DATE & VENUE CHANGE

[TommyT]

If a hotel has an event on the prices will go up. If they are not expecting anyone in then they will sell the rooms cheaper. Once they knew they had a booking they will have reverted to their usual rate for such events.

Although I can think of occasions when they may give a special reduced price when they have a booking on; several weddings that I can think of, plus a couple of conferences have seen the hotel doing a discount rate, no doubt because they knew they would probably be making a fortune from the formal dining and the bars, so it made sense for them to encourage people to stay there (maximise the opportunities for additional revenue generation).

I honestly doubt it's Showmasters decision to increase the price. This hotel only has 100 odd rooms so I imagine they are well aware they will be fully booked very quickly and will raise their prices accordingly.

I'm actually staying at the Park Inn in a couple of weeks (at £46 per night) - I seem to remember when I was investigating my options for staying in Bedford that there were other places, but I couldn't tell you how close or how cheap.

[Psychosis]

I'm driving from Crewe if you need a lift seeing as I go through stoke on the A500, I'll be going down friday afternoon and coming back sunday after the closing ceremony

 

Oh hello! This may help Muchly Thanks for offering!

[jell1c4t]

As SG1 has ended now and Atlantis has just been cancelled/not picked up for a 6th season, who will be filming in Feb to clash with the event? Could we not just go back to the Northampton venue?

[Christoff]

As SG1 has ended now and Atlantis has just been cancelled/not picked up for a 6th season, who will be filming in Feb to clash with the event? Could we not just go back to the Northampton venue?

 

Oooh yes please But maybe they're filming for the movie(s) then?

[DavidB]

Are you talking about moving back to the original date/venue? As the Twilight con now has that place.

[Psychosis]

Yet another reason to stab the world's worst popular writer in the eye with a pen. Or a typewriter. Or a keyboard.:jason:

 

(kidding)

[habitualangel]

I'm driving from Crewe if you need a lift seeing as I go through stoke on the A500, I'll be going down friday afternoon and coming back sunday after the closing ceremony

 

Oh hello! This may help Muchly Thanks for offering!

 

No problem - I have spoken to you before - when you were with Matt Lewis @ gmex so if i see you at an event i'll come over and say hello

[pez]

Yet another reason to stab the world's worst popular writer in the eye with a pen. Or a typewriter. Or a keyboard.:jason:

 

(kidding)

 

Psychosis no dont hold back you really say what you think ....lol

[Psychosis]

Psychosis no dont hold back you really say what you think ....lol

 

*giggles* Sorry

[Mara Jade]

I'd still like something from showmasters about the price at the hotel :) Just to clear things up :)

[showmasters]

all hotels want to sell rooms its simple that what they are there for

 

when we book an event at a hotel instead of selling the room of with the 1st 33% at a cheep price at the begging, and then when half have sold put them up to the reguler price, and then sell of the last 33% at a much higher price which is how hotels work

 

this way we got them to agree to charge a over all price that they needed to charge to cover the hotels costs and money needed to make it work for them and agreed this price

 

which is fairer for the fans and normal for all hotels, there is nothing odd going on here we just want it to be fair for everyone

 

i hope this helps

 

jason

[Christoff]

all hotels want to sell rooms its simple that what they are there for

 

when we book an event at a hotel instead of selling the room of with the 1st 33% at a cheep price at the begging, and then when half have sold put them up to the reguler price, and then sell of the last 33% at a much higher price which is how hotels work

 

this way we got them to agree to charge a over all price that they needed to charge to cover the hotels costs and money needed to make it work for them and agreed this price

 

I'm not sure I completely understood what you said, but as for selling to some for a cheaper price, then increasing it to the normal price and then increasing to the highest price, why is it then that the "over all price" that was agreed on was the high price? A price that's £19 more per night than usual at weekends. Why not their regular price? In the example you gave that would be the average price anyway with a third of people spending less than that, a third spending the regular price and another third spending more, but we're all being told we have to spend more (a lot more).

 

this way we got them to agree to charge a over all price that they needed to charge to cover the hotels costs and money needed to make it work for them and agreed this price

 

which is fairer for the fans and normal for all hotels, there is nothing odd going on here we just want it to be fair for everyone

 

The impression I get from that is that the extra costs on top of the regular price we're paying (the extra £19 per night) is going towards booking the hotel for the convention and nothing to do with the bedrooms we're booking, but we're paying for the convention separately which I would've thought was paying for both the booking of the venue and to get the guests.

 

Did I understand correctly? If not would you be able to explain it a little clearer please?

[thefreckles]

 

The impression I get from that is that the extra costs on top of the regular price we're paying (the extra £19 per night) is going towards booking the hotel for the convention and nothing to do with the bedrooms we're booking, but we're paying for the convention separately which I would've thought was paying for both the booking of the venue and to get the guests.

 

Did I understand correctly? If not would you be able to explain it a little clearer please?

 

I have to agree here and think that is rather unfair. The lower rate does actually seem to be the 'Standard' rate for the hotel, not a cheaper, limited rate. It seems as if we are being charged a premium price for this. All other conventions that I have been to have usually managed to organise a reduced price for convention attendees rather than an inflated price! I'm kicking myself for not booking a room directly now when I first visited. I could have always cancelled if no guests appealed and saved myself some (much needed at that time of year) money. Oh well... If 'The Hub' proves a success and I decide to give Showmasters my approval for these type of events (still very, very much up in the air after Eclipse), I'll be far more careful with booking a room in the future. I saved quite a bit booking the Park through their website for The Hub rather than phoning them and stating I wanted to book for the con directly! Breakfast is nice but not £21 per brek per night nicer!!!!

Edited August 28, 2008 by thefreckles

[Millwallant]

I thought they were saying that the £66 is the regular rate. ie. £46 when no rooms are sold, £66 when half are sold and the last remaining rooms when it looks like filling up then £86 (for example) That's what I was trying to say less succesfully in my post earlier. I book a hotel for for work that can be £45 when empty and £130 when an event is on which makes the £86 we book for amazingly good value sometimes and a complete rip off if they are empty!

 

It's honestly only the way most hotels are run (the easyjet method!) If showmasters didn't arrange a rate, people who were booking a week before the event when the guests were all but finalised would be complaining about being penalised with a higher price.

[Too Tall]

If you find a weekend where something else is happening and the hotel is more than a third full you'll find that the room rate will be £65.

 

The reason £46 LOOKS like the regular rate for a weekend is because the hotel is less than a third full on the weekends you checked, but that will not be the case on this weekend. Most business hotels are empty at the weekends, it's why they offer weekend rates to get people in.

 

What Jason is saying is that the average rate is £65. Also in this case you are getting breakfast for 2 people. Don't forget that in most hotels breakfast will be at least £7 per person. So that's £14 of the £19 difference straight away. But really breakfast isn't the point, the point is that...

 

Normally the first third (40 rooms) get it a £46.

The next third (40 rooms) get it at £65.

The next third (40 rooms) get it at £84.

 

Rather than the first third getting it cheaper and the last third getting a higher rate the hotel are doing all the 120 rooms at £65 that weekend.

 

SM are not trying to rip you off or make money out of your hotel booking. They are just trying to make it fair to as many people as possible. You can of course decided not to stay their.

[showmasters]

thanks Too Tall you do say it better than me

 

what he said

 

we get nothing from the hotel, we try to get the price for rooms as low as posable so people can afford the hotel and the con price or it would start to get to expensive.

 

so its in our interest to work to keep the hotel price down and thats what we have done and the price is the same as the other hotel.

 

well i hope this helps

 

jason

[thefreckles]

SM are not trying to rip you off or make money out of your hotel booking. They are just trying to make it fair to as many people as possible. You can of course decided not to stay their.

True

 

Thanks for the reply and further clarification! It's appreciated. Not what I've experienced elsewhere but then have only stayed at a Park once before so I bow to your superior knowledge

[Mara Jade]

Hm, just a little thing about the hotel - anyone been able to figure out, if there's a pool there? Loved the one at the Northampton Park Inn, so hoped there would be one here too

Though I can't see it on the page, so...

[loopymowse]

Bedford

I think MS and CJ visited Bedford to sign at a store back in January 2004

The name of the store was Infinitely Better, or Forbidden Planet, something like that (a scifi merchandise store)

It snowed! I was freezing-cold by the time the guys entered the store and sat down to sign.

Brrrrrrr I remember the cold that day

[MadOne]

Hm, just a little thing about the hotel - anyone been able to figure out, if there's a pool there? Loved the one at the Northampton Park Inn, so hoped there would be one here too

Though I can't see it on the page, so...

Someone else who has had the exact same thought I have! Loved the pool.

 

This hotel just has a steam room - which I found was nice but only just before getting into the pool. I'm still making my mind up as to where to stay. The lack of a pool is a major no-no.

[Mara Jade]

Glad I'm not the only one That pool was so relaxing! I think I even saw you down there :)

[TommyT]

The lack of a pool is a major no-no.

You can always go and swim in the Great Ouse - it's just outside

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...dford_river.jpg

River Great Ouse in Bedford from Town Bridge,looking downstream. The old Coaching Inn, the Swan Hotel is on the left behind the tree. Bedford Rowing Club and the multistorey Bedford Park Inn are on the right.

The glass fronted building right on the river is also part of the Park Inn - downstairs is the bar and upstairs is the restaurant.

[Raylenth]

Bedford

I think MS and CJ visited Bedford to sign at a store back in January 2004

The name of the store was Infinitely Better, or Forbidden Planet, something like that (a scifi merchandise store)

It snowed! I was freezing-cold by the time the guys entered the store and sat down to sign.

Brrrrrrr I remember the cold that day

 

 

The Infinitly Better shop was in Swindon I think.

[loopymowse]

The Infinitly Better shop was in Swindon I think.

 

I knew the shop name was something like that, this'll bug me until I or someone with better memory can recall it.

I hope to get to Bedford morning-ish on the Friday so I might try to find the location and then I'll know what shop it was - if the shop is still there...

Anyone living in Bedford or visited can tell us useful intel about the place? Where cash machines, internet access, etc are?

I can't remember anything from 2004 except how cold I was that day

[TommyT]

Anyone living in Bedford or visited can tell us useful intel about the place? Where cash machines, internet access, etc are?

I can't remember anything from 2004 except how cold I was that day

The hotel is on the south bank of the Great Ouse River, facing west. Come out of the hotel front door, turn right and walk across the bridge over the river and you're into what passes for Bedford town centre; various cash machines available. 5-10 minute walk tops.

Wireless internet in the rooms and communcal areas, although at the somewhat pricey rate of £15/24 hours (for "business" spec - i.e. pretty much unlimited; there was also a "domestic" (or something similar) spec which had some restrictions on download which i think was £12 for 24 hours).

There's a tasty Chinese takeaway on the part of Duck Mill Lane which runs along the south side of the hotel.

Talking of Duck Mill lane, whilst the hotel's street address is on St Mary's Street, the car park is at the back of the hotel, and is only accessible via Duck Mill lane off Cardington Road - you cannot get there directly from the front of the hotel without driving round the one way system, which is a small pain in the butt. And the car park isn't immediately obvious (because the big sign in the car park saying "Park Inn" faces east and west, and you approach the car park from the south. so don't see the wording. So, for those driving and wanting to park, you need to get onto Cardington Road, turn into Duck Mill Lane, and the hotel car park is right at the north end of Duck Mill Lane. Duck Mill Lane then turns left (west) and runs along the south side of the hotel, but you cannot get a car out of Duck Mill lane onto St Mary's Street or vice-versa as it's closed off to vehicular traffic - OK, you could get a motorbike through (MK42 0AU is the postcode; go to maps.google.co.uk, enter the postcode, go to the largest possible scale, and then click on the "satellite" option button. The Park Inn is the set of buildings just to the right of the bridge on the south bank of the river.)

The hotel is actually part tower block, so it's actually a reasonably decent landmark; the communal areas (bar etc) are two storeys high, and then above part of them is about 8,10,12 or so floors of residential area. There is also an annex at the back of the hotel (half brown roof half white roof on the staellite image) which is about a three storey high building with about another 40 or 50 rooms in it. If you park in the car park, you can get to reception by going through the back door of the hotel (in the annex) and then wending your way through the corridors, but unless it's absolutely sheeting down with rain, it's easier to walk along the south side of the hotel along Duck Mill Lane and then turn right and go in the front door.

 

No real ale in the hotel bar, to the best of my memory, but I think they had some fizzy keg stuff like Worthington. Don't think they had draught cider either, but they did have draught Guinness, Becks Vier, Stella (I think) and the magical nectar that is Leffe Blonde. Disappointing choice of whisky. OK for a hotel bar, and thankfully not in a hurry to go to bed :-)

 

If you cross the bridge and go into town there are any variety of Wetherspoon/Litten Tree/Hobgoblin chain pubs that seem to do food which is cheap and cheerful (although the clientele there on the Saturday night I was there was definitely of the unpleasant meathead variety. There's also a Nandos just over the bridge if that tickles your fancy. We didn't find much at all open early (noon) on Sunday lunchtime when we were looking for a pub lunch - walked past several of the pubs and Nandos that were either closed or uninviting. If you feel like pushing the boat out, the Fleur De Lis in Mill Street (http://fleurdelisbedford.rtrk.co.uk/) does excellent food and decent sturdy portions of it. When we were there the Sunday roast was £8.95 and you had a choice of beef or turkey, and there was a free dessert as well. (Interestingly the Nandos and some of the pubs had opened up by the time we strolled back around 2-ish.) To be honest, apart from that one pub, I didn't think that much of Bedford town centre, but there again I guess that's hardly a major consideration for conventioneers either.

I've probably also got the name of the taxicab firm we used a couple of times over the weekend, somewhere; they were pretty good.