The short answer
A hotel room block contract for a wedding commits you to a number of room nights at a group rate, and its attrition clause says what you pay if guests book fewer than an agreed share of them. Before signing, find the room nights per night, the attrition percentage and how pickup is measured, the cutoff date, whether a rooming list is required, and who is financially responsible.
What is in a hotel room block contract for a wedding?
Start with the room grid: the number of rooms held on each night, the room types and the group rate for each. Rooms multiplied by nights gives your room nights, which is the figure attrition is measured against. Then find the cutoff date, the booking method (a booking link, a group code or a rooming list you submit), any deposit, and the name of the person the contract holds financially responsible.
Read the lines around the rate too: taxes, resort or destination fees, parking, minimum-stay requirements and whether guests pay for their own rooms or some rooms are billed to a master account. Some contracts also tie the block to an event at the hotel, such as a welcome party, so cancelling one affects the other.
- Rooms per night, room types and group rate
- Total room nights committed
- Attrition percentage and how pickup is measured
- Cutoff date and what happens after it
- Booking method: link, code or rooming list
- Who signs and is financially responsible
- Taxes, resort fees and minimum stays
What is attrition in a hotel room block?
An attrition clause lets your pickup fall to a stated share of the block before a charge applies. Wording such as "Group agrees to utilize [X]% of the total contracted room nights" sets that floor. If pickup lands below it, the contract states what you pay for the difference, which may be the group rate, a stated percentage of it, or another base the clause defines.
The details decide the charge. Check whether pickup is measured cumulatively across all nights or night by night, whether it counts reservations at the cutoff date or rooms actually occupied after checkout, whether guests who booked outside the block count toward it, whether rooms the hotel resells are credited to you, and whether tax is added to the attrition charge.
How much could an attrition shortfall cost? For example
For example, a hypothetical contract holds 30 rooms on Friday and 30 on Saturday, 60 room nights, at $180 a night, with an 80% floor. The floor is 60 x 0.80 = 48 room nights. Suppose guests pick up 14 rooms on Friday and 26 on Saturday, 40 in total. Measured cumulatively, the shortfall is 48 - 40 = 8 room nights, and 8 x $180 = $1,440.
Now suppose the same clause measures each night separately. The nightly floor is 30 x 0.80 = 24. Friday is 24 - 14 = 10 room nights short, or 10 x $180 = $1,800. Saturday's 26 is above its floor, but the extra 2 do not offset Friday. The same pickup produces $1,440 under one wording and $1,800 under the other, before any tax the clause adds.
What happens at the room block cutoff date?
On the cutoff date, unreserved rooms in the block are released back to the hotel's general inventory. After that, a guest may be offered the group rate only if rooms remain, or may not be offered it at all; the contract says which. Put the cutoff date on your calendar next to your RSVP date and work out which comes first, because a cutoff before your RSVP deadline means you judge pickup before you know who is coming.
Ask the hotel for a pickup report on dates you choose before the cutoff, so you can remind guests or ask about reducing the block while the contract still allows it. Check whether the contract permits a reduction, by how much and until when, and whether a reduction changes the attrition floor.
What is a rooming list and who is responsible for it?
A rooming list is a list you send the hotel with each guest's name, arrival and departure dates and room type. If your contract uses one instead of a booking link, find its due date and what happens to rooms without a name. Some contracts release unnamed rooms; others count them as committed. Ask how guests guarantee their rooms and whose card is charged for a no-show or early departure.
If you are paying for some rooms on a master account, list those rooms and state which charges you cover, for example room and tax only, with incidentals paid by the guest. Ask the hotel to confirm that in writing so a guest's room service does not land on your bill.
Can you negotiate a hotel room block contract?
You can ask a hotel to change a room block contract before you sign, and the terms that set your exposure are the ones to ask about first: the attrition floor, whether pickup is measured cumulatively or night by night, the cutoff date, and whether you can reduce the block by a stated date. The group rate and any complimentary rooms can be part of the same request.
Make each request specific and ask for the answer as a revised contract rather than an email. For example, asking for a hypothetical 70% floor instead of 80% on 60 room nights moves the floor from 48 to 42 room nights. The hotel decides what it accepts.
Wedding hotel room block questions to ask before signing
Ask the hotel to answer in writing: how pickup is measured and when, whether resold rooms are credited, whether outside bookings count, how the attrition charge is calculated and taxed, and what happens if the hotel oversells and relocates a guest. Ask whether any concessions, such as a complimentary room, depend on pickup.
Whether a clause is enforceable, or what it requires of you in a dispute, depends on the contract and on the law that governs it, and rules vary by state. For those questions, ask the hotel to state the basis for any charge in writing and consult a qualified attorney licensed in the relevant state, which may be the state named in the contract's governing-law clause.
Room block pickup tracker
Use one row for a decision or deliverable. Keep unanswered items visible. Download the blank worksheet to open in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
On a small screen, swipe the worksheet sideways to see the remaining columns.
| Night or item | Rooms contracted | Attrition floor | Pickup to date | Shortfall and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | — | — | — | — |
| Friday | — | — | — | — |
| Saturday | — | — | — | — |
| Sunday | — | — | — | — |
| Total room nights | — | — | — | — |
| Cutoff date | — | — | — | — |
| Rooming list due | — | — | — | — |
| Master account rooms | — | — | — | — |
A message you can make your own
Add your document reference and the questions that apply. You decide what to send and send it yourself.
Thank you for the room block proposal. Before we sign, could you confirm a few points in writing? How is pickup measured: across all nights together or night by night, and at the cutoff date or after checkout? Are rooms you resell credited to our block, and do guests who book outside the block count? How is any attrition charge calculated, and is tax added to it? Could you also send pickup reports on dates we choose before the cutoff, and tell us whether and until when we can reduce the block?
Common questions
Is there a standard attrition rate for a hotel room block?
A hotel room block attrition rate is whatever the contract sets, so there is no standard figure to rely on. Read the percentage and what it is measured against. For example, a hypothetical 80% floor on 50 room nights means guests must pick up 40 room nights to avoid a charge, and the clause states what each missing room night costs.
Do guests who book on another website count toward our block?
Guests who book on another website count toward a room block only if the contract says so or the hotel agrees. Ask whether the hotel will match outside reservations to your group and credit them to pickup, and get the answer in writing before the cutoff date.
Can we reduce the room block after signing?
Reducing a room block after signing depends on the contract, which may allow a smaller block by a stated date. The hotel decides anything beyond that. Ask whether a reduction also lowers the attrition floor, and ask for any agreed change as a signed amendment.
Are we charged if a guest cancels their room?
A guest's hotel cancellation can lower your room block pickup, and whether it does depends on when pickup is measured, at the cutoff date or after checkout. The guest's own cancellation terms are separate. Ask the hotel in writing how cancellations affect both.
Does the hotel credit resold rooms against attrition?
A credit for resold rooms applies only if the attrition clause includes a resale or "resell credit" sentence, or the hotel agrees to one. If there is none, ask the hotel before signing whether it credits resold rooms and how it shows that on the final bill.
Who should sign the room block contract?
The person who signs a room block contract is the one it holds responsible for attrition and any master-account charges. Decide who that is before signing, and make sure that person has read the attrition, cutoff and cancellation clauses.