Hey gang,
i'm getting married in sept. in ithaca ny and i'm wondering if any of you have tips/experience in blocking large numbers of rooms for events? i've got a meeting set up with the sales dept at the courtyard in ithaca in mid-feb. i wonder if there are any suggestions for me going into this meeting. we're looking at buying 10 rooms and needing to block an additional 30.
thanks much.

Not a problem. Tell the Sales rep how many rooms you need. They will give you a deadline, after which they will release the rooms that your guests have not reserved. That deadline might be 60 days, 30 days or even a week before your big event, depending on how many of those rooms they figure they can otherwise sell.

In addition to the blocking of rooms you'll get a discount on the rate for the rooms.

Don't accept the first offer you get for the cut-off date on releasing blocked rooms without some negotiation.

Don't forget to tell the sales rep that you want your meeting planner points or miles.

According to that link, you can only get meeting points @ Marriot or Reniasiance. What about courtyard,Residence or any of the others?

Your looking at 40 rooms for a total of how many room nights? Since it's on a weekend you should be able to negotiate a very good rate.They also should give you some free room nights depending on the total nights booked.

Thanks everyone for your help.

this would be for a friday night and saturday night. i'll ask about the meeting planner points anyway. would be neat to get them.

Well thats 80 room nights,you should be able to get at least 2 free rooms for each night.
If you can't get the points from them tell them you will have a travel agent make the reservation and then they will end up paying a commission,or you may want to work out a deal with a friendly travel to split the commission.Just a suggestion

Hey gang,
well they are driving a hard bargain at this marriott ithaca courtyard.
i met with the director of sales and was told that they would sell and block the rooms at the regular rate. (currently $149 for a standard room). I was quite surprised that they wouldn't offer any compromise on the price. Especially, since we intend to hold the rehearsal dinner for 40 people at the hotel too. and we are looking to block 40 rooms. the only thing they are giving us is one guarenteed suite upgrade for one of the rooms. they are mailing a contract for us to sign next week. any thoughts?

any thoughts?

oh yes... go elsewhere if possible

Shop around. If that's the "best" deal you can get, then take it. Personally, I'd be offended with that offer!

------------------
Bob

Unfortunately as a Marriott associate I would gree with you Misman......definately shop it around, Sounds like a franchise (managed hotels don't have Dir of Sales at CY's any longer) but I would try speaking with the GM

No discount on price? No free rooms? Ridiculous, but not unheard of. I'm an event coodinator for my company and can get free rooms, points, discount on price (usually 40% off), etc. When I call to check on space/room availability they ask for all of my corporate information which is why I usually get good rates. When my sister was getting married, she contacted a hotel for a room block explaining to them that it was for a wedding to be held about a mile away. They quoted her the standard room rate and no free rooms. I called and explained that I do this as a career and I was helping my sister out in getting a quote. They gave me a 25% discount rate and a free upgrade. This to me isn't a great deal but they explained to me that the weekend we were looking at was a high wedding weekend (early October) and also had room blocks for other local wedding parties (so the demand was already high). Also, when brides-to-be call, most hotel sales staff think they are a not informed about the room block perks and can get away with not giving them a break.

Call around (if there are other hotels available). If worse comes to worse, try to negotiate again and remind them that if no break can be given on the room block rate that you would be forced to go to another hotel taking that rehersal dinner expenses elsewhere.

Good luck and best wishes!

We held our reception at a Marriott and used it as the primary hotel for out-of-town guests. They did a wonderful job with us on the rooms for our guests: $79/night for a large urban Marriott with a block of 40 rooms/night held until 1 week before the event. I also earned about 20,000 Rewards points from the deal, and we got the most amazing upgrade one could ask for. (This suite had about five rooms including a dining rooms and grand piano.)

I think the key to all of that nice treatment was the fact that we were having the reception at Marriott. Moreso than my status in MR and moreso than the revenue I was bringing with the room-nights. (The hotel ended up selling out due to NFL football and another convention.) I know Marriott made a very large profit on the catering/bar bill, so the fact that we were spending quite a bit of money in this area undoubtedly had a lot to do with it.

Even if you aren't holding your reception at Marriott: a forty-person rehearsal dinner should be enough leverage to earn at least a little goodwill on the room rate. Unless the Marriott is tied into an oustanding restaurant at which you *have* to have your rehearsal dinner, I would shop around and make Marriott aware that you are doing so because of the high room rates. You may find another hotel that aggressively wants your catering+room business, or you may find a great restaurant that wants your dinner business along with a less expensive (but still nice) hotel.

Not that I'm an expert in small-city upstate New York travel, but $149 for a weekend-night seems awful high.