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Our 2019 annual meeting and conference look like they are going to be a great success. Why? Well not only because of the outstanding program but your response. We have more attendees coming than we expected. And because of this, the hotel has already reached the saturation point on at least one night for the advertised conference rate.
First the good news. There are still rooms at the hotel for each night of the conference to include the night of the awards banquet. But these rooms are going fast and if you have not already booked one and want to stay at the conference hotel, you need to act immediately.
Now for the bad news. Saturday night, September 14th, is booked well above the maximum for the conference rate to apply. Yes, there are still rooms, but the hotel will not give you a conference rate that night. Even if you beg them.
And the nearly bad news. There are still rooms available for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, but two of those nights are nearly at the cutoff point for conference room rates. If you want to stay at the conference hotel, you need to make a reservation immediately. Once the hotel is booked at 80% capacity on any one of those nights, rooms will still be available but not at the conference rate.
Hotel policy is to honor conference rates until such time as the hotel is booked at 80% capacity. Once that threshold has been crossed, if there are any rooms left, they will be available at whatever rate you can negotiate yourselves – AAA, AARP, Senior, etc.
For those of you who say, well I am an award winner, or I know the president, I’m a speaker, or I know Jim, etc., don’t even go there. Jim has already been to the hotel staff six times and after obtaining another exception today, he was told that was the end of that. No more exceptions. No exception to the no exceptions.
Remember, there are still rooms available (as of 1 August 2019). Not sure how long that will last. You may have to be creative and book different nights at different prices. I have had to do that in the past and it works. As of right now, no one will be able to book the conference rate for all four nights. If you act right away, you might get one of the last three nights at the conference rate and Saturday at whatever you can negotiate.
So, what are your options if you simply do not want to pay the Hotel Albuquerque more than the conference rate? Here are a few ideas – we do not have a contract with any of these places so rates will be whatever you can negotiate:
(1) Book next door (literally a stone’s throw) and stay there. The Hotel Chaco is upscale and more expensive than the conference hotel, but it is only a few hundred feet away.
(2) Book a room at the Best Western Plus Rio Grande Inn. It is three blocks north of the conference hotel and should be less expensive than the conference hotel.
(3) There is a small B&B located also within walking distance of the conference hotel.
(4) There are many other hotels and B&Bs within a very short drive of the conference hotel.
We look forward to seeing you in Albuquerque. It is going to be a great conference.
Jim Tritten
Joint Conference Coordinator