How to Use This RFP Template (Manual Process)
If you’re taking on hotel RFPs yourself, pour a coffee first. It’s doable, but it’s a project. Expect it to eat a few evenings and maybe a weekend or two. Every hotel runs its own process, and some are surprisingly painful to work with. This guide will keep you sane.
Step 1: Research Hotels
Start broad. Google’s fine, but don’t trust it alone. Check chain sites, booking engines, and local tourism boards. Smaller hotels sometimes hide on page three or only show up on Maps.
Look at recent reviews, not just the overall rating. One-star posts about renovation noise or bugs are red flags.
Once you’ve got a handful that look decent, drop them into a simple spreadsheet. Add location, parking, meeting space, whatever matters for your group.
(You’ll think you’ll remember which one had the rooftop patio. You won’t.)
Plan on spending half a day on this if you’re being thorough.
Step 2: Track Down Actual Humans
Now the fun part. Finding a person who can answer questions.
Call the main line, ask for group sales, get transferred, hold, voicemail, repeat. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and land someone who knows what an RFP even is.
If that doesn’t work, poke around LinkedIn. Search the hotel name plus “sales manager” or “catering.” You’ll find them eventually.
Keep every name and email in your tracker. It feels obsessive, but by next week you’ll be glad you did.
Step 3: Send Your RFPs
Fill out your RFP carefully, but don’t send the same file everywhere. Add one or two sentences that sound human. Something like, “We loved that your ballroom opens onto the courtyard.” That’s enough to show you actually looked.
Send one at a time. Never BCC. Hotels ignore bulk messages.
You’ll make small mistakes here—forgetting to swap a name, missing a date. Happens to everyone. Just fix it and resend.
This stage takes a few hours, maybe longer if you’re juggling a day job.
Step 4: Follow Up
Silence. That’s what you’ll hear first.
Give it three or four days, then send a quick check-in. “Just making sure you got this.” A week later, call. You’ll probably hit voicemail, but sometimes you’ll catch someone who apologizes and promises to look “right away.”
Don’t take it personally. Big hotels get dozens of RFPs daily. Persistence wins. Keep light notes somewhere visible so you remember who’s who.
Step 5: Compare the Replies
Once a few responses roll in, the chaos begins. No two proposals look alike.
One arrives as a PDF, one as a Word doc, and one as a weird screenshot from internal software. Open them all, pull out the basics: rates, taxes, resort fees, parking, Wi-Fi, meeting space, food and beverage minimums, and the dreaded attrition terms.
Make a quick table. Nothing fancy. Add a column called “weird stuff” for things you don’t understand, like “mandatory banquet service fee 22%.”
Budget a couple hours for this. You’ll need to read closely.
Step 6: Negotiate
This is where it gets interesting. The first quote is never final.
Ask if they can move on price, or throw in perks like free Wi-Fi, parking, or an extra comp room. If you’re booking a decent number of nights, you’ve got leverage.
Keep it friendly. A good tone gets you more than aggressive haggling ever will.
Negotiation can take days or stretch into next week depending on who’s answering emails.
Step 7: Review the Contract
Now comes the legal part. Boring, but critical.
Read it slowly. Make sure every promise from your negotiation actually made it into writing. Check the cancellation section twice, especially the dates and percentages.
If anything feels off, don’t guess. Ask for clarification, or better, have a lawyer glance at it. It’s cheaper than a mistake later.
You’ll spend a couple of hours here, longer if revisions go back and forth.
Step 8: Finalize
Once you’re happy, sign and send it. Double-check that the hotel confirms receipt.
They’ll probably ask for a deposit. Pay it promptly and get proof of payment. Then ask for your booking link or group code.
It’s good manners to tell the other hotels you’re going with someone else. You might need them next time.
Step 9: Manage the Block
You’d think signing is the end. It isn’t.
You’ll still be fielding questions from guests, tracking who booked, and checking pickup numbers. Hotels rarely update you unless you ask.
Put reminders in your calendar to check in every few weeks. Adjust if bookings are slow. Keep an eye on cutoff dates so you don’t lose the block.
Figure a few hours a month of light maintenance until the event wraps.
Final Thoughts
Doing this on your own isn’t rocket science, but it’s not quick either. You’ll come out smarter, maybe a bit more cynical, and definitely more patient.
If you like control and spreadsheets, this guide will get you there. If you’d rather skip the follow-ups and fine print, that’s exactly what professional planners and services like Pilot are for.
Hotel Room Block FAQ
Real talk about hotel room blocks, group bookings, and RFPs from people who actually live this stuff every day.
(Quick note: every hotel’s a little different. What’s written here covers most of what you’ll run into, but there’s always that one property that plays by its own rules.)
What’s a hotel room block, and when do I even need one?
Basically, it’s a chunk of rooms you ask the hotel to hold for your people at a fixed group rate. Think weddings, retreats, reunions, tournaments, offsites; anywhere a bunch of you need to stay near each other.
Once you’re over ten guests, it’s worth doing. It locks in pricing, keeps everyone close, and makes your life easier when people start texting “where are we staying?”
You’ll usually sign a short contract, maybe pay a small deposit, and then the hotel sends you a booking link your guests can use. That’s it. (Sounds more official than it is.)
How far ahead should I start?
Depends how big your group is and where you’re going.
- Weddings or big conferences: aim 9–12 months out.
- Huge or high-demand cities: 12–18 months.
- Smaller groups: maybe 3–6 months if you’re flexible.
- Under two months: sure, you can try, but you’re rolling the dice.
If you’re doing something in summer or during a festival, call early. By the time you blink, half the hotels are gone.
What’s an attrition clause, and why does everyone panic about it?
It’s the part that says you’re promising the hotel you’ll fill a certain percentage of your block, usually 80–90%. If your guests don’t book enough rooms, you pay for the empty ones.
Example: 50 rooms × 3 nights = 150 room nights. At 80% attrition, you’re on the hook for 120. If only 100 get used, that’s 20 × $150 = $3,000.
How not to get burned:
Start smaller, like 30 rooms, and add more later. Ask for a “wash” clause that lets you drop extras as the event gets closer. If you can, negotiate down to 70%. Some hotels cave; some won’t.
Can I negotiate the rates myself?
You can, but don’t expect miracles. Most people get maybe 5–10% off. They feel good about it, but hotels love that outcome.
When pros handle it, it’s a different story:
- 10–30 rooms? Maybe 10–20% off if you time it right.
- 30–75 rooms? 15–30% off, sometimes extras like free parking or upgrades.
- 75–200+ rooms? Up to 40% off if you make hotels compete.
- Off-season? Even better deals if you know who’s desperate.
Why regular folks don’t get that; they email one hotel at a time, never mention competitors, and don’t realize parking and resort fees can blow up the “discount.”
What Pilot does: we send your RFP to a couple dozen hotels at once, tell them they’re in a bidding war, and know exactly which ones are behind on bookings. That’s why we regularly save clients thousands, and the hotels pay us, not you.
What’s the cut-off date?
That’s the deadline when the hotel releases any unused rooms back to the public, usually 21–30 days before the event.
After that, your guests are stuck paying regular rates, which can be way higher. Sometimes the hotel’s just sold out completely.
Try to get a 21-day cut-off, not 45 or 60. Ask if you can extend it if bookings are strong. And clarify if guests can still get the group rate after the cut-off if rooms are open. Some hotels will say yes, some act like you asked for their firstborn.
Do I pay for everything up front?
Nope.
Most of the time, each guest books and pays for their own room through your group link. You’re only liable if you miss the attrition minimum.
If it’s a company trip, they might do a master bill where the business pays for everyone. Great for control, terrible for cash flow.
You’ll probably pay a deposit at signing, maybe 10–25% of the total. For big groups, that could mean a few thousand bucks. Usually non-refundable once you’re within a couple months.
DIY vs. Pilot, what’s the real difference?
Doing it yourself:
You’ll spend weeks emailing hotels, waiting, comparing mismatched proposals, and reading contracts written in lawyer code. About half won’t reply at all. You’ll get one “discount,” feel proud, then realize parking’s $60 a night.
Working with Pilot:
You talk to us for fifteen minutes, tell us what you need, and we handle everything; outreach, comparisons, negotiation, contract review, guest coordination. We get responses in days, not weeks, and because hotels want our repeat business, they treat you like a VIP. Cost to you: zero. Hotels pay us their standard commission.
You still make the final call; you just skip the headaches.
What hidden fees should I watch for?
Oh, plenty. Some are ridiculous.
- Resort or “destination” fees: $25–50 a night for Wi-Fi and “amenities.”
- Parking: $30–80 nightly, depending on the city.
- Meeting rooms: $500–3,000 per day, sometimes “included,” sometimes not.
- Food & beverage service charges: 18–24% on top of menu prices, plus tax and tip.
- Admin or “sustainability” fees: 3–5% random add-ons that no one can explain.
Always ask: “What’s the total nightly cost including every fee and tax?” Get it in writing, then negotiate the junk off the bill.
Can I cancel a room block without paying a fortune?
Maybe, depends on timing.
Typical policies:
- 180+ days out: full refund or tiny fee.
- 90–179: half your deposit gone.
- 30–89: you’ll probably lose most of it.
- Under 30: expect to owe almost everything.
Force majeure covers disasters, pandemics, or government bans. Still, don’t bank on it. And never sign a “personal guarantee” clause; that makes you personally liable if something goes wrong.
How do I know if I’m getting a decent deal?
Compare your rate to what’s online that same week. If your “discount” is only 5–10% off Expedia, you didn’t get much of a deal. You should be at least 15–30% lower, plus perks like waived fees or a free room per 30 booked.
Check what nearby hotels are charging, look at last year’s rates if you can, and watch for small print.
Pilot’s team looks at hundreds of contracts every month, so we know what fair actually looks like. If you’re unsure, just ask, and we’ll tell you straight.
The takeaway
Room blocks aren’t hard, they’re just tedious. A little knowledge saves a ton of stress and cash.
If you like chasing details and spreadsheets, go for it. If you’d rather enjoy planning your event and not spend your evenings negotiating with hotel sales reps, we’ll take it from here. Either way, you’ll end up with rooms locked in, rates you can live with, and fewer surprises when guests start showing up.