Booking a room block for your destination wedding…
Wedding group bookings are very different from booking travel individually. In order to ensure a stress-free experience, it is often recommended that wedding couples secure a room block reservation to accommodate their guests' hotel stay. CORAL is also able to facilitate amazing perks alongside your room block including free rooms, complementary functions and free flights for the wedding couple (perks are based on which package you select, group size & seasonality).
What is a room block?
A room block is when a group of rooms is set aside by the resort under your group reservation. The wedding couple can reserve the necessary amount of rooms to accommodate their wedding along with securing rates and promotions for the group booking. Just as you would not have a wedding in your hometown without making a reservation, you would not expect an overseas establishment to be able to accommodate your group without making a reservation.
How does the room block booking work?
Your CORAL Destination Wedding Specialist will provide you with a group travel package for your chosen resort. Once the wedding couple is happy with the resort and travel package, they will place a deposit which goes towards paying for their own room and it secures the room block inventory, nightly rates and promotions outlined in their travel package. Their guests will then have an assigned deposit due date several months down the line, where they will need to put down a small deposit themselves to confirm their reservation, which goes towards the cost of their room. The couple and their guests will then have an assigned amount of time before the final payment of their room is due (typically a few months prior to travel). One of the benefits of group bookings is that your guests will have plenty of time to save up for their holiday as opposed to having to pay in full immediately to secure their reservation at the resort.
Why is it necessary to make a room block reservation for my wedding?
Resorts do not have an infinite amount of rooms available. They book up without warning, especially at peak times or if they are having multiple groups booking into the resort at once. Without a room block there is no guarantee that the resort will be able to accommodate all the guests' room requests for your wedding by the time they go to book. It’s possible for wedding groups who do not book a room block reservation early enough to end up with some of their guests having to stay elsewhere if their wedding resort is full. This can lead to all types of issues such as fees for off-site guests, transportation to your wedding and the inconvenience of not having everyone staying together at the same resort. Another potential risk is that rates will often rise exponentially by the time your guests go to book their holiday. Reserving a room block holds the rates in your travel package well in advance, so even as you watch prices rise online, your room block rates are being held.
Will the wedding couple get perks for making a group booking?
Group travel includes many promotions, such as free room nights, which is given to the wedding couple as a cash credit to spend on their travel, wedding or however they like. Some resort packages may offer complimentary functions based on the number of guests who end up booking in your room block. Consult with your CORAL Destination Wedding Specialist to determine the resort wedding package that will offer you the best value and promotions. Depending on the resort’s specific group promo, wedding couples can receive considerable perks and savings alongside their room block booking. Typically the room rates that you will see through your group travel package will be less than if you look on the resort’s website at their individual room rates. However, by the time your guests place their deposit and full payment, rates online will typically have increased even more, while your group rates are being held. It’s not uncommon to see website prices have spiked quite a bit higher by the time the group booking final payment is due.
Why couldn’t I just encourage guests to book their rooms online?
Resorts can sell off remnant rooms quickly online through sites like Expedia and Sell Off Vacations to individual guests. The rates you see on these types of websites are typically for remnant rooms (ie. no more than 5 rooms available at that rate). For example, if you have a group requiring 30 rooms, perhaps the first 5 rooms will be able to book online through the external site, but the remaining 25 rooms will face the rate hike for the now premium priced rooms in the next section that they are selling, or worse the resort will be at full capacity by the time your remaining guests try to book. This hassle is easily avoidable by making a room block reservation at your wedding resort for your group, so that everyone can access the same group rates. Your room block will allow you to have a contract directly through your wedding resort, whereas bookings made on external websites are contracted through that website. If the resort over-sells their capacity, your room block is protected and guests on external websites face being walked to a sister property if there is no room for them. Also, when guests book individually through external websites, wedding couples do not get access to any of the fantastic group promotions that are available alongside a room block.
Do group booking rates go up over time if I don’t reserve now? What about wedding day availability?
Yes, group booking rates will typically go up over time and this is due to supply and demand. With more room inventory available, resorts are trying to fill up and they tend to do so by offering lower rates as an incentive. As they do fill up sections of the resort through time, there is less incentive for them to offer cheaper rooms to groups.
Wedding day availability can be one of the most frustrating parts of the initial destination wedding planning process. Certain resorts offer wedding incentives and specialize in weddings and those resorts tend to have their wedding dates book up extremely quickly. Keep in mind that resorts are not able to perform an infinite amount of destination weddings. Particularly if you are set on your wedding date or want a weekend wedding, you will want to book your date as far in advance as possible by placing a small deposit with the resort’s wedding department (your CORAL representative will assist with this).