Room Block

What is a hotel room block?

A room block is a set of rooms a hotel holds for one group at a negotiated rate, for specific nights, until a cutoff date. The group's contract sets how many rooms it holds each night, the rate, the dates and the cutoff. Guests book into the block or are named on a rooming list, and rooms still unbooked at the cutoff go back to the hotel. Most contracted blocks also carry an attrition clause, so the group pays if it fills less than an agreed share.

How does a hotel room block work?

A room block runs from contract to final bill in five steps:

The group and the hotel sign a contract setting the rooms held each night, the group rate, the dates, the cutoff date and the attrition terms.
Guests book into the block through a booking link, or the organizer sends the hotel a rooming list of names.
The hotel reports pickup: how many of the held room nights have been booked.
At the cutoff date, rooms nobody has booked are released to the hotel's general inventory.
After the stay, the hotel compares the room nights used with the contract and bills any attrition on the group's master account.

What a room block contract sets, using the fictional Meridian block from the attrition guide.

Term	Example
Dates	Three nights
Rooms held	100 a night
Room nights committed	300
Group rate	$189 a night
Attrition floor	80%, so 240 room nights

Why are room blocks measured in room nights?

Because that is what the hotel sells and what the contract bills. One room for one night is one room night, so 100 rooms for three nights is 300 room nights. A block can hold a different number of rooms on each night, with fewer on the arrival and departure nights than in the middle, so pickup and attrition are counted per date, not as a single number of rooms.

What is the difference between a room block and booking rooms individually?

A block holds rooms in advance at one negotiated rate, so a group of guests can stay at the same hotel on the same dates even when the hotel is busy. The trade is commitment: the organizer agrees to fill an agreed share of the rooms or pay for the gap. Booking individually carries no commitment, but each guest pays whatever rate is available when they book, and the rooms may be gone.

What is a courtesy block?

A courtesy block is a smaller hold the hotel offers without an attrition clause. The group gets the rate for a set number of rooms and owes nothing for rooms it does not fill. In return, the hotel usually sets an earlier cutoff, holds fewer rooms, and can take rooms back before the cutoff. Larger events normally need a contracted block with attrition, because a hotel will not hold a large share of its inventory with no commitment.

What happens to unused rooms in a room block?

At the cutoff date, unbooked rooms are released to the hotel's general inventory and may no longer be available at the group rate. Releasing them does not by itself settle the contract. If the block has an attrition clause, the hotel still compares the room nights used with the floor after the stay, and the group pays on any shortfall. Rooms the organizer knows it will not fill are cheaper to release early, while the hotel can still resell them.

Appears in these guides

Stay-to-Play, Explained
Stay-to-play is a tournament policy requiring teams to book inside the event's official hotel blocks to be eligible to compete. Here is how the rules work.

Go deeper

How to read a room block contractA clause-by-clause read of a group hotel contract: attrition, cutoff, cancellation, comp ratio and rate protection.Open →Room block contract checklistFifteen clauses to check before you sign, each with what good looks like. Tick them off or print the page.Open →Cutoff date calculatorTurn your arrival date into every deadline that hangs off it, and download the lot as a calendar file.Open →Attrition calculatorPrice the shortfall on your block night by night, per night or cumulatively. Free, no email required.Open →

Room Block: common questions

The questions people ask most about room blocks, answered.

What does room block mean?

A room block is a group of hotel rooms held for one event or group at a negotiated rate, for set nights, until a cutoff date. The organizer signs a contract for the rooms, guests book into them, and unbooked rooms go back to the hotel at the cutoff. Most contracted blocks also commit the group to filling an agreed share of the rooms.

How do hotel room blocks work?

The organizer contracts a number of rooms per night at a group rate. Guests book into the block through a link, or the organizer sends a rooming list. Rooms nobody books are released at the cutoff date. After the stay, the hotel measures the room nights used against the contract and bills any attrition shortfall to the group.

Is a block booking the same as a room block?

Yes. A block booking is a reservation of several rooms at once for one group, which is what a room block is. Hotels and event organizers usually say room block or group block; block booking is more common in the UK and in transport, where it means reserving a set of seats or rooms together.

Do you have to pay for unused rooms in a room block?

It depends on the contract. A courtesy block usually carries no penalty for unused rooms. A contracted block usually has an attrition clause: the group pays on any room nights it fills below the agreed floor, often 80% of the block, at or near the group rate. Releasing rooms early under a rolling release schedule can reduce what is owed.

Have more questions? Check our glossary of terms or get in touch.

Stop tracking room blocks by hand

Blocks tracks room blocks 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.

Book a Demo

By job

By industry