# The Sweet Spot for Hotel RFPs: How Many Venues to Source for Room Blocks & Events

_By Sarah Maloy — June 10, 2026 · Guide · 6 mins read_

> Too few hotel RFPs can leave you without viable options. Too many can create unnecessary complexity. Here’s how to find the right balance when sourcing room blocks and event spaces for your next company gathering.

When you’re sourcing hotels and/or meeting spaces for your next company event, you may be wondering, “How many hotels should I *actually* send RFPs to?” You don’t want to contact too few, but at the same time, too many can feel overwhelming.

If you’re manually sourcing the hotels on your own, you’ll be limited by your own bandwidth. One person (or even a small team) can only do so much. Going back and forth with each hotel generally requires dozens of emails just to get to a proposal. Multiply that by each hotel – and then factor in all the time spent negotiating – and hotel sourcing can become a full-time job.

Then there are the situations where you need to look at dozens of properties (for a complex event or large all-hands) or explore multiple markets before choosing the right one. In those cases, sourcing a handful of options isn’t enough – you need the ability to research and speak with dozens of hotels, but your bandwidth hasn’t changed. [Workgrounds](https://www.workgrounds.com) can help with that.

Regardless of whether you’re looking at just a few properties or a few dozen, the Workgrounds [AI agents](https://www.workgrounds.com/platform) are available to source, book, and manage all of your hotel room blocks – saving you 20+ hours per trip and 30% off hotel costs on average.

## How many hotels to start with

For standard company events, we recommend sending RFPs (requests for proposal) to 5-10 hotels to start. That usually gives you enough options to compare pricing, availability, meeting spaces, and food & beverage options without being overwhelmed by a mountain of similar options.

If you’re only looking at one destination, 5-7 properties is usually enough. But if you’re considering multiple destinations, you’ll need to consider more hotels. In that case, we’d recommend starting with at least 3 destinations and getting RFPs from a minimum of 3 hotels in each market. That way you’ll have a strong set of options to compare, while still keeping the process manageable.

But if you want to compare even more, Workgrounds makes that possible. You can compare as many properties as you’d like, across as many markets as you want to explore.

If you’re deciding between multiple destinations, you can also use the [Flight Estimator](https://www.flight-estimator.workgrounds.com/) to compare. Just tell us where the guests are located and we’ll pull real flight data for multiple locations, letting you know the estimated cost for getting your team to each of your destinations (and recommending a few others you may not have considered).

![Flight Estimator](/blogpost14-image2.gif)

It’s also important to make sure you are comparing. Don’t just evaluate one hotel at a time. Hotel inventory changes constantly, and availability can vary dramatically between nearby properties. One hotel may be sold out or have unusually high rates for their few remaining rooms, while another property a few blocks away has plenty of space and competitive pricing.

Looking at multiple hotels within a market will help you determine whether the destination is a good choice for your group, and you can make sure you’re maximizing your budget by seeing what each hotel has to offer.

## Don’t overdo it if you’re sourcing on your own

If you’re working with Workgrounds, we handle the hotel RFP process for you, contacting and negotiating with the hotels on your behalf and delivering you completed RFPs on an easy-to-use platform where you can compare and choose a winner. You’re free to source as many hotels as you’d like – it’s as easy as checking a box.

But if you’re handling that process on your own, sending too many RFPs can backfire. Every additional property creates hours of manual work and hundreds of back-and-forth emails to follow up on and negotiate each proposal.

If you meet any of the following criteria you will likely need to source a high number of hotels, which can be difficult to do manually:

- **Large attendee counts**: A very large group, which sometimes means working with multiple properties
- **Highly specialized venues**: Specific requirements for rooms, location, amenities, or unique meeting spaces
- **International or multi-region**: You’re sourcing internationally or across many regions
- **Tight date constraints**: Especially if your dates fall during an area’s busy season

## Make space for hotels to turn you down or not respond

It’s important to remember that not every hotel will respond, and some hotels may turn your group down. We’ve found that, on average, 16% of hotels don’t respond to RFPs, and 33% respond that they’re unavailable.

That’s why starting with several options matters. If you only source three hotels and one declines while another never replies, you may be left with very limited choices. You need to source enough quality options to confidently compare fit, availability, and pricing – without turning hotel selection into a full-time job.

If you’re doing it all manually, you may have to RFP fewer hotels to make sure the process doesn’t get unwieldy. If you’re working with Workgrounds, we’ll help you manage that process so you can consider more options – without ever having to email the hotels or negotiate yourself. Plus it’s free to use and [only takes 15 minutes to get started](https://www.workgrounds.com/onboard).