Room block contract checklist

1. 01

   The block and the dates

   Before any clause, check what you are actually committing to: which rooms, on which nights, at what total. A contract is a schedule of obligations, not a confirmation.

   • The arrival and departure dates match the event you are running, including shoulder nights.
   • The block is stated per night, not as one lump room count — peak and shoulder are different commitments.
   • The total room nights in the contract match the total in your own grid.
   • Every room type in the block is one you will actually use.

   What good looks like: A night-by-night allocation grid you can reconcile against your own demand, with the total room nights stated so both sides are counting the same thing.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the arrival and departure dates; the per-night allocation grid — room type, count and rate for each date; total room nights.

   Terms: Room Block, Room Night

2. 02

   Room block and rate

   The headline number hides who gets paid. Two bids at "$219" are not equal if one is net and one is 10% commissionable.

   • The rate is stated as net or commissionable, and you know which.
   • The occupancy basis is stated — single/double, and what a third or fourth guest adds per night.
   • Run-of-house, if present, is a deliberate trade rather than a surprise.
   • Taxes and fees are named separately from the rate, so you can budget the all-in figure.

   What good looks like: The rate is quoted net, the occupancy basis is stated, run-of-house is a choice you made, and per-person add-ons are capped.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the group rate, per room type and per night; whether the rate is net or commissionable, and the commission; the occupancy tax rate and each room type’s maximum occupancy.

   Terms: Group Rate, Net Rate, Commissionable Rate, Run of House

3. 03

   Attrition

   Where a slow booking season turns into a bill. Three variables decide how much it hurts: the floor, the measurement basis, and the damages formula.

   • The minimum pickup percentage is stated, and it reflects your own booking history rather than a hotel default.
   • You know whether it is measured per night or cumulatively — the same block can owe nothing one way and thousands the other.
   • You know the date it is measured on. Arrival is far kinder than the cutoff, because late bookings still count.
   • Damages are the rate less the hotel’s saved variable cost, not full room revenue.
   • There is credit for rooms the hotel resells out of your shortfall.

   What good looks like: A floor at 80% or below, measured cumulatively at guest arrival, with damages net of saved costs and a resell credit.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: whether the contract has an attrition clause at all; the minimum pickup percentage; the attrition measurement date.

   Contract review checks it under: Attrition.

   Terms: Attrition, Rolling Attrition

4. 04

   Cutoff date

   The deadline to hand over your final rooming list. It is a names deadline, not a money deadline — missing it releases rooms but does not erase your pickup commitment.

   • The cutoff is a specific calendar date, not "30 days prior".
   • You know whether it is one date for the whole block or varies by night.
   • It leaves enough runway for your department leads to return names.
   • There is language extending the group rate to late additions, subject to availability.

   What good looks like: A cutoff late enough to capture stragglers, with the group rate honoured on late additions and released rooms deducted from the block for attrition purposes.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the cutoff date.

   Terms: Cutoff Date, TBD Room

5. 05

   Cancellation and the sliding scale

   Attrition prices under-filling the block; cancellation prices walking away from it. Almost always a sliding scale that steepens as arrival approaches.

   • The base the percentage applies to is contracted room revenue, not "anticipated total revenue".
   • The hotel has a duty to mitigate by reselling, and to credit what it recovers.
   • The early tiers are reasonable rather than a steep jump months out.
   • You have written down what each tier would actually cost on this block.

   What good looks like: Tiers tied to room revenue only, a clear mitigation-and-credit obligation, and no cliff edge at 90 days.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the cancellation deadline schedule, with the penalty percentage at each tier.

   Contract review checks it under: Cancellation.

   Terms: Cancellation Clause

6. 06

   Rolling release and review dates

   Lets you shed rooms in stages instead of one lump at the cutoff. One of the most useful terms to negotiate and one of the most overlooked.

   • There are two or three named review dates before arrival.
   • Release at each date is penalty-free, and the contracted block is adjusted accordingly.
   • The dates are tied to your real booking pace, not a schedule the hotel dictates.
   • Each review date is on your calendar with a reminder ahead of it.

   What good looks like: Two or three review dates with generous, penalty-free release, and explicit language that the block you are measured against shrinks with them.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the attrition review-date schedule, with the rooms releasable at each.

   Terms: Rolling Attrition

7. 07

   Comp ratio

   How many paid room nights earn one complimentary room. Real money that goes unclaimed when nobody calculates it.

   • Comps accrue on cumulative room nights, not per night.
   • Unused comp value converts to a credit against the master account.
   • Comp rooms are excluded from the attrition measurement.
   • You have worked out what the ratio is worth on this block, and what one step better would be worth.

   What good looks like: Cumulative accrual, unused comps credited to the master account, and comps excluded from attrition.

   Contract review checks it under: Amenities.

   Terms: Comp Ratio, Comp Room

8. 08

   Concessions

   The extras that never show up in the rate. The trap is vague language: "upgrades based on availability" is worth almost nothing.

   • Every concession is quantified — a number, not "based on availability".
   • The ones your guests will actually notice are in the contract, not in an email.
   • Fee waivers name the fee and the condition.

   What good looks like: Specific, quantified, confirmed concessions — "two confirmed suite upgrades", not "upgrades subject to availability".

   Contract review checks it under: Amenities.

   Terms: Concessions

9. 09

   Resort fees and incidentals

   A mandatory daily charge on top of the rate. Unaddressed, a "$219" room lands closer to $251 once the fee and tax stack.

   • The resort fee is waived for your group, or disclosed and folded into the rate you compare bids against.
   • You know which taxes apply to the room rate and which apply to the fee.
   • Incidentals are unambiguously assigned to the individual guest, unless you intend otherwise.
   • Every other per-night or per-stay fee is named with an amount.

   What good looks like: The resort fee is waived, or it is in the number you are budgeting against, and incidentals route to the guest.

   Blocks reads this off a signed contract: the resort fee, its tax rate and whether it is waived; every other named fee, with its amount and whether it is per night, per stay or one-off.

   Contract review checks it under: Rates and fees.

   Terms: Resort Fee, Incidentals

10. 10

    Master account and billing

    Defines what lands on the bill you pay and what each guest settles at checkout. The wrong default puts a thousand dollars of minibar and parking on your invoice.

    • The routing is explicit — what is master, what is guest — and it matches what you intend.
    • The deposit schedule and payment window are stated with dates.
    • You keep the right to review the final folio before you pay it.
    • Direct bill, if you are using it, is approved with reasonable terms.

    What good looks like: Explicit routing that matches your intent, reasonable payment terms, and a reconciliation right before settlement.

    Blocks reads this off a signed contract: whether the block bills to a master account or the guest pays; the deposit and payment schedule, with the amount due at each date; the billing notes.

    Contract review checks it under: Payment terms.

    Terms: Master Account, Guarantee / Deposit

11. 11

    Rate protection

    Commits the hotel not to undersell your group rate. Without it, guests find the hotel’s own site cheaper and book outside your block, which costs you pickup.

    • The clause names the channels it covers, including the hotel’s direct booking site.
    • There is a concrete remedy, not just a promise — the lower rate honoured for your guests, or matched in the block.
    • It covers the same room types and dates as your block.

    What good looks like: The group rate is warranted as the lowest comparable public rate, with a stated remedy and a stated scope.

    Contract review checks it under: Rates and fees.

    Terms: Rate Protection Clause

12. 12

    Audit rights

    Your ability to see the hotel’s own numbers. Without it, the hotel’s count of your pickup is the last word on what you owe.

    • You can review pre- and post-event pickup reports.
    • You can reconcile actualized room nights against your rooming list before settlement.
    • There is a stated window to raise disputes.
    • Guests who attended but booked outside the block can be counted toward your pickup.

    What good looks like: An explicit right to the pickup report and to reconcile before payment, with a window to dispute.

    Terms: Pickup Report, Pickup

13. 13

    Force majeure

    Decides whether a cancelled event triggers damages or a clean release. A narrow clause listing only "acts of God" may not cover a government restriction.

    • The trigger is broad — commercially impracticable, not just acts of God.
    • The clause is mutual, protecting both sides.
    • It releases you from attrition and cancellation liability, not merely postponing the event.
    • There is a rebooking or refund path for deposits already paid.

    What good looks like: A mutual clause with a broad but reasonable trigger, an explicit release from damages, and a path for deposits already paid.

    Contract review checks it under: Force majeure.

    Terms: Force Majeure

14. 14

    Walk clause

    What the hotel owes a guest it cannot accommodate. Without one, a guest arriving at midnight to find no room is on their own.

    • The hotel bears all cost, and the replacement is genuinely comparable and nearby.
    • Transportation there and back is covered.
    • The first night’s room and tax are covered, with a return guarantee the following night.
    • Named VIPs and speakers are explicitly protected from being walked at all.

    What good looks like: The hotel pays for everything, the replacement is comparable, and your VIPs cannot be walked.

    Terms: Walk Clause

15. 15

    Get it reviewed

    None of this is legal advice. It is the vocabulary and the business shape of a contract worth signing — the judgment stays with you and your counsel.

    • Your own attorney or contracts professional has read the specific agreement in front of you.
    • Anything you negotiated by phone or email is in the signed document.
    • The version you are signing is the version you read.

    What good looks like: Every term that carries money is in writing, reviewed by someone whose job it is to review it, in the document you actually sign.

Not legal advice. This checklist explains common hotel room block contract terms so you can read your own agreement with more confidence. Contracts differ, jurisdictions differ, and a single reworded clause can flip its meaning. Have your own counsel review the contract in front of you.