Austin said:
Frankly, I'm not sure how good the block of rooms was in the first
place. When I called, they didn't have any $90 rooms (as per the
conference page) -- only $100 rooms with a king-sized bed. This was
true when I booked last week, and true when I looked at booking (and
seeing if I could get free nights) two weeks ago. This may be
something where the HI didn't do its job properly, but ... I don't
know what sort of situation that places anything in.
FWIW, I called the hotel about a week ago. I was put through to central
reservations; they said the rate was $100. I told them that was wrong;
they suggested I call the hotel and ask for in-house reservations.
The guy there said that he knew of no blocked rooms. He put me through
to Sales. The woman there said that the block, and maybe the
conference, had been canceled. I told her that wrong; she said she
would look into it. She called me back and said all was straightened
out. Blocked rooms, $89 a night.
I wonder, though, if they screwed up in holding the blocked rooms.
Anyway, if you have a reservation, make sure it's a *guaranteed*
reservation. It's still not a *real* guarantee (I worked in the hotel
industry for 20 years), but it makes it less likely that your room will
be given away if you show up late.
James
