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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Clyde wrote:
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.

I don't know.

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?

Thunder_God wrote:
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?

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

Paul wrote:
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

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

That reminds me.

Is there a reason to show up on Wednesday (and book an extra day hotelwise) for non-monkey types? I have the vague idea that some of the awards gatherings and maybe some Forge dinner get-together stuff happens on Wednesday, but my memory is shady. I don't have a problem showing up early (or even for that matter, helping out on Wednesday if that's possible), but if there's absolutely nothing going on that can be participated in without an exhibitor badge, I'd rather know ahead of time so I can plan accordingly.

Thanks!

Diana Jones is Wednesday night, no?
Couple other awards Thursday & Friday night I think, but Diana Jones I think is Wednesday.

I plan on checking in on Wednesday.  I doubt there will be any difficulty rounding up a game or two.  I know I will be itching to play something by then.

,Matt 

Both good points. Thanks guys, I'll plan to show up on Wednesday then. ^_^

I'm showing up on Tuesday, but that's only because my airplane lands Tuesday night (don't ask).

If anyone else is going to be there on Tuesday, I could hook up with them for some games.

I don't have a badge number yet, so I can't get to the online booking info.

Anyone know what the GenCon rate is for the Crowne Plaza?

As far as I can tell, the Embassy and the Marriott are both completely booked already. But I am not as hotel savvy as some people, so maybe there's something I'm overlooking. Or maybe there's not and everyone else also decided to book crazy early this year.

I can tell you this, I booked a room at Embassy last week, but it only showed that room as available when it was entering on 14th and leaving on 20th. Odd, since you'd think a room that is open 14-20 is also open 15-19, apparently not.

Huh. Odd. I've been trying to get reservations for 15-18, (Arriving Wednesday and leaving Sunday), and those dates are unavailable. I wonder what that's all about.

If I could afford to room by myself, I'd just do that, since single bed or bed-and-couch rooms seem to be available, but I can't.

I don't need a bed, though, so theoretically, I could split a bed-and-couch room with 3 other people... hmm.

Nev wrote:
Huh. Odd. I've been trying to get reservations for 15-18, (Arriving Wednesday and leaving Sunday), and those dates are unavailable. I wonder what that's all about.

If I could afford to room by myself, I'd just do that, since single bed or bed-and-couch rooms seem to be available, but I can't.

I don't need a bed, though, so theoretically, I could split a bed-and-couch room with 3 other people... hmm.

I haven't actually purchased my badge yet, so no. That's something to consider, though.

I suck at this -- almost never travel -- but I seem to remember two years ago getting somewhere out in the boonies that had an hourly shuttle to and from the con.  Anyone know about this?  Or, for that matter, anyone just want to grab me by the nose and point me to a place with a cheap single?  I suppose if worse comes to worst I could just drive in and out each day. 

-G.

I have just confirmed via phone that the Marriott right by the con center is indeed booked solid for the GenCon weekend. Too bad, I was really hoping to sneak in there, the proximity and free parking are a huge bonus.

I have 2 potential traveling companion / roommates lined up, but as of now they are both tentative... guess I better find out for sure about them before making solid plans... hm.

Who else is still up in the air?

I still need to make reservations.  However, I will be leaving Saturday night.  Will this be a problem for anyone?