Front office
What is a room block?
A room block is a number of rooms held out of general sale for a group, such as a wedding party, a conference or a tour, usually at an agreed rate. Guests book from the block until a cut-off date, after which unsold rooms are released back to general inventory.
How a block works
The hotel and the organiser agree the dates, the number of rooms, the rate and a cut-off date. The organiser sends a rooming list, or guests book individually against the block. Billing is often split: room and breakfast to a master account paid by the organiser, and extras to each guest.
The risk to manage
Blocked rooms can't be sold to anyone else, so an unfilled block costs revenue on busy dates. Protect against that with a deposit, a cut-off date that leaves time to resell the rooms, and a clause covering how many rooms the group may drop without charge.
In StaySynq
StaySynq handles group bookings and room blocks, and blocked rooms come out of the availability sent to your channel manager.
Common questions
What is a cut-off date?
The date by which the group must confirm its rooms. Rooms not taken up by then go back on general sale.
What is a rooming list?
The organiser's list of which guest is in which room, with arrival and departure dates. The hotel uses it to create the individual reservations.
Related terms
- Advance depositAn advance deposit is money paid before the stay or event to secure a booking. The hotel holds it as a credit on the guest's account and sets it against the final bill at check-out. Deposits are common for peak dates, group bookings and banquets.
- FolioA folio is the running account of everything a guest is charged and everything they pay during a stay: room nights, restaurant bills, minibar, laundry, taxes, deposits and payments. At check-out the folio is settled and becomes the basis for the invoice.
- BEO (banquet event order)A BEO, or banquet event order, is the document that sets out everything a hotel must deliver for an event: date and timings, hall and layout, guest count, menu, beverages, equipment, staffing, billing instructions and the client's contact. Every department works from it.
- Stop-sellA stop-sell is an instruction to stop selling a room type or rate plan for particular dates, on one channel or all of them, even though rooms may still be available. Hotels use it to protect inventory for higher-value bookings or to prevent overbooking.
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Book a 30-minute demo. We'll walk through your specific property type, room count, and channel mix, then show you exactly what your data looks like on StaySynq.
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