Hotel for wedding guests (room blocks)

[Arsenal14]

Do any of you have recommendations for hotels I should look at when arranging rooms for the guests at my wedding? We're getting married at the zoo so we won't be using the hotel for the reception or anything, we just want to get our guests a discount if possible. Downtown or northeast are probably best.

I'm planning to contact Hotel Arts, Delta Bow Valley and Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites but would love to hear your experiences with other hotels. Basically, I don't have time to bulk contact a ton of hotels so I'm trying to put together a short list.

[lazypucker]

Just call up the big hotel chains and often they can provide great group rates. If you want to stay close to the zoo I will recommend the 16th Ave Farmer Market area as well.

For downtown I will recommend the International Hotel. It's way cheaper than Delta Bow Valley and Westin ($40+ per room per night cheaper) and the rooms are equal standards.

[dubc80]

Maybe try the Clarion. Just off 16th Ave, East of Deerfoot.

Bet it would be much cheaper than the Dt hotels and still reasonably close for cabs.

I'm just speaking in regards to location though. Can't speak to the quality of rooms, or service as I haven't ever stayed there.

[Maccalus]

When I got married at the zoo we got a rate at the Hyatt downtown. It is right on the train line for the guests to take the train to the zoo and the rate on the weekend wasn't any worse than a similar quality hotel in the suburbs ($130ish a night if I remember right).

[dubc80]

Couple more things:

I found that when we blocked rooms for our wedding guests in April, the "deal" they gave us wasn't really that much of a deal.

It was marginally cheaper ($10-$15/night) at the time of the block, but I had guests tell me they could get the room cheaper if they just booked themselves off booking.com or Expedia or whatever.

But I guess you're also doing it for peace of mind that there will be rooms available, not necessarily trying to get your guests a great deal.

Also, make sure you guys aren't on the hook for any rooms should you not make the quota. There were some places which had this type of bogus policy in place.

[RW99]

Yeah if you want people to book on their own you wont get that much of a discount. The bigger discount would come with an actual contract for a set number of rooms. These usually have a 30-60 day window before the event when you need to give final number of rooms. Rooms cancelled within that window are generally non-refundable. The real discount comes with actual wedding packages with meals, etc. As far as the hotel is concerned, I'd vote for the Intercontinental as above.

[temple5]

Things may have changed since I got married but I didnt find the room prices to be any cheaper then booking individually.

The only real advantage I found is the price guarantee that is normally 30 days before wedding, but rooms arent held so if you book late might not get a room.

Personally I wouldnt bother with hotel bookings, seemed like a waste unless bride and groom are staying at a destination type wedding then it might be good to have everyone together. But for Calgary wedding I wouldnt bother with it. Most wont book with that hotel anyway.

[Northendzone]

How about something in the motel village area, close to train line and if your guests only need a room for a couple of hours to "freshen up" they are golden

[Flames_18_22_12]

We went through hotel arts and they offered us $129/night for our guests. They gave also been nothing but helpful to us throughout the process.

Good luck!

[morgin]

Sheraton Eau Claire. They treated us so well and had great rates. Did not have our wedding there.