Lands End brides/Hotel Room Blocks

For those of you getting married at Lands End or elsewhere nearby (Sayville, etc), I was hoping you could help me out. I live in Washington, DC, but need to block some hotel rooms near the reception site (or near my church, which is in Commack). I had some questions I was hoping some of you might have some thoughts on...

-HOW FAR in advance did you block your rooms, if you've already done so?

-WHERE are you blocking/did you block your rooms? When we visited Lands End last summer there was a small motel across the street they said they were renovating into something nice...has there been any progress on that? Since it was so close and all, we thought that could be one of the places...IF they had renovated it...

-HOW MANY rooms would you recommend blocking for 200 guests, approximately 1/2 of whom (including couples) are coming from out of town?

-What kind of RATES have you been able to get at the places you've booked? Have those of you getting married next year been able to lock in prices or do they try to add in 'inflation' clauses into the contracts?

and, finally

-With WHOM did you deal at the hotel? Did you book through a conference salesperson or someone else? Does anyone have any recommendations of people I should ask for when I call these places?

Feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. Thanks so much!

Alison

AlisonMT,

I think I may be able to help out with this since I had many of the same questions. I'm also getting married at Land's End and we were told the same thing about the motel across the street. Well, they still haven't done anything with it yet so we've given up on blocking rooms there. Now I actually live in fear of them deciding to renovate right before our wedding. I'm envisioning this scene of construction vehicles, porta potties and a big pile of rubble right across the street from Land's End on our wedding day.

We blocked our rooms at the Wyndham Wind Watch about 6 months before our wedding date. We're getting a rate of $139 a night. FH actually blocked the rooms so I can find out who he spoke with if you're interested, but I think if you just call the hotel and tell them you're looking to block rooms, they'll put you in touch with the right person. As for the number of rooms you should block, I think you'll find that there's a maximum of 25 just about everywhere you look.

We looked at a bunch of hotels in the area...the Holiday Inn on Veterans Hwy, the new Courtyard by Marriott, and a couple others I'm forgetting. All of the rates we received were in the same range $129-$139. The Marriott in Islip? is a little bit more expensive...around $150 I think. We thought the Wyndham was the best value - that's why we booked there. The Holiday Inn is starting to look a little run down I think. We didn't like the Courtyard because there's a big sump or something right in front. Although FH pointed out that the Wyndham overlooks a landfill so that's not perfect either, but we felt that it was the best we had to choose from. It's very nice inside. There's a restaurant, bar, pools, and even a golf course for our guests to enjoy.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to e-mail me with any more questions: [email protected] (I noticed you also have a Cornell address)

Last Spring when I booked...they were hoping to be finished, but alas...it has not even been started...they said something that therewere problems getting the ordinances or something...

I booked at the Huntington Hilton...because we know the manager, but it was a good go between from Lands End, my parents in Huntington and FHs relatives in Hicksville...depending who out of town guests were going to see...we didn't block many rooms, but don't have many people that are very far out of the Tri-State area...

Thank you both!

Yabbobay, what kind of rate did you get at the Hilton?

Danielle, when is your wedding? How funny that you went to Cornell too...I just emailed you!

we blocked room at the Hampton Inn in Commack. Since it was close to the church and brunch, and there weren't any good options near Lands End itself. The place across the street still looked shabby last month (our wedding was in April).

We blocked 10 rooms at a time. Once the first 10 were taken, they blocked another 10. The rate was originally $125, but they ran a special and it was only $110.

Are you getting married at Christ the King in Commack? - when will its construction be completed?

I also blocked rooms at the Wyndham Windwatch for my wedding at Land's End. We looked at the Marriott in Hauppauge and were not impressed with their rooms. The hotels were both the same price- $139. The Wyndham is so much nicer and has a country club and golf so if people want to make a weekend of it they can use the facilities there as well.
There is only 1 person to deal with there, so when you call you will speak to her. The original price they gave us was $149 but I thought that was high so she brought it down to $139. The have a minimum guarantee of 10 rooms and you can block up to 30 at a time. Also, if you are having people stay 2 nights the rate goes down a little bit more (I think).
The motel at Land's End is definitely not being turned into a nice hotel, so I wouldn't even count on that- something with the zoning laws and such. Good luck with all your hotel blockings. My wedding is July 21 and we blocked the rooms back in November. Hope this helps!!