Gencon Hotel Reservations

[Matt Gwinn]

I'm sure most of you knew this already, but preregistartion for Gencon started yesterday and hotel reservations started today.

As of right now, most of the rooms available through Gencon are booked.  The Embassy Suites were sold out in a half hour.  If you get on the site and continually search for rooms eventually something at the Raddison will pop up, but all the hotels connected to the convention center appear to be full.

I have a double room at the Omni (wednesday thru Monday) with room to spare if anyone is interested.  I picked up this room after getting a 1 bed room at the Hilton Garden Inn earlier.

I'd be willing to hold on to the Hilton reservation for someone I know will pay the bill on Monday.  So, if you know me and missed on on reserving a room contact me before I cancel the reservation.

,Matt

[btrc]

If anyone (at least 2 people, probably no more than 3) is willing to split a suite with me at the little place on Maryland Avenue, I can book one of them. It has a full kitchen, two beds (queen + sofa bed), parking and skywalk access to the convention center. It's also -not- on the Housing Bureau list. I was able to get a price last year below the listed rates and was extremely pleased with it.

http://www.14westsuites.com/320.html

Greg Porter
BTRC

[Steve Segedy]

Greg,

The three of us from Bully Pulpit Games are looking for a spot near the con, so we might be interested in that, depending on the cost.  Feel free to drop me a line at steve (a) bullypulpitgames.com.

[Nev the Deranged]

Hey, Greg. I'm down for splitting a room again. At least I know you don't snore like Brennan does. *g*

One question- is the parking there free like it was at the Marriot, or an arm-and-a-leg like it was at the... wherever I stayed last year? Finding 70$ tacked on the bill as I was leaving last year was not a welcome surprise.

oop, I see the Bully Pulpit folks beat me to the post. Hey, take first come first serve, I may end up going with friends this year anyway, so no worries.

[Matt Gwinn]

Most of the places I looked at charged $18 a day for parking, so I would always consider that.  Some of the smaller hotels that are off the beaten path like the Comfort Inn that have outfoor parking lots usually have free parking.

Also keep in mind that the tourism tax has been bumped up to 15% (it was only 12% when I went in 2005).

[iago]

Malcolm pointed us at this place: http://www.universityplace.iupui.edu/

... I didn't have much luck with their online reservation system, but my wife managed to get them on the phone and get a room.  It's about 1 mile walking distance from the convention center.

[Nev the Deranged]

Poking around the Marriott site, it doesn't look like they have any 2 bed rooms available.

Ah well, something will come up. It always does.

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hi Dave,

Speaking of things coming up... I believe we shared a room last year with Brennan at the Embassy Suites. I would have been the tattooed guy who slept on the couch. My friends and I got a room in one of the nearby non-gen con hotels. We have 4 people and are looking for 2 more. At 6 people the cost will be around $50 a night, and it looks like parking is $20 a night. On the plus side it is 3 blocks from the convention center. If you're interested PM me with your email address, and we can discuss it more if you like.

For the folks looking for alternatives there are a few. I found several hotels by typing; indianapolis hotel into google maps, and using that to find hotels then checking availability. I'd put indianapolis convention center into google maps in a separate tab so you can get a better idea how far the hotels are from Gen Con.

[Nev the Deranged]

Speaking of things coming up... I believe we shared a room last year with Brennan at the Embassy Suites. I would have been the tattooed guy who slept on the couch. My friends and I got a room in one of the nearby non-gen con hotels. We have 4 people and are looking for 2 more. At 6 people the cost will be around $50 a night, and it looks like parking is $20 a night. On the plus side it is 3 blocks from the convention center. If you're interested PM me with your email address, and we can discuss it more if you like.

3 blocks is far, compared the the Embassy and the Marriot... I guess it's not that big a deal, though. Certainly I can walk that far, and if I'm not going to be a monkey, errands are not as big a priority. Although I have been spoiled by the proximity last couple of years.

I only vaguely remember the people I've shared rooms with, Brennan and Greg aside (I paid them, so it kind of left a mark), so my only real question is, do you snore?

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

I don't know.

[Thunder_God]

Anyone knows how the hotels feel about putting a 5th person into a room that they claim is fitting for 4? Speaking on the Embassy Suites specifically here.

Also, can anyone please explain to me how one king sized bed and one sofa is fitting for 5 people by Hilton logic?

[Nev the Deranged]

Anyone knows how the hotels feel about putting a 5th person into a room that they claim is fitting for 4? Speaking on the Embassy Suites specifically here.

Also, can anyone please explain to me how one king sized bed and one sofa is fitting for 5 people by Hilton logic?

Hotels, as far as I know, don't care how many people you actually cram into a room. I've shared with 6 before. It's not like they check while you're sleeping or something. I'm fairly certain teenagers and college students cram 8 or 10 in a room at cons on a regular basis.

And the Marriott has the same issue- I ask for a 4 person room, they offer me a king sized bed and a sofabed, and one free breakfast. Hope everyone can get by on half a slice of toast...

 Not really certain why that is, though. Last year when I asked for the same thing it offered me a 2 bed room. Anybody else have any insight into this one?

[Paul Czege]

My experience with the Embassy Suites is that they do care how many people you have in the room. A couple of years ago we had an unreported third person in our room. They realized this, likely from the extra bedding and whatnot, and adjusted our room rate up from double to triple occupancy.

Paul

[Nev the Deranged]

My experience with the Embassy Suites is that they do care how many people you have in the room. A couple of years ago we had an unreported third person in our room. They realized this, likely from the extra bedding and whatnot, and adjusted our room rate up from double to triple occupancy.

Paul

 Huh. I asked for extra bedding at both the Marriott and Embassy Suites and as far as I know no adjustments were made. On the other hand, at that point we had 5 or 6 in the room, so maybe there's a threshhold of tolerance or something? Or maybe there was just a picky manager on duty when you were there, I don't know. Bummer, though.

 D.

[btrc]

Steve Segedy and co. have found lodging elsewhere, so I'm probably not going to be booking the Maryland Avenue suite unless a party of three wants to add to my two and chip in with me on it (it works out to $72 per person per night for four, $58 per person per night for five). Failing that, I'm looking for space for two bodies somewhere in easy walking distance of the site, Wed night thru Sat night. Are any of the main convention hotels still open, or does anyone have unused space they need filled?

Greg Porter
btrc@btrc.net