At contracting stage consider:

1. Where are your delegates coming from?  If it's a local event, it's likely that your rooms won't be picked up as people will head home.

2. What sort of budget do your delegates have?  They might be counting the pennies and want to book a cheaper hotel nearby.

3. What type of rooms do you require - single or doubles?  This will affect the number of rooms you will need.

4. What extras do you need included in the rate i.e. breakfast, bedroom internet.  This may affect your bedroom rate.

5. ALWAYS check the hotel's internet rate and a couple of price comparison websites to make sure your rate is competitive.  It's worth requesting a clause in the contract along the lines of "the Hotel agrees that the special group rate for Hotel Rooms will remain lower than the rack rate and this rate is guaranteed."

6. Ensure the hotel updates you on the room block situation on a regular basis (every 2 weeks 2-3 months before the show, every week 1 month before the show) - you can request this as a clause in the contract.

7. To ensure that every delegate who attended your event is included in your room block, request that yourself and the hotel cross checks the attendee list with the hotel rooming list.  All attendees will be allocated to your block.  - you can request this as a clause in the contract.

8. Always ask that after the cut off date, any unsold rooms will go back into the Hotel's general room block with no attrition charges to the event (this tends not to be possible in the US, and increasingly more difficult in Europe but always worth trying to include in contract negotiation stage).  In the US you will need to negotiate on the accommodation slippage at contracting stage; the higher the slippage percentage then the lower your liability.

Marketing Stage:

1. Ensure your delegates know about your special rate and receive clear information on how to book - mention it on all your marketing website, brochures, emails (an accommodation weblink provided by the hotel is normally the easiest tool to use here)

2. Make sure your delegates know they are getting a good rate, referring to it as 'special discount' and 'exclusive rate' & mention the amount they will save by booking into your room block.

3. Perhaps you'd like to offer delegates an incentive to book early (and reduce your room block stress from the outset!) or during the campaign in order to push bookings.  See if the hotel will offer free internet / breakfast / free bar drinks for all those who book their rooms by xx date.

Before the Meeting:

1. Request an extension of the cut off date, giving you longer to sell some rooms and fill the room block

2. For any rooms left in your block, the hotel should make every effort to resell the rooms to other organisations and individuals (pop this in your contract when negotiating).  You can request a summary from the hotel as to its efforts to attempt to resell unused room nights.

3. At this stage it may be worth discussing with the hotel revenue manager any extra revenue your event has brought in, and seeing if this can offset any bedroom attrition that you could be liable for (i.e. anything extra not contracted that has increased profit for the hotel: higher than expected meeting attendance, extra meeting rooms, pre dinner canapes, additional meals i.e. a dinner)

4. Another option may be to consider holding a future event at the hotel and discuss with your sales contact that if you were to book such a meeting, would the hotel be willing to offset or eliminate attrition fees?

These are just a couple of ideas that we have used.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts, leave a comment below or contact us directly with any questions you may have!