For 1 - 8 rooms....
use our main
hotel search form
for instant rate quotes.

Who saves
with group rates?

School groups:
> Sports teams
> Band trips
> Senior trips
> Field trips
> Clubs

Church events & trips

Group vacations

Companies:
> Conventions
> Sales meetings

Reunions:
> Family reunions
> Class reunions
> Military reunions

Work crews

Special Events
 

Terms Related to 
Group Hotel Reservations

Airport hotel - Hotel located near a major airport; usually does not have a lot of recreational facilities.

Alpha list - An alphabetical listing of reservations for a convention, hotel, or company.

Attrition - Where an organization contracts with a hotel for a specific number of rooms and, upon completion of the meeting or conference, the total amount of rooms actually used is less than the number originally contracted.

Airport transfer - A transportation service to/from an airport to hotel, convention center, business, etc. that is normally free of charge.

American Plan - A hotel rate which includes the price of the room and all three meals per guest for each day of your stay.

American Service - Food is plated in the kitchen and placed before the guest. Side dishes are used for bread and butter and salad. Food is served from the left, beverages from the right, and all items are removed from the right. This is generally the service used for banquets.

Arrival pattern - Anticipated dates and times of arrival of group members.

Arrival time - Time or approximate time guests plan to arrive at a facility.

Blind commission - A commission paid by a hotel to a travel agent or other third party. Part of the hotel's overhead expenses factored into the room rate; usually not separately itemized to guests or meeting planners.

Cancellation clause - A clause in a reservation agreement which defines when a reservation can be cancelled without losing a deposit or being charged.

Casualty - An industry term for rooms which were reserved but not used.

Check-in - Hotel arrival date and time.

Check-out - Hotel departure date and time.

Complimentary room - A sleeping room provided at no cost as part of a group reservation. The number of complimentary rooms is negotiated between the hotel and the group making the reservation. For example, a hotel might provide one complimentary room for every 25 rooms paid for.

Confirmed reservation - After reserving a room, the hotel will provide the guest with a unique confirmation number for the reservation. If there's any confusion about the reservation at time of check-in, the confirmation number can be used to locate the original transaction in the hotel's reservation system.

Continental Plan - A hotel rate which includes breakfast for each day of your stay.

Convention rates - Hotel rates assigned to a particular group. This is usually a negotiated discount rate. The name comes from the use of such rates for attendees of a convention.

Corporate rates - Special hotel rates made available to corporations as an incentive to gain the corporate business. These rates may vary by corporation, depending on the negotiated agreement.

Cutoff date - A designated date when the hotel will no longer hold a block of sleeping rooms which had been set aside for members of a group staying at the hotel. The date is typically three to four weeks before the group's stay/event. The rooms will be released for use by the general public.

Double room - A room for two people with either one or two beds.

Early-out - A member of a group who checks out of hotel earlier than they scheduled at check-in. This may result in a fee from the hotel.

Guaranteed reservation - Money paid by a hotel guest prior to arrival in order to guarantee the reservation. The amount is usually equivalent to one night’s lodging and is often non-refundable after a certain time of day. In this case, since the guest did not show up to check in for the reservation, the forfeited amount is sometimes called a "no-show charge."

Housing list/Rooming list - A list of guests in a group, their arrival and departure times, method of payment, and room data supplied to the hotel before the group's arrival.

Itinerary - Your printed travel plan. If booking through a travel agency, the itinerary typically will include air, hotel and car reservations. If booking directly with each travel provider, a separate itinerary may be provided for each reservation.

No-show report - A report generated by hotels to indicate the names and number of attendees who made reservations but did not use the hotel rooms.

Outsource - When an outside vendor provides services over and above what the hotel may offer, such as spouse programs and audio-visual services.

Pickup pattern - The pace at which rooms which have been "blocked off" or held aside for a group are actually reserved by members of the group.

Pickup report - A post-event analysis of a room block stating the number of units (rooms and suites) used by the meeting attendees on a night-by-night basis.

Rack rate - The standard full rate for a particular hotel room or suite. If you ask for a lower rate, you can often get it.

Rating - Mobil, AAA, and others evaluate and rate individual hotel properties. They rank the properties on a scale expressed in terms of "stars" or "diamonds." A "5-star" hotel is the most luxurious and well-kept.

Reasonable accommodation - Facilities and services made by a hotel to address the needs of physically challenged guests.

Rebate - That part of a group room rate which the hotel gives to the event's sponsoring organization to help offset the cost of conference-related activities.

Room block - Part of a hotel's room inventory held under contract for a set period of time between a hotel and client.

Rooming list - The names provided to a hotel corresponding to the number of rooms set aside for a particular group.

Shoulder dates - Dates before and after an event's peak room nights or when the main activities of the meeting are not occurring.

Slippage - The difference between the number of rooms in a contracted room block and the number of rooms that were actually used.

Split rate - Different room rates offered to a group based on: different room types, such as regular guest rooms vs. tower rooms; a lower rate provided as an incentive to book early; or rates for different types of days, such as a weekday vs. weekend rate.

Sub-block - A portion of the total room block that is held aside for use by a specific type of attendees such as VIPs, speakers, staff, exhibiting companies, state delegations, affiliates, and chapters.

Twin room - A guest room with two twin-sized beds.

Unit - One guest room or one room of a suite.

WE KNOW
GROUP 
RESERVATIONS

Understanding group
reservations at hotels

• Why hotels offer them
• How to find group rates
• Sleeping rooms
• Meeting rooms (optional)
• Catering (optional)

Asking for perks 
• Leveraging buying power

Travel Planning
Quick Reference