How to Book Hotel Rooms for Your London Wedding
Guest Room at The Double Red Duke
Planning a London wedding but unsure about booking your accommodation? You’re in safe hands. Our useful guide covers everything from block booking rooms to negotiating the best deal on your hotel rates.
A wedding in the capital should be special for everyone involved. That’s why it’s important to make sure your guests have somewhere to rest after eating, drinking, and dancing the night away.
SEARCH LONDON HOTELS FOR GROUP BOOKINGS
Ask Your Wedding Venue For Local Hotel Recommendations
A great place to start when booking hotel rooms is to ask your wedding venue for recommendations. They see guests come and go every day, so they’ll have a great idea of where London’s best accommodation is.
If you’re looking to get your bookings out of the way, why not ask for recommendations when you view wedding venues? Your host will know the local area and be able to make some great suggestions. Then, you can book them using our group hotel booking system.
Another option would be to check your wedding venue’s website. Venues like 41 Portland Place with its stunning Georgian architecture and the spectacular Dulwich College provide details of nearby hotels they trust, giving you peace of mind when booking with them.
Group Block Booking Rooms To Save Time And Money
If you’re looking to book multiple hotel rooms for out-of-town guests (or anyone who may need one), block booking with your London hotel is a great idea.
Room blocks are usually a reservation of 10 or more rooms in your chosen hotel. These rooms can then be booked by your guests once your reservation is confirmed.
Most blocks come with reduced rates to account for the business you bring to the hotel. These rates are often negotiable too, meaning you could save a significant amount against booking separately.
Negotiating Your Rate
As we mentioned, hotels are often open to negotiating lower rates for block bookings. It’s worth enquiring, as in some cases hotels offer not just reduced rates, but handy additions like spa credits or free valet parking.
Our wedding group block hotel bookings tool will find you the lowest rate and make it easy to cost compare and negotiate online for the guaranteed lowest prices.
SEARCH LONDON HOTELS FOR GROUP BOOKINGS
Booking Your Wedding Guest Hotel Rooms
When block booking your hotel rooms, it’s important to check the rates before signing anything. Often hotels base their prices on what’s happening that day or week.
This means if you were to book in a popular central spot like Kensington — if there were no major events in the area around the time — you could find a great deal compared to busier times of the year.
You’ll also find some hotels that offer courtesy blocking, which allows you to reserve a set number of rooms. Once those rooms are reserved, you are then able to add more if needed.
It’s also handy to know which of your guests will need accommodation. The best way to approach this is to look at your guest list, noting down who is making a significant journey to attend. You should then be able to gauge which guests need one room, multiple rooms or who might be comfortable sharing a room.
An issue when booking hotels for others, is that not all guests will want the same thing. You may have family who enjoy five-star hotel stays, whereas other guests may not be able to afford it.
To resolve this, couples often reserve room blocks at several hotels which vary in price. That way, all your guests are satisfied, no matter what their budget is.
Deciding Where To Book A Hotel In London Near Your Wedding
Deciding where in the city to book your hotel is key. If you’re planning on block booking across several different hotels, it’s a good idea to make sure they are close together in distance.
This way, when you arrange your guest’s transport to the wedding venue — they can agree on a ‘mutual pick-up point’ between hotels. This saves you money on multiple transport bookings and your guests won’t have to walk far for pick-up.
Check Your Booking Agreement
Block booking sounds great on paper. Timesaving, manageable, and easy on the wallet — but it’s important to read your terms and conditions to ensure you’re not met with any surprises.
When you book a room block, once your reservation is confirmed, your hotel will give you a cut-off date. This is the date your guests need to make their bookings by.
Every hotel manages block bookings differently in terms of the rooms they expect you to fill. Usually, if you book a block of rooms, any rooms which aren’t booked by the given cut-off date will be relisted as available, with no additional fee to pay.
Some hotels utilise an attrition rate. This means you’re financially responsible for booking most of the rooms you’ve set aside by a specified date.
Attrition rates usually sit between 15 and 20%, meaning they allow you room for movement if that percentage of rooms are not filled. Certain hotels implement a step-method approach to their attrition rate, meaning the rate changes over time (i.e., 15% attrition at 90 days out, 10% at 60 days out, 5% at 30 days out, and 0% after 30 days).
Some hotels are generous with their cut-off dates, allowing a shorter window of 30 days before the wedding. Others have less lenient windows of 60 or 90 days.
Keep Your Guests Up To Date With Arrangements
It’s worth checking in with your guests when it comes to room availability and cut-off dates.
Why not set a reminder a week or so before? Your venue rep will likely check in with you to remind you of your cut-off date and update you on which guests have made a booking. It’s still worth setting a reminder in your phone or calendar to ensure you don’t forget.
Once the hotel confirms your room block reservation, reach out to your guests, and let them know the easiest way for them to make a booking.
Remind them that they need to make their room booking by the cut-off date or they risk missing out on rooms, or worse — paying a higher rate than the reduced room block rate.
Book Your Stay With Our Group Bookings Tool!
Of course, if you’re looking for a convenient way to make your booking, our group booking tool is free and easy to use.
All you need is your availability and the number of rooms you require, and our tool will sort the rest.
