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[PRIME] PAX Prime 2012 Hotel Discussion
Posts
As far as "happening last year", it actually happens every year since OnPeak has done the reservations
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Sorry, I should have been more specific, I meant the part one where someone called a hotel and was given the bad information of "Well we don't have your name, so you're not registered," happened last year. I'd guess that someone gets an official bad response all the time though. You'd think the official responses would be better from a hotel. (More on the lines of "if you used a 3rd party, we can't confirm it until X time before the event.)
I just remember someone specifically forgetting to say it was a 3rd party reservation, getting the scary response, then calling back clarifying and still getting a scary response. But it all worked out
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has had luck with Priceline in booking a hotel? I know some of the hotels Priceline uses are quite far from the convention center so it would be a big risk to try it, but several of the "prime" hotels are on there as well. So, share you Priceline successes or failures!
Several people have said upthread that the 3rd party booking sites can lead to a "walk" (in which they tell you "sorry we're booked, but we have a hotel for you [here]." You takes your chances with that.
Also it's worth noting that if you're going in for the "Blind bid" where you name a price and then see the hotel, the chances you get a hotel that is sold out are virtually 0, (and the hotels on OnPeak are all pretty much sold out on their main hotel pages directly). So you're pretty much unlikely to get "lucky" and score a hotel for cheaper that's in the block.
Oh also, last I checked this morning Friday Hotel availability (in the block) was below 50! (I'd love to see a complete Friday sellout personally just so we can say it happened
Great thanks for the tips. I already have a room at the W reserved (I know it's not in the center of the action but it's close enough and the price isn't too bad), but my cheapo friend wants to find a better deal. I'm gonna tell him to feel grateful we even have a room downtown!
The worst part is there's nothing I can do to protect myself against this since 1 of the card numbers was lost by the bank (not much I can do there) and the other was an old fashioned resturant skim (where they copy your number down when you pay). Short of damanding to follow the waiter/waitress to the computer, there's nothing I can do on that one.
On the up side, I'm out $0 for all my trouble (thank you fraud protection.)
Call up OnPeak. You can send them a check deposit for the room and then they won't need to auth your card. Then you'll just need a card (or something) when you check in. Either way, I'm sure they'll be able to take care of it with a call.
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Thanks @Zerzhul, I think I'll sit on it for now (it's assigned to a working card for the moment) and if that card goes belly up then I'll just call and see what they can do.
I suppose I could also generate one of those fancy "temporary" cards from my bank account for making online purchases, at least I know what won't get screwed over.
Lowest Credit card bills in a long time, since we've gone most of the month without being able to use them. (We usually throw everything on the cards and pay it off each month. Makes balancing the checkbook easier.)
Very excited about PAX east. However before I get too excited about going, I'd like to know what the PAX EAST negotiated block rates were last year for the closer hotels. Like:
Westin Waterfront (the connected hotel)
Seaport Hotel
Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel
But actually, please anyone that remembers what their nightly rate was, please chime in with what you paid and how close you were to the convention center!
Thanks in advance everyone!
Sincerely,
J
There will be a whole thread for PAX East Hotels after PAX Prime is over. The topic of this thread is PAX Prime hotels, please try to not derail the thread.
The info you're looking for is here btw: http://wiki.paxcommunity.net/paxwiki/Hotels
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I am going down with a secured CC (which means I have to add funds to it) and I am trying to estimate how much more I will have to put on the card to cover incidentals.
Worst case I will be calling the hotel but figured I'd ask here first.
I spent $0 on incidentals at Homewood Suites last year. That said, I didn't have a vehicle to park there. Usually hotel incidentals are things like parking, phone calls, internet (although I'm pretty sure internet is included at homewood), room service, or damages. Calling the hotel isn't a bad idea though just in case anyone here forgets something.
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if you use that all up they end up not letting you add more charges to your room until you go back to the desk and they add another $150
I would doubt anyone is gonna get anywhere near that kind of charge tho (unless you stupidly drunkly decide to raid the mini-bar if there is one in your room
@shadowscoutuk
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To me incidentals = hold on your card.
FYI, I just called Homewood Suites and they said they hold $50 for incidentals for your whole stay.
I didn't believe the guy but he insisted. Still seems too low to me.
If you have a car, they hold an additional $32/night.
So a safe amount would probably be about $150 - $200 extra depending on where you're staying.
Doesn't sound that far off actually. A hold is just a verification of available funds. If Homewood finds that it's guests don't often spend more than $50 for a stay, there's no reason to hold more than that. Plus if a given customer did go over that a new hold is just clicks away. (Dunno much about Homewood, but I get the feeling that as a rule people don't go there and spend a bunch of cash on things like room service, and they do they even have a minibar?)
Oh I wasn't saying lack of a minibar means no incidentals hold, just that in my previous experience it tends to mean a lower incidentals hold. Incidentals holds are kinda like insurance, they're running numbers to determine what is reasonable and not likely to lose them money (because someone gave them card with not enough limit on it) but also not drive away customers. Since you're unlikely to steal $50 in towels before they have a maid up there who finds out (and they can expand your hold), it's not a big risk. However, you could easily clean out a minibar in one night for $100s before they found out. So places with minibars tend to have higher incidental holds than places without them.
Hotel Damage is kinda a hit or miss. Most people don't destroy hotels (and when they do, there's no possible prehold that's reasonable to apply to everyone that's going to come anywhere near helping them.)
So the TL;DR is "for a place sans minibar, $50 doesn't sound too low IMHO. YMMV"
Something (Room cancellations I suppose? Last minute people bailing? Added rooms? who knows!) has produced a few rooms in the closer hotels available Thurs-Sunday in the OnPeak searches (i.e. the official hotel block).
YMMV, I just ran the search with the default "Thurs-Sunday" settings. And I didn't really check how many rooms were left, so they may be gone by the time I hit post (and the more I type the more likely that becomes!). There appeared (emphasis APPEARED, I was scanning and I'm prone to error when I do that) to be at least one available room at the Coveted Sheraton and Hyatt hotels (they both came up in the search.)
OnPeak will not charge your card. They will transfer your reservation to the hotel about 1-2 weeks before PAX, and then the hotel will put a hold on your card for the first night in case of no-shows. The hotel will not put a hold on for incidentals until you arrive and present the card that you will be using to stay. Once you present THAT card, the hold on your reservation card should be lifted and then they'll put the hold on for incidentals (no idea how much, likely $50-200).
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Your ever-awesome Frog-Backpack Girl.
I have not stayed there for PAX before, but I do know a friend that has stayed there before and loved his stay/staff was great/etc. Hope it's as good for you!
Massive Crystal Cavern!
Your ever-awesome Frog-Backpack Girl.
They showed up in my wife's Hyatt rewards "upcoming trips" which usually doesn't happen until Onepeak sends it over. (i.e they weren't there last week.)
Also, nice timing @ohkatey lol. Great minds...something something.
I don't recall any announcements last year. Worst case you can always call your hotel either on the road or in between flights to tell them you're still coming
I can't speak for PAX, but in my experience it has to be pretty late before a hotel gives up a reservation (although a full hotel may change that!)
Also if you simply call OnPeak, they should be able to tell you when it will be transferred.
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@shadowscoutuk