Applies to:  Stayntouch PMS

How To Create A Group Block

To manually create a group in Stayntouch PMS, navigate to the menu, and then select Groups > New Group.

Enter a group name under Group Info. For groups that regularly visit your property, it might be helpful to add an identifier, such as the date, to the name to avoid any confusion from duplicate group block names. After completing this step, you can move to the next field by using the tab key or clicking on it.

Next, input a group code. If you do not enter one, one will be made for you when you save the group. It's important to remember that once the group block is saved, the group code cannot be altered, making this a critical field. Typically, the GROUP CODE entered here is what individuals will use to make online reservations if that option is available to your guests. It also usually aligns with your Sales & Catering system. Ensure that the group code you enter here matches exactly with the code configured in any current or future integrated systems.

Now, enter the group contact's first name, last name, contact phone number, and email address.

You can also utilize the dropdown menus on either side to enable shoulder dates if desired. Shoulder dates allow guests to extend their stay as part of a group block at the group rates, either before or after the main dates, without holding extra inventory for those nights. Before using shoulder nights, ensure you verify their compatibility with your integrated systems. If they are not supported, you might opt to extend the primary start and end dates for the group block to permit earlier arrivals or later departures. We will discuss a bit more about how they work toward the end of this article.

Below the dates, you will see that the ROOM RELEASE DATE will automatically populate with the FROM date. You can change the ROOM RELEASE DATE by selecting the field and using the calendar to select your desired date. This will be the date that any rooms that are not picked up for this particular group will be put back into your general hotel inventory.

In this example, we have set the room release date to June 3. This means that rooms will be held in the group block through June 2, and when night audit is run and the date rolls to June 3, any non-picked up rooms will be released back to general availability. If you had contracted with the client to hold the rooms through June 3, you would want to change this date to June 4, so they are held for the entire day of June 3.

You can also add a PAYMENT DATE, but this is not mandatory and is for informational purposes only.

You must add a HOLD STATUS via the Set Status dropdown. There are two hold statuses that are system-defined for all properties, which are Definite and Cancel. All other options can be set by the property from Settings > Reservations > Hold Status. Let's discuss some different types of hold statuses you might choose to enable and use.

Next, you will need to select a rate to apply to the group using the dropdown.

With groups, there are two options. You can either select a Custom Rate, the first option, which allows the user to input rate pricing that is only applicable to this particular group. By default, Custom Rate does not have many of the defined settings of a traditional rate code, such as a cancellation policy, a deposit rule, or include-in-price add-ons; however, these features can be enabled upon request. Please contact Customer Support for more information if you need this functionality. Alternatively, we can select an option under Group Rate. These are traditional rate codes that are set up in the backend settings. Non-custom group rate options will only be visible in the dropdown if they have been set up and are open for the group's dates of stay.

In this example, we'll select Custom Rate. With a Custom Rate, you'll need to keep in mind that no add-ons are automatically applied, so these would need to be added additionally to this rate after saving the group block if you use add-ons to auto-post charges like Resort Fees.

The TAX EXEMPT toggle can be enabled to make the entire group block exempt from certain taxes when this is applicable. The tax exempt type is selected from the dropdown, and the Tax Exempt Reference text section can be used to note details about the tax exempt documents.

If your property uses Stayntouch Guest Kiosk, toggling on the BYPASS CC GUARANTEE option will ensure that when group members check in at the kiosk, they are not required to provide a credit card for incidentals.

Once you have added all the information and are ready to commit, select the green SAVE GROUP button in the top right corner to save the group block.

If your hotel has required demographics for segmented revenue reporting, you will be prompted to select the required ones on a popup before continuing. Use the dropdowns to select the correct segments.

Then, press the green SAVE & CONTINUE button.

Now that we have saved the group block, you will notice that other buttons and toggles appear or are now selectable. We will review these in the Manage Group Blocks article. If your hotel has custom rate rules and restriction features enabled, your screen may look a little different. We will cover that in a different article.

Now, let's add rates and inventory on the Room Block Details tab.

If we had built this group block with a group rate rather than a custom rate, we would be able to jump straight into adding inventory. Since we chose custom rate, we will first need to add room types and their rates. To start, click the green ADD ROOMS & RATES button.

Click on this dropdown to select the first room type.

Now, select this field and type in your single occupancy rate amount.

Then, use the tab key or click on the next field to enter the double occupancy rate amount. This is very important because if you leave it blank, you will not be able to make a reservation for 2 guests and may encounter some issues with your CRS integration.

If your hotel charges the same amount for single and double occupancy, simply enter the same amount as you entered for single occupancy. Then, use the tab key or click on the 1+ Adult field.

This is also very important to not leave blank—especially for room types that can accommodate 3 or more guests. This value is the additional guest fee, if any, that will be added to the rate for a third and fourth adult. If you leave this blank, you will not be able to make reservations for triple or quadruple occupancy. If you do not charge an additional amount for the third or fourth adult, enter zero in this field.

To add another room type, click the green plus (+) button to the righthand side of the first room type.

Then, use the dropdown to select the next room type and enter the rate amounts. Repeat this process until you have added all of the room types you wish to use in the group block and their rates. Again, as a best practice, do not leave any of the amount fields blank. You can use the red X button on the right to remove a certain room type from the list.

Once you've added all of the desired room types and rates, select the green UPDATE button.

As you can see, the dates are shown at the top of the screen. You can even choose to GO TO DATE, which is helpful for a group block with a long duration. Also, on the right, you can see TOTAL ROOMS, which is the total number of room nights held, TOTAL PICK-UP, which is the total number of room nights in picked-up reservations, and the current HOLD STATUS.

Depending on your screen size, you may wish to expand the Room Block Details tab to fill the above header space by clicking this button to the right of the tab name.

You can add or remove room types by clicking the + ADD NEW button below the ROOMS/RATES toggle.

This opens up the ROOM TYPES AND RATES popup. You can click the red X button to remove a room type. To add a room type, click the green plus (+) button.

Click the green UPDATE button to save. Your changes have been applied.

To update nightly custom rates, or to update the rate of a room type you've already added to the group block, toggle to the RATES section of the Room Block Details tab.

When you are satisfied, click the green SAVE CHANGES button.

If more convenient, you can enter your rate update in the first day's column and use the arrow next to the entry to copy the rate through a selected date for that occupancy.

If a group uses a configured rate instead of a custom rate, the rates by day will also display in the new RATES view; however, you will not be able to update the rates. If you wish to update the rates, you can do so from the Rate Manager. We explain how to use the Rate Manager in a separate article.

Now, let's add inventory to the group block. For each room type, you can indicate how many rooms you want to hold in the total column for each day. For quick reference, below the totals, you can see the number of rooms left available in general inventory for that room type.

When holding rooms, it is advisable to do so in the occupancy that you expect to be most common for the reservations and apply this number uniformly across all dates, unless you have specific occupancy data. Rest assured, the system will automatically adjust your hold to the actual occupancy once the reservation is made. To hold rooms, click on the relevant occupancy total field for the room type and input the number of rooms you wish to hold for the given date. In this example, we are going to start by holding 10 of this first room type for July 9, so we will highlight the zero, or delete it, and type in 10.

If desired, you can copy the number of rooms from the first night to the rest of the nights or through a specific date by clicking the arrow to the right.

You can also indicate the number of rooms to hold for additional nights without using the arrow. In that case, simply click on the next day's entry field, highlight or delete the existing value, and type it in.

Then, click the green SAVE CHANGES button in the top left corner.

You can now see the total number of rooms across all room types held for each night at the top.

If you expanded this tab, exit out of that by clicking the red X in the top left corner.

We can then navigate back to the Summary tab. Here, you will see that the 68 rooms held are now reflected. The POTENTIAL REVENUE has been updated and lists the anticipated stay total with tax, considering the room types held and their rates.

The shoulder date functionality separates shoulder dates from actual group dates and allows guests to extend within the group block at the group block rates.

Between 1 and 5 shoulder nights can be added to both the start and end of the group block by selecting the number for each from their dropdowns.

You can edit shoulder night rate amounts by toggling to the RATES section.

Other training articles will cover other aspects of managing group blocks. However, it is important to note that by creating a group block, a group account, which can be used as a posting master, has automatically been created and is open. It has the same name as the group block at the time of creation and is automatically assigned an account number, which can be edited.

The account's payment and revenue postings will appear on the Transactions tab.

The Activity Log tab shows all changes made on the group block with the newest changes at the top.

If your hotel has the cloud drive file saving feature enabled, you will have a Notes & Files tab. If your hotel does not have files enabled, Notes can be added on the group summary screen.