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PAX East 2011 Hotel Discussion Thread and Poll
Posts
It is my favorite area hotel for staying IN Boston. I will be staying there for PAX. I didn't want it to seem like I was going for the hard sell or something along those lines.
-Unfortunately they have been booked solid now it seems.
I'll send you a direct message.
Left her a VM and EMAIL.....WTF My original Reservation was booked 10/16....
*edit...the was booked from onpeak
3 Day Pass [X] - BYOC [X] - Accomodations [X] - Travel [X] - Time Off [X]
Yes, I booked with the PAX block.
I am not sure what time they will run the shuttles. If you are not going to drive to the Con then you're going to want to make sure that you have teh monies to take a cab back. You may want to hang out and game late night at the Westin or one of the other hotels by the con. Public transportation will be shut down after like 1:00 am.
You are in a position to get some good eats though. I know out by the Con there is not too many amazing restaurants but in the Copley/Back Bay/South End there is an abundance of them. This being said you may want to check out the Sunday Morning Pax Dim Sum Brunch Meetup if you fancy that sort of thing. Chinatown will be easily accessible from the orange line at Back Bay Station, which isnt too far from your hotel.
3 Day Pass [X] - BYOC [X] - Accomodations [X] - Travel [X] - Time Off [X]
ANYWAYS. She told me to make it known that anyone who is willing to give up their room at the Waterfront can have 1 free night at the Westin Copley. She was very serious about this and said she has been getting yelled at all day by angry PAXers.
Folks, if you call and ask about this, be nice. The manager is having a rough morning, be understanding.
A brief look at the Copley suggests it is very swanky indeed. It's right next to the Green Line, about twenty minutes to the convention center. The shuttle they'll have running goes until 3am. Furthermore, us in the Copley crew will be in the same nice downtown area as the Hynes center last year, so we'll all be on more familiar ground, and nicer options for restaurants.
I was also informed that folks willing to trade or opt-out would be getting that 1 Free Night deal. Personally, I think it's worth it. I'm trading convenience of location for convenience of access to good food, saving money, and making a nice lady's day less stressful.
If anyone who is staying at least Friday and Saturday nights would prefer to stay in the Westin Copley for the free night, nicer location and nicer hotel, please shoot me a PM and we can call her to swap. They are going to be running a shuttle between the hotels starting at 8am and going until 3 or 4am in the morning each day of the convention. Additionally, they will give you taxi vouchers if you'd prefer to just take a cab on their dime.
I booked on 10/19. They charged my credit card without issue. I even called two weeks ago to speak with someone on the phone. She confirmed my reservation and stated there were no problems at all.
They offered me a free night at the Copley (which was a cheaper hotel to begin with).
I wanted the attached hotel because I'm bring both of my daughters. We planned this trip for six months. We booked this trip with family (who I might add did not lose their reservation because they were single rooms). I even asked for a smaller or larger room, alas, to no avail.
This is really unacceptable on so many levels.
If the hotel has a block of rooms and they take a reservation, then follow through with a reservation.
Yes, I was in a room with two double beds.
Double beds here as well.
Overbooking does make business sense when you're beholden to the bottom line more than your clients. The Group Manager lady had nothing to do with it though and from what I can see is doing everything in her power to make amends for those affected. Free night, free cab, free shuttle (prob some free food too if you ask nicely) might not make up for getting bumped entirely, but it's as much as they can do (short of bumping someone else).
I booked a single and I am good. So it must be them trying to fix the mess up. I'm guessing when peakevents sent over the reservations those who didn't put the names of the people that would be there got auto bumped to a single. and now that you guys are calling to confirm and they say its a single, they are bumping to fix it. which really really sucks for some people who are getting bumped all together. Some one should be finding these people other rooms and discounted.
Overbooking is unfortunately pretty much standard practice everywhere. Especially for airlines, which are notorious for it.
If you can't find another PAXer for hotel parking, here's another place to look: Alewife Station (among others). I am planning to park there this weekend:
Average Weekday Availability: 10%
Parking Rate: $7.00/day. $8.00/overnight
Accessible Spaces: 24
Bike Spaces: 174
Managed By: Central Parking
(617) 695-6356
Website
Comments:
Central Parking is responsible for garage snow removal, maintenance and fee collection. Overnight parking is available in the garage (7 days maximum). Height clearance 7' GARAGE INFO: 617-864-2270
Please be nice and leave me a space!
Other complimentary services the hotel offered aside from the free night, were taxi vouchers, for those unsure of their schedule in relation to the shuttle, or free parking for those with cars.
I'm still upset, but this at least makes it not as inconvenient for some of us.
For folks like [derek], I would strongly recommend contacting either @official_pax on twitter, or pax_questions@paxsite.com .
The pax team is just as upset over this as we are, and they're working to resolve the situation.
I've been on twitter about this (@Official_PAX), and the PAX crew have been magnificent. It's not their fault, and they have an incredibly hard job with to do arranging everything. As I said in my tweets, I really hope that this can help their logistics crew for next year.
Thank You!!
Did anyone end up having their deposit taken out? I didn't, and the person I spoke with at the Westin said there wasn't anything in their system about a deposit, even though my reservation was there.
After time adrift among open stars
Among tides of light and to shoals of dust
I will return to where I began
Typically, they never take out any deposit until you check-out of the room. They just used the "deposit" as collateral to hold your reservation. They probably let them go since it's so close to the event now.
My room at the Westin Boston Waterfront was moved from a 2 double bed to a 1 king bed, which kinda sucks considering the number of people in my room, but oh well. They also changed it to be reserved for only one person, so hopefully they don't freak out when I request multiple room keys.
This is all part of PAX growing pains. I remember when I was preparing to attend Prime back in '07 and there were all sorts of hotel issues for people, from not near enough hotels being set up to have group rates to hotels not having near enough rooms set aside. You can be assured that if there is ever a third PAX you will see some of these same issues happen the first couple years also. No matter how the OnPeak, Reed, or Penny Arcade teams try to emphasize how big the event is, the locals won't get it until after they get swamped once or twice.
Also, if they're dealing with a room block from someone else, they probably got the list at the last possible minute and are still sorting through the bs.
I have to get up at like 5. Being picked up at 6. Train at 7:16am. I have yet to pack. :shock:
I already plan to call up OnPeak tomorrow morning but has anyone else ran into this problem / found a solution?
Edit: After calling them they said I still had a reservation, still was really disconcerting not to receive a confirmation email, maybe its a Doubletree thing?