On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 2:37 PM, Paul W. Frields <sticks...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 11:13:14AM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote: >> On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 10:13:52AM -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote: >> > On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 5:22 PM, Paul W. Frields <sticks...@gmail.com> >> > wrote: >> > > On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 05:56:17PM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote: >> > >> On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:14:47AM -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote: >> > >> > On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 10:05:13AM -0400, seth vidal wrote: >> > >> > > On Thu, 2010-08-12 at 09:26 -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote: >> > >> > > > > >> > >> > > > > I can go through the group reseveration proposal process, if >> > >> > > > > you'd like >> > >> > > > > but I'm worried I'll be nagging you for a lot more information. >> > >> > > > >> > >> > > > You're probably right -- after all, it's been a requirement for >> > >> > > > the >> > >> > > > person signing the actual contract to work this out. >> > >> > > > >> > >> > > > > it's right here: >> > >> > > > > http://www.marriott.com/meetings/group-travel/schedule-groupBooking.mi?marshaCode=phxte >> > >> > > > > >> > >> > > > > I can fill it out tomorrow after consulting a bit on what our >> > >> > > > > requirements are. >> > >> > > > >> > >> > > > Usually, rather than filling out the form, it's easier to simply >> > >> > > > phone >> > >> > > > the hotel directly and ask for the group coordinator. More >> > >> > > > efficient >> > >> > > > and you can generally avoid getting highballed (on price) that >> > >> > > > way. >> > >> > > > >> > >> > > >> > >> > > Well, then here's all the contact information: >> > >> > > >> > >> > > * Phone: 1-480-966-2800 >> > >> > > * Fax: 1-480-829-8446 >> > >> > > * Sales: 1-480-966-2800 ext. 619 >> > >> > > * Sales fax: 1-480-829-8446 >> > >> > >> > >> > I'm going to call them this afternoon Eastern time (their morning >> > >> > local time). Thanks. >> > >> >> > >> I called the Courtyard this afternoon and had a very pleasant exchange >> > >> with John, one of the group sales coordinators. Although their >> > >> published rate is still actually around $149, Seth provided some >> > >> online booking references for the $99 rate. They are actually >> > >> provided as part of a "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" deal, meaning 3 nights works >> > >> out to an average rate of $99. Since we are going to be using at >> > >> least 3 nights for just about everyone who's there, I'm pretty >> > >> confident about negotiating for it. >> > >> >> > >> I also found out they have plenty of space for a 50-room block, and >> > >> will not hold us to any kind of maximum attrition (meaning we don't >> > >> pay for rooms we don't use). We'd be required of course to give those >> > >> rooms up out of the block after a specific deadline, meaning they go >> > >> back to the general room population for letting to whoever comes >> > >> along. That's expected and perfectly acceptable. >> > >> >> > >> I'm having an email conversation as follow-up with the coordinator, so >> > >> please stay tuned -- I'll have more information soon. >> > > >> > > The Courtyard tells me the $99 rate is limited to a maximum of two >> > > rooms for the weekend as a special deal through hotels.com. However, >> > > they're willing to extend us a rate of $129/night, which is still a >> > > pretty substantial savings in my opinion. >> > > >> > > I'm going to try to rake them over the coals a little more, but if >> > > that won't work, are there strident objections about going with this >> > > hotel? >> > > >> > > /me eyes Robyn, who spent quite a bit of time working on hotels >> > > already. If she can feel good about this choice, then so can I. >> > >> > I think this seems like a reasonable deal. Are they aware that we're >> > looking at another hotel? >> > >> > And - are they able / willing to give us any concessions like - >> > * offering up a room for hackspace >> > * OR - offering us maybe some upgrades from regular rooms to suites - >> > so we have some living space to go along with sleeping areas to hack >> > in / keep soda / eat pizza in? >> > >> > If not - how much is a hackspace going to cost? I was pretty >> > comfortable with the Mission Palms not having a dedicated room - just >> > because it has a giant courtyard with TONS of seating, patio heaters, >> > fireplaces, and a really enormous lobby - plenty of spaces for people >> > to spread out and get together. I'm not entirely sure what the >> > Courtyard tempe has - there are photos, but i haven't actually walked >> > around inside / outside to get a feel. It may be adequate as well. >> >> When I spoke to the sales coordinator on the phone, I mentioned that >> we would want (1) a hospitality area on arrival night (Friday 1/28), >> and (2) a suite or other large room in which people could expect to >> meet after hours, 24/7. I made sure to tell him it would probably be >> best for that room to be located somewhere the inhabitants wouldn't >> disturb other guests. >> >> I sent another message to the coordinator on Friday night (my time) >> letting him know that we really need them to do better than the $129 >> rate. He made a big deal on the phone about how they'd normally step >> down the rate a little at a time to get there, but I figure that's >> normal "sales guy" talk. > > Excellent news -- we have achieved a $99 rate for the hotel! We will > have at least 30 rooms guaranteed for this rate in our block, and I > have high hopes we'll be able to raise that to closer to 50. > > I also spoke with the same sales manager, and reiterated that we want > a hospitality suite for Friday night, and a hack suite for the length > of the conference. I'm not yet sure how they propose to accommodate > us, but I explained how we intended to use both. I asked for a > meeting room of around 450-650 sq ft for the hospitality suite, but I > left the question open to them how best to accommodate us for late > night hacking.
Just as a point of interest - http://www.marriott.com/hotels/event-planning/floor-plans/phxte-courtyard-tempe-downtown/ The Courtyard has 3 meeting rooms - 2 are actual configurable meeting rooms, one with a capacity of 30 and the other of 70; the third is a conference room, with a capacity of 12, presumably a fixed table. > > Jared tells me his contact in the area says they will have a hard time > installing line-of-sight at the Courtyard, so I also asked the > Marriott guy to provide information about enhancing their broadband > pipe for our conference. Hopefully the money we save with the cheaper > hotel will enable us to spring for that broadband enhancement. > > -- > Paul W. Frields http://paul.frields.org/ > gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233 5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717 > http://redhat.com/ - - - - http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/ > Where open source multiplies: http://opensource.com > _______________________________________________ > fudcon-planning mailing list > fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning > _______________________________________________ fudcon-planning mailing list fudcon-planning@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fudcon-planning
