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Email template to request a hotel group rate

You're bringing ten or more rooms' worth of people to the same town on the same nights: wedding guests, a family reunion, a youth sports team, coworkers for a conference. Hotels give discounts for that, but not through the website. You ask the sales office for a group rate, and usually for a room block, which is a set of rooms held under your group's name at that rate until a cutoff date so your guests can book without competing with the public. A group rate agreement has terms worth reading: whether you're on the hook for rooms nobody books (an "attrition" clause), when the unbooked rooms are released, and whether guests get free parking or breakfast. Email is how the hotel's sales manager expects to receive this, and the reply is a written quote you can compare across two or three hotels.

Before you send

  • Your dates, check-in and check-out, and the number of rooms per night. Be honest; over-guessing can cost you under an attrition clause.
  • What the trip is for and who the guests are. A wedding block, a sports team, and a corporate group each get different treatment.
  • The room types you need: mostly two queen beds, some kings, any accessible rooms.
  • Whether you want a "courtesy block," where unbooked rooms are simply released with no charge to you, or you're willing to guarantee rooms for a deeper discount.
  • Extras that matter to your group: shuttle to a venue, parking, breakfast, a hospitality suite, or a late checkout on the last day.
Subject Group rate request: [number] rooms, [check-in date] to [check-out date] 
Hi [hotel name] sales team,

I'm organizing [a wedding / a family reunion / a team trip] in [city] and I'd like to ask about a group rate at [hotel name].

We're looking at about [number] rooms per night from [check-in date] to [check-out date]. Most guests will want [two queen beds], with a few [king] rooms and [number] accessible rooms if available. Our guests would book and pay individually.

Could you send me:

- The group rate per night for each room type, and whether it includes taxes, resort fees, and parking
- Whether you can offer a courtesy block with no guarantee on our end, and what the cutoff date for guests to book would be
- If a guaranteed block gets a better rate, what the attrition terms would be
- Any group perks: breakfast, shuttle, a welcome-bag drop, or a hospitality room

We're also asking [one or two other hotels], and we'd like to decide by [date].

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A sales manager typically replies within two business days with a rate, a cutoff date, and a short contract. Courtesy blocks are common for groups under 20 rooms; larger blocks often require a guarantee.
  • Read the attrition clause before signing. It says what percentage of the block you must fill or pay for. If you're not sure your guests will book, ask for a smaller courtesy block instead.
  • Ask for a booking link or a group code in writing and test it before you send it to guests.
  • If the "group rate" is no better than the public rate on the hotel's own site, say so and ask again. If they hold firm, take the next hotel's quote.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get me hotel group rates 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get group rates and room blocks from a few hotels and help me pick one.

The trip: [what it's for, city, check-in and check-out dates].
Rooms: [number per night, room types, and any accessible rooms needed].
Hotels: [specific hotels, or the area and price level].
Block type: [courtesy block with no guarantee, or willing to guarantee rooms for a better rate].
Nice to have: [breakfast, shuttle, parking, hospitality room].
Deadline: [date I want to choose by].

Contact three hotels, get the rate, cutoff date, attrition terms, and perks from each, and bring me a comparison.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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