Comp Room
What is a comp room in a hotel contract?
A complimentary hotel room earned based on room night pickup volume, typically expressed as a ratio like "1 per 40" — one free room for every 40 room nights picked up. Comp rooms are a standard contract concession and are usually calculated on cumulative room nights picked up across the entire block, not per night. They represent significant value and should always be tracked and claimed.
Related Terms
Appears in these guides
- Hotel Comp Rooms: How 1-per-40 Ratios, Cumulative vs Per-Night, and Comp Caps Work
What a comp room is, how ratios like 1 per 40, 1 per 50 and 1 per 25 are written, why cumulative and per-night accrual produce different numbers on the same block, and what a comp cap costs you.
Comp Room: common questions
The questions people ask most about comp rooms, answered.
One comp room per 40 room nights booked — is that one free night or the whole stay?
One free room night, not a free stay. Forty picked-up room nights earn one room night at no charge, so a block that actualizes 400 room nights earns 10 comp room nights. Hotels normally credit them against the master account after checkout rather than blocking out a physical room for the length of the event. If you want a specific room comped for the duration of a four-night stay, that consumes four of the comp room nights you earned — or it is a separate concession you negotiate by name.
What is the difference between cumulative and per-night comp rooms?
Cumulative counts every picked-up room night across the whole block and applies the ratio once, so a strong peak night carries a soft shoulder. Per night applies the ratio date by date: a night below the ratio earns nothing, and a surplus on a strong night does not carry forward to cover a weak one. Cumulative is both more common and better for the group, so it is worth confirming which one the contract means rather than assuming.
What does a comp restriction of a maximum number of rooms per night mean?
It is a cap. However many comps your pickup earns, the hotel will not comp more than that number of rooms on any single night. It bites hardest on the peak night, where a large block earns the most comps and the hotel has the most revenue at stake, and it can leave earned comps unusable if the cap is low and your stay is short. Read the cap alongside the ratio: a generous ratio with a tight per-night restriction is often worth less than a plainer ratio with none.
Have more questions? Check our glossary of terms or get in touch.
Stop tracking comp rooms by hand
Blocks tracks comp rooms on the block it belongs to, beside every deadline and room night, and proposes the next step for you to review — so the busy work is handled, and nothing changes until you confirm.