PACE NSC hotel discussion

[Remember-the-Alamo-Remember-Goliad]

I would hope that whoever at PACE is in charge of the "hotel block" issue and does liaison with the Marriott would solve the matter of the no-longer-existing $99.00 rooms which is mentioned in the PACE web site posting of information here: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/w ... y-college/ When I called the hotel a few days ago to book, the very kind woman doing the booking said there were NO MORE ROOMS at that rate, period!

So, I e-mailed Aaron R. Sarah A., and Matt W., on April 1 at 2:08 PM but as of this notation, I haven't heard back from them.

OK, we're not talking about sequestration amounts of $$$$, right? But Catholic schools, monks, clergy, etc. -- $50.00 is a lot of money.

So, if anybody out there in PACE-land can help, that would be cool.

April is the cruelest month, but I'm still going to the opening night of Turandot tomorrow at The Dallas Opera!

[Mike Bentley]

Sorry, we had an internal conversation about getting more rooms, but I didn't realize that no one had communicated back to you. We are looking into the issue and will have an update soon.

[Blackboard Monitor Vimes]

Sorry, Father Gregory! I thought Aaron had told you as well as Mike and I that he's going to call the hotel and see what we can do. Hotels like guaranteed business, so hopefully he will be able to report back with good news.

[Lagotto Romagnolo]

I am indeed. It seems we won't be able to get any more rooms with 2 queen beds or the like at the Marriott, so I am now working out an alternative. I thank you all for your patience in this matter.

[theMoMA]

I split this thread.

[Cassian]

If it helps, apparently there are plenty of rooms available to Marriott Rewards members at a rate of $101/night. You can sign up for Marriott Rewards online in about 5 minutes, and they let you reserve the rooms at the discounted rate immediately after you sign up.

[Lagotto Romagnolo]

If it helps, apparently there are plenty of rooms available to Marriott Rewards members at a rate of $101/night. You can sign up for Marriott Rewards online in about 5 minutes, and they let you reserve the rooms at the discounted rate immediately after you sign up.

Thanks for the tip, Coach Flowers. It looks like I can't use the Rewards program to reserve rooms for the teams (because that would require paying for them using PACE's account), but teams are certainly welcome to book those rooms on their own if they choose.

[Susan]

Anyone with AAA membership should be able to book a room at a 15% discount--I'm not sure if that can be used in conjunction with the member discount.

[Lagotto Romagnolo]

I'll post updates here as they come.

I've talked to the Marriott. They've added on 10 new rooms with 1 King Bed each into the team block. I think these will work well for coaches or chaperones (or two-player teams, if any of those are coming). Make sure you ask for the PACE Team block. But they've given our block all the rooms with 2 queen beds that they can.

Father Gregory, Coach Flowers' idea may come in handy for your team. It looks like you may still be able to get rooms with 2 queen beds through Marriott rewards for $101 a night plus tax.

I just got off the phone with the Comfort Inn. They have 3 rooms left with two beds (full or queen, I think), far too few to make a group block worthwhile. They also have larger suites with king beds and pull out couches, but those are pricey. So if you want one of those rooms, I suggest calling them and asking ASAP.

Again, thank you for your patience.

[Remember-the-Alamo-Remember-Goliad]

Well, at this point, my NEW problem is that we were told that the Marriott was within easy walking distance of the competition site. Having NO sense of direction, am I really better off saving some money by moving to a cheaper hotel only to find out that the 'cheaper hotel is actually quite a bit further off from the competition site.

For students, perhaps that's not a problem, but for me at the age of 59, what's the old song lyric, "you're not a kid anymore" -- so walking presents a challenge, too.

Perhaps someone familiar with the area can comment on the relative walking times between the various area hotels vs. the competition site.

But, thanks to all of you for your concern! It's very heartening!

[Mike Bentley]

It depends on which hotel you end up getting. The Marriott is actually a little further than the Math and Physics buildings where the tournament will be taking place than a couple of the other hotels on Route 1. Here's directions from the Marriott to the math building: https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Unkn ... sz=16&z=16.

You can look at the address of the cheaper hotels as Aaron posts them and see how the distances compare.