the property,because they're going to be able
to answer all of the questionsabout a group walk, whereas a
front desk agent, although havegreat customer service, might
(12:35):
not know the answer to how longdo we have to book these
reservations or you know whatelse do you offer with a block?
So your best bet would be tomake an appointment, whether
that's electronically or overthe phone, and then come in and
see the hotel, and you cancertainly schedule a bunch over
a couple hours.
Take a look at what's in thearea.
(12:56):
I would tell you to alwaysstart with looking at what's in
your area and then look at howthose hotels in your area, how
they're reviewed, because youcan probably cross off some of
the hotels.
Even though it might have abeautiful name in it, it might
be like a strip mall hotel thatyou drive past and go no thank
(13:18):
you.
That does happen.
And if you unfortunately can'tdrive through, then looking at
reviews on those on those hotelsare important and what you're
looking for in reviews isconsistency.
Every hotel will have a badreview because somebody was
having a bad day or somethinghappened that we couldn't fix to
(13:41):
their satisfaction.
That does happen.
But the hotel every hotel thatI've worked with do that does
their utmost to resolve an issueand satisfy our guests because
we want them to come back andthe reviews are really important
.
And then, talking to yoursalesperson at the hotel, most
hotels that deal with groupshave a dedicated person that
(14:03):
knows all the ins and outs of itand the biggest thing we need
to know is when is the weddingand how big is the wedding?
With how many rooms doessomebody think they need?
That's where I would start.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I agree.
What do you have?
I think kind of going back towhat we were talking about
earlier too with the contract.
You know, when you're talkingto the salesperson we actually
know what's going on in the areaand what is going to be
involved in that contract, Kindof going back to the courtesy
block versus the guaranteedrevenue, you know, if it does
happen.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Let's actually talk a little bit about that.
That is a big thing thatcouples need to understand.
What is the difference betweena courtesy block and a
guaranteed block?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Absolutely so.
The biggest difference is acourtesy block is going to be
put into place with a cutoffdate.
So, with that being said, thebride and groom will not be held
financially responsible for anyrooms that are not reserved
within their block.
So, with that being said,instead there's a cutoff date in
which those rooms that for somereason, weren't reserved are
just released back into ourgeneral inventory of the hotel.
(15:07):
Typically, that cutoff date isabout 30 days prior to their
arrival.
So that way, it gives thebusiness, the hotels, 30 other
days to sell those rooms thatweren't sold in that group block
.
Now, let's say this lovely bridewho's getting married on July
27th, who we were talking aboutearlier, her wonderful wedding
is taking place during aCincinnati music festival, which
(15:30):
is a city-wide sellout.
So, with that being said, wewould love to still have those
groups we would definitely wantto have, you know, their friends
and family stay at our hotel,but with some guaranteed
restrictions, rules, regulationsput in place.
So, instead of a cutoff date of30 days prior to their arrival,
there's going to be anattrition or there's going to be
(15:53):
a percentage in which the brideand groom, therefore, would be
held responsible.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
There could be a combination of.
There's still a cutoff date of30 days, but because we're
holding this inventory over anevent period, the bride and
groom guarantees that at least50% of those rooms that they're
holding will guaranteed havereservations attached to them or
they will financially beresponsible for paying for them.
That protects the hotel and itputs a sense of urgency on the
(16:22):
group block to get booked andsometimes allows the bride and
groom to really ask the questionto the salesperson how many
rooms do you think will pick up?
In our blog right, which isoften very different from what
the original conversation is welove our brides and grooms and
we've seen weddings that pick up30 rooms, which would be a big
(16:43):
wedding.
In most, that's a big block.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
That's a very big block.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
But I've seen more times than that where somebody
believes they need 30 rooms andwe say, well, that's a little
outside of our norm and maybe westart with 20 rooms and, lo and
behold, 30 days prior toarrival, we're releasing 15 of
those rooms back to the hoteland there's plenty of reasons
why, I guess, may not pick tostay in the hotel that you've
(17:10):
chosen.
They could be very brandoriented, that they travel a lot
with brand X and you've chosena hotel and not in that brand.
It could be that they travel somuch for work that they have so
many reward points, withwhatever brand they stand, that
any of their leisure traveloutside of work comped for them
with the points that they haveearned traveling.
(17:33):
And that's well deserved it is,and in a situation like that we
will find out that this personshould have booked a room
they're not on their roominglist that we have to give to the
planner.
And then they say can you checkthis person?
They said they booked at yourhotel.
We pull it up, see, it's bookedby points and therefore we can
(17:53):
at least make note on thereservation that this is part of
this group coming in so that wetry to house people in the same
area of the hotel.
We make sure better for notjust the group but the hotel If
you keep everybody on the samefloor so you're not running up
and down stairs.
It's just better all around tohave people together that are
coming in for an event together.
(18:13):
But and even more recently, wesee more and more people booking
through some sort of Airbnb orVrbo or they're renting
something a whole house formultiple people.
I've seen that happen more andmore.
There's things that aredifferent with with a rental
(18:34):
like that as opposed to a hotel.
I would say for most weddings,though, the hotel blog is your
smartest way to go.
It gives you the best to wait,usually to give your guests, and
and then you can really keepeverybody together, Right, Most
of the time.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
We'll do the feed for them.
We'll take care of feedingtheir guests Breakfast in the
morning.
They don't have to reallyprepare anything.
So it does really kind of takeit back to let us.
Let us take away some stress,let us help you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Well, and I've got a very, very important and I know
it's a detail oriented questionto answer, but it's a question I
get constantly.
Every now and then you'll get ahotel block that has, let's
just say, hypothetically, a rateof 159 per night, and then they
go on a travel site like Yahooor Expedia and they find a room
(19:22):
for 139 a night, which is lessthan what the block is.
Explain why that's kind of atrick.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, just like when you see things on sale on Black
Friday, sometimes you get thereand that product's not there
anymore.
And now there's a product that's$50 more out.
In its place, I would say a lotof third-party sites will show
you number one the leastexpensive room in the property
at the highest discount, whichis usually a prepaid,
(19:53):
nonrefundable upfront payment onthat room.
Now again, if the guest feelsthat they want to save maybe $20
and book that way and let usknow, we can absolutely say hey,
this is associated with thewedding.
We're going to try to make surethey're in the same area in the
hotel, but they will not fallunder the same rules that the
(20:13):
group lock would, which wouldgive you a cancellation policy
and specific things that may benegotiated for your group.
For example, if you are booking, like I, have a meeting space
in the hotel and we will basethe rate sometimes of that space
based on how many rooms are inthe group lock.
So if we say hey, at 15 rooms,the space is half price then and
(20:39):
the event only gets to 10 rooms.
But other people have bookedprepaid rates and booked with
points and booked all thesedifferent ways, they won't
qualify into that number becausethey're not officially in the
block.
So I mean there's things thatwe need to pay attention to to
make sure that we educate assalespeople at the hotel that
(21:00):
the bride and groom realize this, that they do need to book
through the block in order forthe perks that come with that
block to reach that fulfillment.
And we do very best to makesure that everybody is aware of
that.
And sometimes so many books arereservation and you're like you
shouldn't have booked it thatway and they can cancel it and
book it through the group lock.
We will try to educate folks onthat as well.
(21:21):
If it's canceled a little bit,a lot of times there's some big
bold writing on those sayingthis is a prepaid reservation
and that's why it's so much lessbecause even if something
happened, you've already paidfor the room and you're not
going to, and you know, being athird party, it's almost out of
our hands.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
There's nothing at that point I could really I
could do, you know, to get you arefund if something were to
happen.
But if you had worked with usdirectly or just let us know
ahead of time, we are able to goup to bat for you and do
whatever is necessary for thatguest.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I loved your Black Friday analogy because that is
so on point, because, like onetime I had a person tell me, or
who worked in a hotel tell me,that think of it as if there's a
hundred rooms in that hotel, 10of them are on these third
party travel sites at thatbargain basement price.
In the minute those 10 roomsare sold, it skyrockets.
(22:16):
Yes.
And that's why it's such aninconsistent argument to have,
because I've had couples whohave come back to me and said,
well, why are they charging me159 when they can go on Expedia
and get it for 139?
And then I have to explain tothem this is why, and it's the
fine print.
And it goes back to, like youknow, I tell couples all the
(22:39):
time send your contracts beforeyou sign them, because there's
always fine print everywhere yougo and you have to understand
what the fine print is beforeyou move forward.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
And I would tell you that question you have regarding
rate not only comes in with,just in an example, where it's a
different room type.
You know we have a lot of timespeople want a two queen on a
busy weekend but two queen rateis higher than a king rate
because you're going to sleepmore people in that room, more
people are eating breakfast,more people are using the shower
(23:09):
.
I mean, there's reasons thathotel rooms cost different
amounts of money and a lot oftimes it's logically why and
people don't think about it,they just think it's a room, is
a room, is a room, but a roomwith one person for breakfast
costs a different amount than aroom with five people coming for
and all eating breakfast.
The other thing I would tellyou with the misconception with
(23:32):
rates is your.
A lot of people think, oh, I'mgetting a group block, it's
going to be a huge discount.
I'm going to tell people I'mreally sorry that that's the
misconception out there the rateis going to be very much based
on what historically the hotelusually sees during that time
period.
Even if you're booking a yearand a half out, we're still
(23:52):
going to look at what makessense for the hotel because
we're here to fill our hotelsbut at the same time be an
advocate for the bride's,groom's wedding parties that are
planning to use our hotel.
So we are here to help makesure you have the rooms you need
at a rate that makes sense.
And sometimes, you know, itmight be a summer wedding and
(24:13):
our rate right now is 179.
And I might say, hey, I can'tchange the rate, but I can
guarantee you that you will havethese 15 rooms held until 30
days prior.
So as that rate increases, asthe hotel has less and less
availability, your rate will not, because it's contracted and
(24:34):
locked in.
Sometimes a group block providesa good discount, especially on
weekends where we needadditional business in the hotel
and we're often providing abetter rate on those times.
But there's times, just like aplane ticket might be on sale
one day and with a seat sale,and then they fill up half the
(24:54):
plane and then the rates on thatplane skyrocketed hundreds of
dollars more for the same seatthat yesterday you could have
bought for $49.
Hotels, I mean, it's a supplyand demand market.
Yeah, rates will change andfluctuate based on what's going
on.
The hotel industry went throughthe entire hospitality industry
(25:16):
with COVID, I mean itdevastated the entire industry
because people couldn't travel.
Therefore, hotels are empty andI would tell you, in many, many
areas the hotels are stillrecovering from the financial
strain of that time period.
As rates increase, hotels willincrease rates because the
(25:39):
demand is higher, even from areal business standpoint, just
still trying to recoup what theydidn't see for 18 months of
travel.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
That I mean.
I think that's not just hotels,I think that's everybody, I
mean.
Finally, as a planner, my 2024is looking like normal again.
I mean it's taken because whenwe book, we book people 12 to 18
months out and so it's like a.
It's almost like a rippleeffect with the timeline of how
(26:10):
are you booking your couples?
And I would totally agree withyou.
I think everybody in thehospitality industry is just
finally recovering from all ofthat.
So once they get a hotel block,how do their guests book?
How do they go about bookingthe room in the block?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So easy, Kiersten, so easy.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
There's a few different ways.
Obviously, after we get thecontract set up, once we usually
get that signed, we can loadeverything into our systems.
And, of course, their guestsare welcome to call the hotel
directly.
They can speak with myself,they could speak with Liz, they
can speak with the front deskagent, you know, and just let
them know.
Hey, we're booking for thedream day wedding.
Can you please make sure we'reat this rate?
(26:49):
We can go ahead, wambam.
Thank you, ma'am.
We can also create apersonalized online booking link
, and so it'll specifically havetheir wedding name on it.
I think these are usually themost popular and the most
beneficial only because most ofour brides do have the not to or
a wedding website of some sort,and so they can just pop that
link in there and they can sendoff their wedding website link
(27:12):
to their friends and family.
And, of course, marriott doesalso have an option to where I
can create an entire beautifulwedding page for them.
So it's not just a link, it'san actual page and I can put a
picture of them on there.
I could put a nice little youknow memory that they may have
had, just to kind of showcasefor them.
So there's a few different waysthat, once the contract is
(27:34):
signed and everything is inplace, there's a few different
options that they have to makethose reservations, but very
simple, friendly, easy, friendlyfor everyone involved.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Most part of people are booking online.
I think it is definitelyhappens on all platforms of
reservations.
Probably 80% for sure or more,get booked electronically.
But I would say in the weddinggenre that we receive a lot of
phone calls because people arevery have specific needs in
(28:06):
their room If they're travelingwith children.
Do we have a crib?
They didn't read the fine point.
Do we provide breakfastcomplimentary, which both of our
properties do?
All kinds of things that maybethey have specific questions.
We get a lot of people inweddings too that want to call
because they want to make surethey're besides so and so or
they want to make sure thatthey're on the same floor in the
(28:27):
same area.
Those are all things that wetry to make sure we facilitate.
Again, you are using a directorsales out of property to be
your advocate to make it thebest experience for the entire
group coming in.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
So once the group starts arriving, two to three
days beforehand, let's say acouple wants to have a little
goodie bag for their guests whenthey arrive, or they have an
agenda.
Let's say they're having ashuttle service that'll be
taking guests to and from wherethe event is taking place.
How does that all work?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
It's really easy.
I mean I have every hotel isgoing to be a little bit
different on theirspecifications regarding like a
gift bag to give out for theirguests.
We talked about it right beforewe hit report about different
hotels you've even worked withthat are very different from the
way I run it at our specifichotel.
(29:20):
Just for my hotel, holiday InnExpress and Suites and Mason,
when I have a ride asking forthis and it might be the day
they book the block, it might bethe week before, it might be
anytime during our communicationwhen they're like, oh, we want
to do a bag, in my case,absolutely, we will do that.
We won't even charge youanything extra to do it.
(29:40):
We are all about providing agreat check and experience for
all of our guests.
So in order to provide thatexperience for everybody,
including the wedding guests, weask for bags.
We brought to the hotel 24 to48 hours prior so that we have
enough time to organize, butit's not being dropped off a
month before and we have tostore it somewhere.
We don't want your wedding bagsto get crushed or be dusty.
(30:03):
Whatever it may be, we want itto be trash.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
You don't want your front desk person to partake in
a little snack during that monthor anything like that.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So we ask that they come one to two days prior.
I can set an alert onreservations to say, hey, this
person is getting a gift bag.
We actually station ours with asign right behind the front desk
at check-in that says welcome,wedding party so-and-so, with
the gift bags on the table, andwe will distribute out
non-specific gift bags towedding guests as they check-in.
(30:35):
So if they booked through thegroup lock, easy for me to put
that alert on.
If they haven't, but we foundout that they're part of the
group for one reason or anotheron points like we talked about
or booked through a third partyto save their $20 and prepay
their reservation, then if wehaven't listed that they're part
of the wedding party, they willalso get that bag.
(30:56):
So we have a greatcommunication standpoint that
works between the sales office,the front desk for arrivals with
our management team andoperations.
So we try to stick to that.
It seems to work the best fornot just the wedding group but
for all arrivals on those busyweekends that are coming in but
nobody's waiting in a long time,even though we're doing an
(31:18):
extra service for the weddingguests.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love your third shift people,because there have been times
where at least the couple's beenmade aware that somebody booked
outside of the block and I cansend the complete guest list
over and they'll cross-checkreservations and then shift some
things around so that at leastwhen that couple who use their
(31:41):
rewards points to book the room,they'll still get that goodie
bag when they check in.
And you're totally spot onright with it's really important
to check with the hotel to seewhat their gift bag policies are
, because, especially withdowntown properties, you'll see
that a lot of them do charge aper bag fee and that's because
(32:02):
they'll deliver it directly tothe room for you.
Some require that you actuallyput the name of the guest on it.
Most don't, but there are someproperties that do require that.
So it's important to check onwhat exactly is the property
requesting of you to make thisbag distribution successful,
because they want to make surethat we're in the hospitality
industry.
We want to make sure that allof your guests are treated the
(32:25):
way that you would treat them ifyou were at the front desk.
We want to make sure that theyget that bag.
We want to make sure that theroom is clean, that we want to
make sure that they're happy,and it's important to make sure
that that line of communicationis open if you are going to do a
goodie bag of some sort foryour guests.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
And as far as goodie bags go.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I tell people this is the KPL rule of thumb Something
wet, something crunchy,something chocolatey, something
minty, Tends to go over wellwith everybody and so I don't
know.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Yeah, and a nice little hangover kit would be
lovely.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Are you implying people are going to drink at the
wedding?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
This will be a couple spirits, you know hands on the
choice on whether your weddinghas an open bar on how much time
at all you need to provide.
We also do things like.
You know a popcorn flavor.
There's local popcorn places inour area anyway that will do
like wedding popcorn orsomething that's cool, excellent
(33:21):
, great for area.
People are coming from outsideCincinnati.
There might be Skyline Chili.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Yeah, for some Montgomery Inn.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Oh, I've seen that where they'll do like a city
themed bag, I'm like I had onethat was up in Dayton and what
they did was they had EstherPrice chocolates and Mike Sells
potato chips and I think theyactually had a beer from one of
the local brewing companies andso that's a big one that you'll.
That's kind of the Dayton bagthat you'll see.
Or like Cincinnati, they'llhave like a little coupon for a
(33:54):
cheese coni and DefinitelyGrippos and Buskin (Bakery)
cookies.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Buskin cookies that's a big one.
That's a big one too.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I love some of the stuff Grippos, yum, that sounds
so good right now.
Better put a bag of Grippos in.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I had one of these really cute gift boxes, so
instead of a bag it was anactual box and she included a
Polaroid camera in it, and soshe's like, while you're here in
Cincinnati, make sure you liveit through this camera, but then
you have to make sure to sharethose with us.
You know, after the wedding andthings, and I thought that that
was the most creative one.
I think I've seen what a greatidea.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
People now like share a QR code on, say, like their
introduction page, and then thatQR code can go right to a
wedding like photo page sopeople can upload their pictures
of the wedding or everything tothis page that all the guests
have access to.
So that part is really cool too, that there's so much more
(34:55):
coming in the electronic worldthat allows people to add to the
wedding experience.
And lasting I think I lovetaking pictures, so short videos
.
I think that pictures are amemory that just is there
forever.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
And you can like, speak to the video too.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I could be like.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
You did your wedding day yeah and post it, and now
you have it forever yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Well, and it's so cool when people do take videos
at weddings too, because thatwas the one regret that my
husband and I had was that wedidn't get a videographer and
we've lost a lot of familymembers in 20 years and when we
do like, one of our guests didhave a video camera and they
were taking some video and it'sso precious because those people
(35:40):
aren't with us anymore and whenyou see them moving it's almost
like they're still here with us.
So now, totally agree.
So if somebody wants to book ahotel block at one of your
properties, how do they get intouch with you?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
They can reach out to us directly.
We'll make sure that you haveKiersten's and my information so
that people can directly emailus.
But in any wedding block Isuggest that they look at their
area.
They choose five, six hotelsthat they really want to
investigate and, depending onyour wedding block size, most
(36:12):
hotels will stick to a courtesyblock at 20 or less, sometimes
less, because you're notguaranteeing any revenue to the
hotel and the hotel is holdingthat inventory right up until 30
days prior.
So even if other events come tothe area, they can't give away
your rooms because you'recontracted with them.
I would say to look at that andthen reach out to them to set up
(36:34):
appointments to come and viewthe hotel.
Once you know that you would behappy staying in the hotel,
that's when I would start sayingOK, what does your contract
look like?
What's?
What kind of guarantee do yourequire?
What additional perks do youoffer?
Do you have complimentarybreakfast?
Do you have a meeting room?
Is that something that youutilize?
Kirsten's hotel has a bar.
(36:55):
What are the bar hours?
Is there anything special wecan do with the bar?
All those other questions thatcome with it.
And then remember to ask yourdirector of sales.
What's the most common thingsthat they see with weddings?
Because we have a wealth ofknowledge on things that happen
and we have even things that wewould tell you hey, don't do.
This Not going to work the wayyou think it is Right.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Maybe don't use this shuttle, let's use this one.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Liz, Kiersten, thank you so much for joining us today
.
Thank you for listening.
Please subscribe to Your DreamDay Podcast by clicking that
Subscribe button.
We will be back next week withanother topic to help you with
planning your wedding.
This is Kathy Piech-Lucas withYour Dream Day.
Happy planning.
We are making our own story as we go, as we go, as we
go.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hopin' we are, hopin' that we'll go.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
So we're ever after, ever after.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hi, this is Kathy Piech Lukas with your Dream Day.
Welcome to your Dream DayPodcast.
And today we are going to talkabout hotel blocks.
What is a hotel block, how doyou use them for your wedding
and what do you need to know sothat you can get one?
And today I have Liz andKiersten with Century Hotel
Group who are going to tell ushow to do just that.
(00:52):
Hey guys, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Hi, how are you?
We are so excited to talk toyou today.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So what is Century Hotel Group?
Because that's not a hotel.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, Century Hotel Group is a smaller management
group that is growing quickly.
Our management group owns andoperates many different hotel
brands but very specifically IHGproperties, Hilton properties
and Marriott properties.
So we have all those three bigbanners in our portfolio.
(01:27):
Century Hotel Group operatesthe Holiday Inn Express and
Suites and Meason, which is thehotel I get to work at, and it
owns and operates the SpringHill Town Place, which is the
newest property that they'veopened, and Kiersten here with
me is the director of sales onsite of that property we also
(01:47):
take care of.
Century Hotel Group takes careof the Homewood Suites in Mason.
And then we have a coupleproperties in the Miamisburg
area, specifically the Home 2 inAustin Landing and the Hilton
Garden Inn in Austin Landing,and they take care of the True
by Hilton in Beaver Creek and atown place in Lima, Ohio.
(02:11):
And we're very excited with twonew properties opening over the
next two years, the first onebeing a Residence Inn that will
also open up in that Miamisburgarea.
And then the most excitingproject is the contribution to
the brand new Hilton Garden Innproperty that's currently being
(02:32):
worked on and will open, I think, within the next two years.
But it's a historical projectat the beautiful historical
downtown property of the DaytonArcade.
Indeed, so wow, For a goodamount of time there will be a
Hilton Garden Inn property there, and we're all excited to see
(02:52):
that come true for the rest ofthe year.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Very cool.
So we got a scoop on something.
I love it, love it, love it,love it.
You guys have a lot ofexperience in dealing with hotel
blocks, and that is somethingthat every couple planning a
wedding should offer to theirguests.
What is a hotel block?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
So, first and foremost, I would say a hotel
block is just a way to kind ofalleviate some stress, take away
some things from our wonderfulbrides that are already running
around like crazy.
So I think by reaching out to ahotel block, we're going to
take away some of that.
We're going to deal with yourguests.
We're going to make sure thatthey have everything that they
(03:31):
need coming from arriving,planning their trip, what's in
the area, what restaurants arenear, what are some things that
they can do while they're withus.
By setting up a hotel block, youknow you do have the luxury of
being able to work with uspersonally throughout the entire
process.
So you know we'll be able toanswer those questions.
(03:52):
We'll be able to take care ofany of the convenience See that
you know some of their guestsmight need.
We'll be able to lock them intoa rate.
We'll be able to, you know,help their friends and family
with anything that they mighthave.
We'll also get, you know, somefun perks out of it when you're
setting up a block through ahotel, depending on which brand
(04:14):
you're with.
You know, if you are a diehardMarriott, we're going to make
sure that that Marriott planneris going to earn three points
per dollar that's spentthroughout that entire group.
There's always that fun fact ofbeing able to offer a
complimentary room upgrade tothose bride and grooms or get a
signature cocktail at our barand make sure that's at a
(04:35):
discounted rate.
You know, trying to just makeit fun and just add a little bit
more to some of the things thatthey want for their big day.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So when should a couple start doing this, start
creating a hotel block for theirguests?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
We save the earlier the better, and I will often
tell planners such as yourselfthat the bride and grooms should
be looking at their hoteloptions the same time that they
pick their venue.
Very much that early to atleast look at where you're going
and talk to the hotels aboutrates and what they can offer
(05:08):
your guests, and why we suggestthings book as early as possible
because hotels can be very busyand often like, depending on
your area, and when the weddingis might dictate the
availability in a hotel.
Hotels in every area have hotdates where there might be
something big coming to theirarea and it's harder to
(05:30):
negotiate any type of group ordiscount that might come in and
overlap with those event dates.
But we've seen our crazy thingshappen where somebody contract
their wedding and they get arate set that's great for that
day and then, lo and behold, twomonths go by and this is a very
specific example and the hugecountry music festival gets-.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I was gonna say we discovered this as we were
talking today, because I've gota client who's getting married
at the end of July and we weretalking about we need to get a
block set up, and I learned thatthere is a music festival the
same weekend as her wedding andhotel availability is going to
be through the roof.
So it's also helpful because,like you said, if they book at
(06:16):
the same time they booked theirvenue and that event has not
been announced yet they're goingto get a steal of a rate.
But at the same time, even iffor this particular client,
we're going to be setting up herhotel block this week, her
guests are actually going to beable to have a place to sleep
because a lot of these hotelsare going to be sold out, and so
if you're in that type ofsituation where your guests may
(06:37):
not have anywhere to go if youdon't have a hotel block for
them, Well, or they're stayingmuch further away or they're all
split up in different hotels ata higher rate, sometimes
strange cancellation policies ordeposits needing to be paid on
those individual reservations Ifyou're not dealing specifically
with the hotel and getcontracted for all the things
(06:58):
that this particular group mayneed.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So the contracts are ever changing with what can be
offered, what is expected inreturn.
But the most important thingabout getting it booked is
number one, getting your groupbooked.
You can easily take a look at abunch of different hotels and
decide what's a good fit for youbased on what's available at
that time period.
But the earlier you book, thebetter chance that you get the
(07:25):
best rate available in a groupblock and you get the room types
, the number of rooms thatyou're hoping to have, all
situated at one or two hotels,usually for a wedding.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Well, and one thing that I think a lot of couples
don't realize they just assumethat only the out-of-town people
are going to get a hotel room.
That's actually not the case.
A lot of times couples peoplewho are going to the wedding
think of this as a littleweekend getaway, and they may
live 20 minutes from the venue,but they may want to actually
have a little getaway of theirown and then they get a room in
(07:59):
the hotel block and they can getback there safely and they've
had a couple too many spirits.
They can sleep it off.
But there are also things tooLike we had our we're going back
20 years but we had our hotelblock at a Holiday Inn Express
and they had a board room thatwe were able to pay a small fee
(08:20):
for and we had breakfast inthere the next morning for our
guests and they were able to sayhi to us if they didn't really
get to talk to us the day before, and that was a wonderful that
is absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Kiersten and I were talking before the podcast about
what to start with and what tolook for in a hotel and how
important some of the things areand how you might think, oh, I
only want to stay with thisbrand.
But then you realize it's thefurthest hotel from your venue.
Maybe the reviews at thatspecific brand are not up to
(08:56):
what you would expect.
What else did we talk about,Kiersten?
Proximity to the venue?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Approximately to the venue, Well, anytime we go on a
trip, my husband is "Mr Research.
He researches everything to thepoint where the new model comes
out, and then we have to startthe research over again.
But he always goes onTripAdvisor to read the reviews,
because what can happen withproperties is you might get a
(09:21):
new management company in there,or you may find that there's a
decline in the service over thecourse of a couple of years.
So even if you stay at a hotellike, say, in 2021, fast forward
three years those reviews maynot be the same as they were
when you stayed at the property.
So it's very important to alsoget honest reviews from the
(09:42):
venue that you booked, becausetheir name's on the line too
when they refer you to somebodyand they're not going to point
you in a wrong direction becausethat's going to make them look
bad.
So it's also like you weresaying it's also important to
see what's close, in proximityto the venue, because the venue
is going to hear who's a goodhotel.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I would absolutely agree about it and in the world
we live in today, with so muchbeing done online between
booking your restaurant, bookingyour hotel, buying your shoes
online- whatever it may be.
I would say most people, beforethey purchase something, will
100% read reviews on the productbefore they just purchase it,
(10:26):
especially if they're decidingbetween product A and product B.
There's things to consider ineverything, whether it's price
or delivery time, but people aregoing to read the reviews.
So I would tell you it'simportant for your guests to
check out those reviews, becausea hotel can have great pictures
, but you don't know when thosepictures were taken.
(10:46):
And then one of the biggest andmost important things in a
hotel is how you're beingtreated by the staff in the
hotel, and I would tell you thatthose reviews are often the
ones we see.
The most is how people areeither happy or unhappy with
service, and I'm happy to sayour hotels have great remarks
(11:09):
when it comes to our service.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I'll tell you.
One time somebody shared aquote with me and I'm not sure
who said it, but it's alwaysstuck with me and, being in the
hospitality industry, it's soimportant.
People aren't going to rememberwhat you said to them.
They're going to remember howyou made them feel.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Absolutely, that is exactly right.
And I think, being in thehospitality industry too, that's
something that you learn, youtake into consideration when
you're meeting with all of theseclients and anyone that's
staying at your hotel.
In general, Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
How does one go about booking a hotel block?
Where do they start?
They pick up the phone, theycall the hotel, and what happens
after that?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So we can request many different ways.
My favorite is when somebodycalls.
Absolutely, but I do do I meanthe world we live in?
There's a lot of stuff doneelectronically, so I get a lot
of requests via email as well asphone calls, and people will
actually just physically saywe're going to go get hotels
(12:12):
today and, you know, stop at 10hotels in the area.
Well, that's great.
I always suggest calling firstand setting an appointment to
view the hotel, just so thatyou'll be able to talk to the
sales person at the property,because they're going to be able
to answer all of the questionsabout a group walk, whereas a
front desk agent, although havegreat customer service, might
(12:35):
not know the answer to how longdo we have to book these
reservations or you know whatelse do you offer with a block?
So your best bet would be tomake an appointment, whether
that's electronically or overthe phone, and then come in and
see the hotel, and you cancertainly schedule a bunch over
a couple hours.
Take a look at what's in thearea.
(12:56):
I would tell you to alwaysstart with looking at what's in
your area and then look at howthose hotels in your area, how
they're reviewed, because youcan probably cross off some of
the hotels.
Even though it might have abeautiful name in it, it might
be like a strip mall hotel thatyou drive past and go no thank
(13:18):
you.
That does happen.
And if you unfortunately can'tdrive through, then looking at
reviews on those on those hotelsare important and what you're
looking for in reviews isconsistency.
Every hotel will have a badreview because somebody was
having a bad day or somethinghappened that we couldn't fix to
(13:41):
their satisfaction.
That does happen.
But the hotel every hotel thatI've worked with do that does
their utmost to resolve an issueand satisfy our guests because
we want them to come back andthe reviews are really important
.
And then, talking to yoursalesperson at the hotel, most
hotels that deal with groupshave a dedicated person that
(14:03):
knows all the ins and outs of itand the biggest thing we need
to know is when is the weddingand how big is the wedding?
With how many rooms doessomebody think they need?
That's where I would start.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I agree.
What do you have?
I think kind of going back towhat we were talking about
earlier too with the contract.
You know, when you're talkingto the salesperson we actually
know what's going on in the areaand what is going to be
involved in that contract, Kindof going back to the courtesy
block versus the guaranteedrevenue, you know, if it does
happen.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Let's actually talk a little bit about that.
That is a big thing thatcouples need to understand.
What is the difference betweena courtesy block and a
guaranteed block?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Absolutely so.
The biggest difference is acourtesy block is going to be
put into place with a cutoffdate.
So, with that being said, thebride and groom will not be held
financially responsible for anyrooms that are not reserved
within their block.
So, with that being said,instead there's a cutoff date in
which those rooms that for somereason, weren't reserved are
just released back into ourgeneral inventory of the hotel.
(15:07):
Typically, that cutoff date isabout 30 days prior to their
arrival.
So that way, it gives thebusiness, the hotels, 30 other
days to sell those rooms thatweren't sold in that group block
.
Now, let's say this lovely bridewho's getting married on July
27th, who we were talking aboutearlier, her wonderful wedding
is taking place during aCincinnati music festival, which
(15:30):
is a city-wide sellout.
So, with that being said, wewould love to still have those
groups we would definitely wantto have, you know, their friends
and family stay at our hotel,but with some guaranteed
restrictions, rules, regulationsput in place.
So, instead of a cutoff date of30 days prior to their arrival,
there's going to be anattrition or there's going to be
(15:53):
a percentage in which the brideand groom, therefore, would be
held responsible.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
There could be a combination of.
There's still a cutoff date of30 days, but because we're
holding this inventory over anevent period, the bride and
groom guarantees that at least50% of those rooms that they're
holding will guaranteed havereservations attached to them or
they will financially beresponsible for paying for them.
That protects the hotel and itputs a sense of urgency on the
(16:22):
group block to get booked andsometimes allows the bride and
groom to really ask the questionto the salesperson how many
rooms do you think will pick up?
In our blog right, which isoften very different from what
the original conversation is welove our brides and grooms and
we've seen weddings that pick up30 rooms, which would be a big
(16:43):
wedding.
In most, that's a big block.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
That's a very big block.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
But I've seen more times than that where somebody
believes they need 30 rooms andwe say, well, that's a little
outside of our norm and maybe westart with 20 rooms and, lo and
behold, 30 days prior toarrival, we're releasing 15 of
those rooms back to the hoteland there's plenty of reasons
why, I guess, may not pick tostay in the hotel that you've
(17:10):
chosen.
They could be very brandoriented, that they travel a lot
with brand X and you've chosena hotel and not in that brand.
It could be that they travel somuch for work that they have so
many reward points, withwhatever brand they stand, that
any of their leisure traveloutside of work comped for them
with the points that they haveearned traveling.
(17:33):
And that's well deserved it is,and in a situation like that we
will find out that this personshould have booked a room
they're not on their roominglist that we have to give to the
planner.
And then they say can you checkthis person?
They said they booked at yourhotel.
We pull it up, see, it's bookedby points and therefore we can
(17:53):
at least make note on thereservation that this is part of
this group coming in so that wetry to house people in the same
area of the hotel.
We make sure better for notjust the group but the hotel If
you keep everybody on the samefloor so you're not running up
and down stairs.
It's just better all around tohave people together that are
coming in for an event together.
(18:13):
But and even more recently, wesee more and more people booking
through some sort of Airbnb orVrbo or they're renting
something a whole house formultiple people.
I've seen that happen more andmore.
There's things that aredifferent with with a rental
(18:34):
like that as opposed to a hotel.
I would say for most weddings,though, the hotel blog is your
smartest way to go.
It gives you the best to wait,usually to give your guests, and
and then you can really keepeverybody together, Right, Most
of the time.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
We'll do the feed for them.
We'll take care of feedingtheir guests Breakfast in the
morning.
They don't have to reallyprepare anything.
So it does really kind of takeit back to let us.
Let us take away some stress,let us help you.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Well, and I've got a very, very important and I know
it's a detail oriented questionto answer, but it's a question I
get constantly.
Every now and then you'll get ahotel block that has, let's
just say, hypothetically, a rateof 159 per night, and then they
go on a travel site like Yahooor Expedia and they find a room
(19:22):
for 139 a night, which is lessthan what the block is.
Explain why that's kind of atrick.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, just like when you see things on sale on Black
Friday, sometimes you get thereand that product's not there
anymore.
And now there's a product that's$50 more out.
In its place, I would say a lotof third-party sites will show
you number one the leastexpensive room in the property
at the highest discount, whichis usually a prepaid,
(19:53):
nonrefundable upfront payment onthat room.
Now again, if the guest feelsthat they want to save maybe $20
and book that way and let usknow, we can absolutely say hey,
this is associated with thewedding.
We're going to try to make surethey're in the same area in the
hotel, but they will not fallunder the same rules that the
(20:13):
group lock would, which wouldgive you a cancellation policy
and specific things that may benegotiated for your group.
For example, if you are booking, like I, have a meeting space
in the hotel and we will basethe rate sometimes of that space
based on how many rooms are inthe group lock.
So if we say hey, at 15 rooms,the space is half price then and
(20:39):
the event only gets to 10 rooms.
But other people have bookedprepaid rates and booked with
points and booked all thesedifferent ways, they won't
qualify into that number becausethey're not officially in the
block.
So I mean there's things thatwe need to pay attention to to
make sure that we educate assalespeople at the hotel that
(21:00):
the bride and groom realize this, that they do need to book
through the block in order forthe perks that come with that
block to reach that fulfillment.
And we do very best to makesure that everybody is aware of
that.
And sometimes so many books arereservation and you're like you
shouldn't have booked it thatway and they can cancel it and
book it through the group lock.
We will try to educate folks onthat as well.
(21:21):
If it's canceled a little bit,a lot of times there's some big
bold writing on those sayingthis is a prepaid reservation
and that's why it's so much lessbecause even if something
happened, you've already paidfor the room and you're not
going to, and you know, being athird party, it's almost out of
our hands.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
There's nothing at that point I could really I
could do, you know, to get you arefund if something were to
happen.
But if you had worked with usdirectly or just let us know
ahead of time, we are able to goup to bat for you and do
whatever is necessary for thatguest.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I loved your Black Friday analogy because that is
so on point, because, like onetime I had a person tell me, or
who worked in a hotel tell me,that think of it as if there's a
hundred rooms in that hotel, 10of them are on these third
party travel sites at thatbargain basement price.
In the minute those 10 roomsare sold, it skyrockets.
(22:16):
Yes.
And that's why it's such aninconsistent argument to have,
because I've had couples whohave come back to me and said,
well, why are they charging me159 when they can go on Expedia
and get it for 139?
And then I have to explain tothem this is why, and it's the
fine print.
And it goes back to, like youknow, I tell couples all the
(22:39):
time send your contracts beforeyou sign them, because there's
always fine print everywhere yougo and you have to understand
what the fine print is beforeyou move forward.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
And I would tell you that question you have regarding
rate not only comes in with,just in an example, where it's a
different room type.
You know we have a lot of timespeople want a two queen on a
busy weekend but two queen rateis higher than a king rate
because you're going to sleepmore people in that room, more
people are eating breakfast,more people are using the shower
(23:09):
.
I mean, there's reasons thathotel rooms cost different
amounts of money and a lot oftimes it's logically why and
people don't think about it,they just think it's a room, is
a room, is a room, but a roomwith one person for breakfast
costs a different amount than aroom with five people coming for
and all eating breakfast.
The other thing I would tellyou with the misconception with
(23:32):
rates is your.
A lot of people think, oh, I'mgetting a group block, it's
going to be a huge discount.
I'm going to tell people I'mreally sorry that that's the
misconception out there the rateis going to be very much based
on what historically the hotelusually sees during that time
period.
Even if you're booking a yearand a half out, we're still
(23:52):
going to look at what makessense for the hotel because
we're here to fill our hotelsbut at the same time be an
advocate for the bride's,groom's wedding parties that are
planning to use our hotel.
So we are here to help makesure you have the rooms you need
at a rate that makes sense.
And sometimes, you know, itmight be a summer wedding and
(24:13):
our rate right now is 179.
And I might say, hey, I can'tchange the rate, but I can
guarantee you that you will havethese 15 rooms held until 30
days prior.
So as that rate increases, asthe hotel has less and less
availability, your rate will not, because it's contracted and
(24:34):
locked in.
Sometimes a group block providesa good discount, especially on
weekends where we needadditional business in the hotel
and we're often providing abetter rate on those times.
But there's times, just like aplane ticket might be on sale
one day and with a seat sale,and then they fill up half the
(24:54):
plane and then the rates on thatplane skyrocketed hundreds of
dollars more for the same seatthat yesterday you could have
bought for $49.
Hotels, I mean, it's a supplyand demand market.
Yeah, rates will change andfluctuate based on what's going
on.
The hotel industry went throughthe entire hospitality industry
(25:16):
with COVID, I mean itdevastated the entire industry
because people couldn't travel.
Therefore, hotels are empty andI would tell you, in many, many
areas the hotels are stillrecovering from the financial
strain of that time period.
As rates increase, hotels willincrease rates because the
(25:39):
demand is higher, even from areal business standpoint, just
still trying to recoup what theydidn't see for 18 months of
travel.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
That I mean.
I think that's not just hotels,I think that's everybody, I
mean.
Finally, as a planner, my 2024is looking like normal again.
I mean it's taken because whenwe book, we book people 12 to 18
months out and so it's like a.
It's almost like a rippleeffect with the timeline of how
(26:10):
are you booking your couples?
And I would totally agree withyou.
I think everybody in thehospitality industry is just
finally recovering from all ofthat.
So once they get a hotel block,how do their guests book?
How do they go about bookingthe room in the block?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So easy, Kiersten, so easy.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
There's a few different ways.
Obviously, after we get thecontract set up, once we usually
get that signed, we can loadeverything into our systems.
And, of course, their guestsare welcome to call the hotel
directly.
They can speak with myself,they could speak with Liz, they
can speak with the front deskagent, you know, and just let
them know.
Hey, we're booking for thedream day wedding.
Can you please make sure we'reat this rate?
(26:49):
We can go ahead, wambam.
Thank you, ma'am.
We can also create apersonalized online booking link
, and so it'll specifically havetheir wedding name on it.
I think these are usually themost popular and the most
beneficial only because most ofour brides do have the not to or
a wedding website of some sort,and so they can just pop that
link in there and they can sendoff their wedding website link
(27:12):
to their friends and family.
And, of course, marriott doesalso have an option to where I
can create an entire beautifulwedding page for them.
So it's not just a link, it'san actual page and I can put a
picture of them on there.
I could put a nice little youknow memory that they may have
had, just to kind of showcasefor them.
So there's a few different waysthat, once the contract is
(27:34):
signed and everything is inplace, there's a few different
options that they have to makethose reservations, but very
simple, friendly, easy, friendlyfor everyone involved.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Most part of people are booking online.
I think it is definitelyhappens on all platforms of
reservations.
Probably 80% for sure or more,get booked electronically.
But I would say in the weddinggenre that we receive a lot of
phone calls because people arevery have specific needs in
(28:06):
their room If they're travelingwith children.
Do we have a crib?
They didn't read the fine point.
Do we provide breakfastcomplimentary, which both of our
properties do?
All kinds of things that maybethey have specific questions.
We get a lot of people inweddings too that want to call
because they want to make surethey're besides so and so or
they want to make sure thatthey're on the same floor in the
(28:27):
same area.
Those are all things that wetry to make sure we facilitate.
Again, you are using a directorsales out of property to be
your advocate to make it thebest experience for the entire
group coming in.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
So once the group starts arriving, two to three
days beforehand, let's say acouple wants to have a little
goodie bag for their guests whenthey arrive, or they have an
agenda.
Let's say they're having ashuttle service that'll be
taking guests to and from wherethe event is taking place.
How does that all work?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
It's really easy.
I mean I have every hotel isgoing to be a little bit
different on theirspecifications regarding like a
gift bag to give out for theirguests.
We talked about it right beforewe hit report about different
hotels you've even worked withthat are very different from the
way I run it at our specifichotel.
(29:20):
Just for my hotel, holiday InnExpress and Suites and Mason,
when I have a ride asking forthis and it might be the day
they book the block, it might bethe week before, it might be
anytime during our communicationwhen they're like, oh, we want
to do a bag, in my case,absolutely, we will do that.
We won't even charge youanything extra to do it.
(29:40):
We are all about providing agreat check and experience for
all of our guests.
So in order to provide thatexperience for everybody,
including the wedding guests, weask for bags.
We brought to the hotel 24 to48 hours prior so that we have
enough time to organize, butit's not being dropped off a
month before and we have tostore it somewhere.
We don't want your wedding bagsto get crushed or be dusty.
(30:03):
Whatever it may be, we want itto be trash.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
You don't want your front desk person to partake in
a little snack during that monthor anything like that.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So we ask that they come one to two days prior.
I can set an alert onreservations to say, hey, this
person is getting a gift bag.
We actually station ours with asign right behind the front desk
at check-in that says welcome,wedding party so-and-so, with
the gift bags on the table, andwe will distribute out
non-specific gift bags towedding guests as they check-in.
(30:35):
So if they booked through thegroup lock, easy for me to put
that alert on.
If they haven't, but we foundout that they're part of the
group for one reason or anotheron points like we talked about
or booked through a third partyto save their $20 and prepay
their reservation, then if wehaven't listed that they're part
of the wedding party, they willalso get that bag.
(30:56):
So we have a greatcommunication standpoint that
works between the sales office,the front desk for arrivals with
our management team andoperations.
So we try to stick to that.
It seems to work the best fornot just the wedding group but
for all arrivals on those busyweekends that are coming in but
nobody's waiting in a long time,even though we're doing an
(31:18):
extra service for the weddingguests.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love your third shift people,because there have been times
where at least the couple's beenmade aware that somebody booked
outside of the block and I cansend the complete guest list
over and they'll cross-checkreservations and then shift some
things around so that at leastwhen that couple who use their
(31:41):
rewards points to book the room,they'll still get that goodie
bag when they check in.
And you're totally spot onright with it's really important
to check with the hotel to seewhat their gift bag policies are
, because, especially withdowntown properties, you'll see
that a lot of them do charge aper bag fee and that's because
(32:02):
they'll deliver it directly tothe room for you.
Some require that you actuallyput the name of the guest on it.
Most don't, but there are someproperties that do require that.
So it's important to check onwhat exactly is the property
requesting of you to make thisbag distribution successful,
because they want to make surethat we're in the hospitality
industry.
We want to make sure that allof your guests are treated the
(32:25):
way that you would treat them ifyou were at the front desk.
We want to make sure that theyget that bag.
We want to make sure that theroom is clean, that we want to
make sure that they're happy,and it's important to make sure
that that line of communicationis open if you are going to do a
goodie bag of some sort foryour guests.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
And as far as goodie bags go.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I tell people this is the KPL rule of thumb Something
wet, something crunchy,something chocolatey, something
minty, Tends to go over wellwith everybody and so I don't
know.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Yeah, and a nice little hangover kit would be
lovely.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Are you implying people are going to drink at the
wedding?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
This will be a couple spirits, you know hands on the
choice on whether your weddinghas an open bar on how much time
at all you need to provide.
We also do things like.
You know a popcorn flavor.
There's local popcorn places inour area anyway that will do
like wedding popcorn orsomething that's cool, excellent
(33:21):
, great for area.
People are coming from outsideCincinnati.
There might be Skyline Chili.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Yeah, for some Montgomery Inn.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
Oh, I've seen that where they'll do like a city
themed bag, I'm like I had onethat was up in Dayton and what
they did was they had EstherPrice chocolates and Mike Sells
potato chips and I think theyactually had a beer from one of
the local brewing companies andso that's a big one that you'll.
That's kind of the Dayton bagthat you'll see.
Or like Cincinnati, they'llhave like a little coupon for a
(33:54):
cheese coni and DefinitelyGrippos and Buskin (Bakery)
cookies.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Buskin cookies that's a big one.
That's a big one too.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I love some of the stuff Grippos, yum, that sounds
so good right now.
Better put a bag of Grippos in.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I had one of these really cute gift boxes, so
instead of a bag it was anactual box and she included a
Polaroid camera in it, and soshe's like, while you're here in
Cincinnati, make sure you liveit through this camera, but then
you have to make sure to sharethose with us.
You know, after the wedding andthings, and I thought that that
was the most creative one.
I think I've seen what a greatidea.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
People now like share a QR code on, say, like their
introduction page, and then thatQR code can go right to a
wedding like photo page sopeople can upload their pictures
of the wedding or everything tothis page that all the guests
have access to.
So that part is really cool too, that there's so much more
(34:55):
coming in the electronic worldthat allows people to add to the
wedding experience.
And lasting I think I lovetaking pictures, so short videos
.
I think that pictures are amemory that just is there
forever.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
And you can like, speak to the video too.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
I could be like.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
You did your wedding day yeah and post it, and now
you have it forever yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Well, and it's so cool when people do take videos
at weddings too, because thatwas the one regret that my
husband and I had was that wedidn't get a videographer and
we've lost a lot of familymembers in 20 years and when we
do like, one of our guests didhave a video camera and they
were taking some video and it'sso precious because those people
(35:40):
aren't with us anymore and whenyou see them moving it's almost
like they're still here with us.
So now, totally agree.
So if somebody wants to book ahotel block at one of your
properties, how do they get intouch with you?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
They can reach out to us directly.
We'll make sure that you haveKiersten's and my information so
that people can directly emailus.
But in any wedding block Isuggest that they look at their
area.
They choose five, six hotelsthat they really want to
investigate and, depending onyour wedding block size, most
(36:12):
hotels will stick to a courtesyblock at 20 or less, sometimes
less, because you're notguaranteeing any revenue to the
hotel and the hotel is holdingthat inventory right up until 30
days prior.
So even if other events come tothe area, they can't give away
your rooms because you'recontracted with them.
I would say to look at that andthen reach out to them to set up
(36:34):
appointments to come and viewthe hotel.
Once you know that you would behappy staying in the hotel,
that's when I would start sayingOK, what does your contract
look like?
What's?
What kind of guarantee do yourequire?
What additional perks do youoffer?
Do you have complimentarybreakfast?
Do you have a meeting room?
Is that something that youutilize?
Kirsten's hotel has a bar.
(36:55):
What are the bar hours?
Is there anything special wecan do with the bar?
All those other questions thatcome with it.
And then remember to ask yourdirector of sales.
What's the most common thingsthat they see with weddings?
Because we have a wealth ofknowledge on things that happen
and we have even things that wewould tell you hey, don't do.
This Not going to work the wayyou think it is Right.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Maybe don't use this shuttle, let's use this one.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Liz, Kiersten, thank you so much for joining us today
.
Thank you for listening.
Please subscribe to Your DreamDay Podcast by clicking that
Subscribe button.
We will be back next week withanother topic to help you with
planning your wedding.
This is Kathy Piech-Lucas withYour Dream Day.
Happy planning.
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