Reviewing a hotel group booking or conference contract

A hotel group booking contract commits the organisation to a block of rooms, a function space and a catering spend for a conference, a training event or a company gathering, and charges the organisation for the rooms its delegates do not take. The hotel's contract is written around attrition, cancellation and the master account, and is signed before the final numbers are known. I review the contract from the organisation's side and return it marked up with a written explanation of the changes and which ones a hotel will accept, for a fixed fee of £495 in three working days.

Who this is for

Companies, associations, agencies and event organisers in England and Wales booking a block of rooms, a conference suite or a residential event at a hotel or a conference venue, and want to know what they will pay if numbers fall, if the event is cancelled or if delegates book outside the block. The organisation and the hotel are businesses; individual guests who book their own rooms are consumers.

What to look for in a hotel group booking or conference contract

The room block, the cut-off date and release

The contract reserves a number of rooms per night at a group rate until a cut-off date, after which unreserved rooms are released and the rate may no longer apply. The review checks the block against realistic numbers, asks for a right to reduce the block without charge by stated percentages at stated dates, for rooms released to be available at the group rate if the hotel still has them, and for delegates who book outside the block at the hotel's own rates to count towards the organisation's commitment.

Attrition: paying for the rooms nobody used

The attrition clause charges the organisation for the difference between the rooms it committed to and the rooms its delegates used, above an allowance. The review checks the allowance, the rate at which unused rooms are charged, whether the hotel must try to resell them and credit the resale, and whether the charge is measured over the event as a whole rather than night by night. An attrition charge is enforceable where it protects the hotel's legitimate interest and is not out of all proportion to it, applying Cavendish Square Holding BV v Makdessi [2015] UKSC 67, and the review asks for the charge to be the hotel's lost profit rather than the full room rate.

Deposit, cancellation and the hotel's own cancellation

The hotel takes a deposit and sets a cancellation scale that rises to the full contracted value of rooms and catering. The review asks for the scale to reflect the hotel's real loss and its ability to resell, for a right to cancel with a reduced charge where the event is moved to another of the hotel group's properties, and for the hotel's own cancellation, relocation of the function space or change of ownership to carry a refund and the organisation's wasted costs, with a right for the organisation to withdraw where the hotel is under renovation or the function space is changed.

The master account, the guests' own charges and payment

The contract should say what goes to the master account (rooms, function space, agreed catering) and what guests pay themselves (incidentals, extras, early check-in), and should require the hotel to obtain the organisation's authorisation before charging anything else to the master account. The review checks the credit application, the payment terms, the reconciliation and dispute period for the final invoice, and the service charge, and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 position where the hotel owes a refund.

Function space, catering minimums and the programme

The function space is allocated against the programme and the catering is priced against a minimum spend or a guaranteed number, with final numbers due days before the event. The review checks that the space cannot be changed without consent, that the guaranteed number can be reduced up to the final numbers deadline, that menu prices are fixed or capped, that dietary and allergen requirements are the hotel's responsibility under the Food Information Regulations 2014, and that alcohol service runs under the hotel's premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for the hours the programme needs.

Guests, their property and the hotel's liability

The hotel's liability for guests' property is limited by the Hotel Proprietors Act 1956 where the statutory notice is displayed, unless the loss is caused by the hotel's fault or the property was deposited for safe keeping, and the hotel must keep records of guests under the Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972. The review checks the hotel's exclusions of liability for the organisation's equipment and exhibition materials, its obligations for delegates' data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 where the organisation passes a rooming list, and the indemnity the hotel asks the organisation to give for damage by delegates, which should be limited to damage caused by the organisation's own delegates and suppliers.

What it costs

Standard review, £495. Marked-up document and a written explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the contract review page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• Your own contract returned with my amendments as tracked changes, plus a clean version with every change accepted, ready to send to the other side
• Comments in the document where a point needs explaining
• A written explanation of what I have changed and why, by email or as an attachment if it is lengthy, marking the points I would hold firm on and the ones that are negotiable
• A view on what is normal market practice and what is the other side pushing their luck
• One round of follow-up questions by email, included

What is not included

• Negotiating directly with the other side, which I quote separately once I know who is on the other side. Where the other side is willing to share a live document, I can work in that document directly
• Drafting a replacement contract from scratch
• Advice on the law of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales
• Tax, accounting or regulatory advice
• Disputes about a contract that is already signed

Questions I am often asked

Fewer delegates came than we booked rooms for. Do we pay for the empty rooms?

Under the attrition clause, yes, above the allowance and at the rate the contract sets. The review checks the allowance, whether the hotel must resell unused rooms and credit you, whether the charge is measured over the whole event, and whether it reflects the hotel's lost profit rather than the full rate.

Delegates booked directly with the hotel at a cheaper online rate. Do those rooms count?

Only if the contract says so, and hotels resist it. The review asks for rooms booked by your delegates outside the block to count towards your commitment, and for the hotel to report them, so that you are not charged attrition on rooms your own people used.

The hotel is being refurbished during our conference. Can we get out of the contract?

That depends on what the contract says about the hotel's obligation to provide the function space and rooms in the condition contracted for. The review checks it and asks for a right to withdraw with a refund, or a reduction, where the hotel is under renovation or changes the space.

Related guidance and services

• Contract review, £495, the service this page describes
• Terms and conditions drafting, £995
• Reviewing a venue hire contract for an event
• Reviewing a catering contract from a supplier

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.