Guarantee / Deposit

The money a hotel requires up front, or a credit guarantee it holds, to secure a room block before guests arrive. A deposit schedule spreads payments across milestones — a percentage at signing, more at cutoff, the balance before arrival — and those funds are typically credited against the master account or forfeited under the cancellation clause. Individual reservations may also carry a guarantee, such as a first-night room-and-tax charge that protects the hotel against no-shows. For a coordinator, the deposit schedule is a cash-flow deadline as much as a contractual one: missing a deposit date can jeopardize the rate or the block itself. Track deposit due dates alongside the cutoff and attrition deadlines so none of them slip through.