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New 2020 Room Block Opening Time/Date


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Greetings All,

First off, my apologies for the hiccup this past weekend on the room block opening. I was on the phone with our group room coordinator at the San Marcos Embassy Suites this morning and they are ready to release the room block to us tomorrow, Tues, 10 Sept, at 3PM central time (4PM Eastern, 2PM Mountain, 1PM Pacific).

Before the end of today (Monday, 9 Sept) I will update the website (http://www.nats2020.com/registration_pages/hotels.html) to reflect the link with instructions to the Embassy Suites room block. If you click on the link before 3PM central tomorrow and try to make a reservation it will say the hotel is “sold out”. This just means the room block is not open, not sold out. There are plenty of rooms available - very close to the original 260 in our block, minus some I have carved out for IPMS E-Board and other staff. I have heard a few were able to make reservations but I‘m not going to dwell on how…the point is a vast majority of the rooms are open. Also, I requested more rooms to be available at the convention rate on Tues, 28 July. Embassy Suites stated they can support this.

I will be on the phone with our group room coordinator tomorrow right before 3PM (Central) to make sure this goes off without a hitch. The mistake I made this time around was arranging for the rooms to open on a weekend, and if there is a glitch no one is around to address it until Monday. My bad…I’ll remember this the next time I head-up a convention (sarcasm inserted here).

You will see another e-mail/forum/FB post from me in a day or two on how we are going to handle the sold-out hotel (once our block is depleted) to ensure those that want a room can get one if someone cancels before June 27th.  Too much detail for a single e-mail and I wish not to confuse the subjects.

As always, send me any questions you may have (director.nats2020@gmail.com) and I’ll do my best to find an answer.

-Len

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So, it is after 3:00, and the Embassy Suite link says no rooms available at our rates on those dates. I've been trying since 3:00 on the nose (now 3:09 as I write). Either it is still broken, the link went live BEFORE 3:00 and is sold out, or they are in some weird time zone.

 

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I just checked to make sure it works...and, I was able to reserve a room no problem (did not follow through with it so I did not actually take one out of inventory). It is 3:14 PM here on my clock. I'm not sure how much more I can help from where I sit.

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What a production lol...

Could finally access live booking at 4:15 EST.

Clicked the final button to submit, and got "Oops, that stinks...our online booking is down".

Called the hotel a few times and got busy signals.

Called the national 1-800 number, and got put through to the block booking person...she said the block was gone, but they "opened a few more rooms."

I got one. I'm happy.

 

That's great news for IPMS if the block sold out in 30 minutes.....Who knows what really happened?

It'll be interesting to hear other's experiences....

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Got mine, started at 301 CST.  The only hicough was a message that they had an issue automatically tying my Hilton honors account to the reservation, but that has been resolved.  Reservation made with no other problems

Have heard that another North Texas guy was having problems saying that the block was sold

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I started precisely at 4 P.M. EDT. Initially, by trying to book the room from Tuesday the 28th to Sunday the 2cd, the website said there were no rooms available at the Convention rate. So, I simply booked the room from 29 July to 2 August without a problem. Then, I got on the phone immediately with the hotel and they added on the 28th to the reservation for the Convention room rate. Easy-Peasy! 

Good work, Len! 

Nick

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I logged in just after 3PM Central Time, and had no problems at all. The site allowed me to book a room from Monday 27 July to Sunday 2 August. My wife and I have discussed arriving early to do some touristy things, and this worked out perfectly. Even though I have a Hilton Honors card, I didn't try to use it, because I had EXTREME difficulty trying to do that in Omaha.

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Right at 3 I got the "that stinks..." error message, but I tried again and got my room. It will be nice to finally stay at the convention hotel. I had to leave the awards ceremony a few minutes early to catch the last shuttle back to my hotel this year.  Thank you for your efforts. 

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Logged in promptly at 1 PDT and had all the room options available.  Got one of the premium rooms at a standard rate.  That may have been a function of my Hilton Honors membership.  Not that I need snacks and beverages, but it is nice to have.  Just went on line today and it seems the block is gone.  That was quick. 

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If you've stayed at the Embassy Suites at any of the other conventions that had one....then you KNOW why you WANT to stay in THAT hotel! With free breakfast AND free happy hour, I'm not surprised that it's probably sold out already. Oh yeah...the rooms are just about the biggest and nicest compared to any other convention hotel. You can bunk 3 persons separately and 5 comfortably if you don't mind snuggling up to someone....makes for a cheaper stay!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Fortunately, I have my room reservation, but just now checking availability seems the block at Embassy, at convention rates, is no longer available.  Are they now sold out??  Thanks for your help

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Skip, the block apparently sold out on Tuesday. Glad to see that you got your reservation. Looking forward to seeing some of those ships you build next July.

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The Embassy Suites room block sold out in about 4 hours...and as of right now they are at 100% capacity for the convention dates (29 July - 1 Aug). This weekend I will be sending out more updates as to how we are going to manage filling rooms for those that wish to stay at the Embassy Suites as various members cancel their reservations during the upcoming year. I will post an update here on the forum - under a new topic/thread - as well as send an e-mail to all those that have signed-up for my e-mail announcements. 

Also keep in mind that there are still rooms at the overflow hotels...linked from the convention web page...and we will be running a shuttle between these hotels and the Embassy Suites during the entire time of the convention (Wed-Sat).

Edited by LenPilhofer
grammar
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On 9/11/2019 at 4:58 PM, ghodges said:

If you've stayed at the Embassy Suites at any of the other conventions that had one....then you KNOW why you WANT to stay in THAT hotel! With free breakfast AND free happy hour, I'm not surprised that it's probably sold out already. Oh yeah...the rooms are just about the biggest and nicest compared to any other convention hotel. You can bunk 3 persons separately and 5 comfortably if you don't mind snuggling up to someone....makes for a cheaper stay!

 

GIL :smiley16:

I agree, I liked the Embassy Suites hotels because of all the extras. I have even started to stay at them on family road trips.

 

I was also able to get my room before they sold out. Looking forward to the show!! (but not the snuggling part) :laugh:

Edited by TheDude
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So I forgot to check for the time reservations would be opening for the convention hotel.  Tried to make a reservation on Friday, 13 Sept.  Went on-line and then by phone only to be disappointed the block has sold out for the Embassy Suites!   It never stops to amaze me how fast the main hotel sells out nowadays.  I guess this is to be expected.  Unfortunately, a number of those making reservations will not be attending the Nats in 2020 for whatever reason and will end up cancelling their reservation.  I guess I should have been quicker!  Booked at one of the overflow hotels.  This will be the first time in the past 15+ Nats I haven't stayed at the primary hotel.  Oh well, rant off !!!

Mark

Edited by Mark Ford
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16 hours ago, LenPilhofer said:

The Embassy Suites room block sold out in about 4 hours...and as of right now they are at 100% capacity for the convention dates (29 July - 1 Aug). This weekend I will be sending out more updates as to how we are going to manage filling rooms for those that wish to stay at the Embassy Suites as various members cancel their reservations during the upcoming year. I will post an update here on the forum - under a new topic/thread - as well as send an e-mail to all those that have signed-up for my e-mail announcements. 

Also keep in mind that there are still rooms at the overflow hotels...linked from the convention web page...and we will be running a shuttle between these hotels and the Embassy Suites during the entire time of the convention (Wed-Sat).

Out of curiosity, how many rooms were included in the block for the convention?

Mark

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