housing WORST Ever
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Posted by bware
#26

Pretty sure we are all just going to cancel. Last year we had the same issue and lucked out when I randomly found the Home2 hotel opened months after the block system was over and done with and got a fairly reasonable price. We did the 10 mile trips prior, with and without that terrible shuttle system and it was way too much of a pain in the rear. The lack of remotely reasonable public transportation kills this event. By the time events end, you get back to your hotel via random transport and have to get back up again, I may as well have just napped in one of the empty gaming rooms. :-)

Posted by squirecam lehane
#27

lehane wrote:
LA is on the farside of a coast. That will stop people from attending due to travel concerns that live in central or eastern areas. Same problem with selecting an east coast site.
Hotel expansion sounds nice, but it will never be on the table for a single convention due to lack of demand the rest of the year. In Indy doesn't already have public transportation then likely there also isn't a demand for it during the rest of the year.
Rising attendance to the point it is becoming problematic can only really be fought with expansion to a second convention. Still needs to be summer time? May or June then, with the usual august one.
too close to origins. That won't work either.

Posted by squirecam bware
#28

bware wrote:
Pretty sure we are all just going to cancel. Last year we had the same issue and lucked out when I randomly found the Room2 hotel opened months after the block system was over and done with and got a fairly reasonable price. We did the 10 mile trips prior, with and without that terrible shuttle system and it was way too much of a pain in the rear. The lack of remotely reasonable public transportation kills this event. By the time events end, you get back to your hotel via random transport and have to get back up again, I may as well have just napped in one of the empty gaming rooms. :-)
the problem could have been offset if available public transport were available. 

Posted by lehane squirecam
#29

squirecam wrote:
lehane wrote:
LA is on the farside of a coast. That will stop people from attending due to travel concerns that live in central or eastern areas. Same problem with selecting an east coast site.
Hotel expansion sounds nice, but it will never be on the table for a single convention due to lack of demand the rest of the year. In Indy doesn't already have public transportation then likely there also isn't a demand for it during the rest of the year.
Rising attendance to the point it is becoming problematic can only really be fought with expansion to a second convention. Still needs to be summer time? May or June then, with the usual august one.
too close to origins. That won't work either.
Never attended Origins so I wouldn't know.

Posted by squirecam lehane
#30

lehane wrote:
squirecam wrote:
lehane wrote:
LA is on the farside of a coast. That will stop people from attending due to travel concerns that live in central or eastern areas. Same problem with selecting an east coast site.
Hotel expansion sounds nice, but it will never be on the table for a single convention due to lack of demand the rest of the year. In Indy doesn't already have public transportation then likely there also isn't a demand for it during the rest of the year.
Rising attendance to the point it is becoming problematic can only really be fought with expansion to a second convention. Still needs to be summer time? May or June then, with the usual august one.
too close to origins. That won't work either.
Never attended Origins so I wouldn't know.
you should look into it. Its in Columbus Ohio.

Posted by orangedragon mhayward1978
#31

mhayward1978 wrote:
orangedragon wrote:
No not poppycock. Just got off the phone with the Conrad (suites available for $650 a night) only other room available is Hilton (room available at $450 a night). We've attended multiple years and NEVER had this kind of problem. No housing within 10 miles of the convention center that doesn't cost a fortune. Will be cancelling our tickets.

It is poppycock.You said "THERE'S NO DOWNTOWN ROOMS OUTSIDE THE BLOCK."
There are, as your own post verifies.
You mean: "THERE'S NO DOWNTOWN ROOMS OUTSIDE THE BLOCK AT A PRICE I'M WILLING TO PAY."  
Which is not the same thing at all.
Stop spreading misinformation.  
There are downtown rooms outside the block.
Maybe you should curb your snotty attitude and go back and reread my post. You know, the part that says "No housing within 10 miles of the convention center that doesn't cost a fortune." That is not misinformation. And I never said that there were no downtown rooms outside the block. That was someone else in this thread.

Posted by roderick
#32

Ok guys, back it down.

I realize that people are upset, but getting nasty on a public forum isn't going to solve anything. Take some time off, have a nice cup of tea, take a nap, come back refreshed and in a better frame of mind.

Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator; Gen Con, LLC.

Posted by lbxzero squirecam
#33

squirecam wrote:
lbxzero wrote:
qstor wrote:
Outside the block? There's NO downtown rooms outside the block.

There are a few rooms outside the block.  Those are typically the more costly suites.I will say this in GenCon's defense, they are trying to work with what they have.  Every major city has this problem of limited hotel rooms in walking distance.  They were hoping that improved transit services will help solve the issue, but it is not helping anything.  I agree with the 3-day minimum requirement for downtown rooms, but I do believe people are finding ways to bypass the enforcement somehow.  I have a series of suggestions to give these guys, which I think deserve its own thread.  Every year keeps looking to be worse than the year before.  I feel they missed an obvious opportunity here to relieve some of the tension.
Overall, it is always this bad, and it will always be this bad.
what transit services?there is no con shuttle. They left everyone at the rng mercy of the hotel timer.
maybe now people will understand why folks said gencon must consider moving. Indy does not have sufficient hotel space. Without a reliable shuttle it's only getting worse.

There are shuttle services from certain hotel areas, but everything transit related involves the roads.  I wonder if Indy is big enough to make a rail system effective.  I would not mind using a rail system to connect from other hotel areas to the convention center as its schedule will operate outside of vehicle traffic. 
roderick wrote:
Ok guys, back it down.
I realize that people are upset, but getting nasty on a public forum isn't going to solve anything. Take some time off, have a nice cup of tea, take a nap, come back refreshed and in a better frame of mind.
Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator; Gen Con, LLC.

Roderick, getting a few words off your chest is the best means of stress relief.  I'd rather see the nasty arguments get posted once and be done.  Just typing out the problem is relief enough.  Finding a way to bottle the stress only delays the pressure buildup.  The steam has to be released from the boiler.  After the housing mess, hide the thread and keep the contents for feedback.

Posted by squirecam lbxzero
#34

lbxzero wrote:
squirecam wrote:
lbxzero wrote:
qstor wrote:
Outside the block? There's NO downtown rooms outside the block.

There are a few rooms outside the block.  Those are typically the more costly suites.I will say this in GenCon's defense, they are trying to work with what they have.  Every major city has this problem of limited hotel rooms in walking distance.  They were hoping that improved transit services will help solve the issue, but it is not helping anything.  I agree with the 3-day minimum requirement for downtown rooms, but I do believe people are finding ways to bypass the enforcement somehow.  I have a series of suggestions to give these guys, which I think deserve its own thread.  Every year keeps looking to be worse than the year before.  I feel they missed an obvious opportunity here to relieve some of the tension.
Overall, it is always this bad, and it will always be this bad.
what transit services?there is no con shuttle. They left everyone at the rng mercy of the hotel timer.
maybe now people will understand why folks said gencon must consider moving. Indy does not have sufficient hotel space. Without a reliable shuttle it's only getting worse.

There are shuttle services from certain hotel areas, but everything transit related involves the roads.  I wonder if Indy is big enough to make a rail system effective.  I would not mind using a rail system to connect from other hotel areas to the convention center as its schedule will operate outside of vehicle traffic. 
there was talk of a redline express bus at one point but it was not close to any hotel corridor iirc.

Posted by roderick lbxzero
#35

lbxzero wrote:
Roderick, getting a few words off your chest is the best means of stress relief.  I'd rather see the nasty arguments get posted once and be done.  Just typing out the problem is relief enough.  Finding a way to bottle the stress only delays the pressure buildup.  The steam has to be released from the boiler.  After the housing mess, hide the thread and keep the contents for feedback.

Getting stuff off your chest is fine - but privately. Relieving stress in public simply transfers it to other people, and it grows. Type it out, sure, but then hit 'delete'.

Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator; Gen Con, LLC.
 

Posted by gkrywusha
#36

Honestly, people are upset for a reason. I've attended the con for 20 years. Housing has always been a bit crazy. But this lottery time system is downright awful. Having to wait 3+ hours for your chance to find no downtown hotels is ludicrous. 

Posted by lemauxjw
#37

Have to agree with all of the angst on here. It's time to look at other locations for Gencon. The con has a long history of outgrowing the current venue, and moving to a new location. Lake Geneva, Milwaukee now Indianapolis. If the city will not accommodate your needs, go to a city that will.   

Also, it's not just Gencon. Indy has lost - LOST - 1000 rooms since 2011 and the city fathers show no willingness to allow the hotel base to grow. Well, let's see how the city fathers like it when 70,000 people abandon Indy and go to Orlando instead in 2021.   The damn city is running at 70% occupancy rate on their hotels!

Posted by donaldbain lemauxjw
#38

lemauxjw wrote:Indy has lost - LOST - 1000 rooms since 2011 and the city fathers show no willingness to allow the hotel base to grow.

"More than $100 million in hotel developments are in the pipeline, slated to add an additional 1,100 rooms downtown."

http://www.visitindy.com/indianapolis-planner-new-developments

Posted by squirecam donaldbain
#39

donaldbain wrote:
lemauxjw wrote:Indy has lost - LOST - 1000 rooms since 2011 and the city fathers show no willingness to allow the hotel base to grow.
 
"More than $100 million in hotel developments are in the pipeline, slated to add an additional 1,100 rooms downtown."http://www.visitindy.com/indianapolis-planner-new-developments

1100 rooms are not even close to solving the problem.

Posted by glory roderick
#40

roderick wrote:
lbxzero wrote:
Roderick, getting a few words off your chest is the best means of stress relief.  I'd rather see the nasty arguments get posted once and be done.  Just typing out the problem is relief enough.  Finding a way to bottle the stress only delays the pressure buildup.  The steam has to be released from the boiler.  After the housing mess, hide the thread and keep the contents for feedback.

Getting stuff off your chest is fine - but privately. Relieving stress in public simply transfers it to other people, and it grows. Type it out, sure, but then hit 'delete'.Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator; Gen Con, LLC.
 
Instead, you could listen to your customer base instead of telling us to "delete" the comments you don't want to hear. 

I waited 6 hours and 44 minutes for.... not even a chance. That's frustrating. I should be able to express that frustration to Gen Con. 
 

Posted by roderick
#41

I understand that people are justifiably angry at their experience today and that you need to tell Gen Con about it.

If you want to give Gen Con feedback that they will listen to, the CustomerService at GenCon email address has a much better chance of getting read by someone who can do something about it.

As far as deleting a message - it's not so much about  what I (or Gen Con) don't want to hear, it's about Internet etiquette. If you can blow off steam by typing a message, that's great; but you might want to review it before hitting 'send'. Does the message reflect who you normally are, or is it you at your worst/most angry?  Is it something you wouldn't want your mother or child to read? Or your boss? Or even just your peers and friends in the gaming community?

 

Posted by mhayward1978 orangedragon
#42

orangedragon wrote:
mhayward1978 wrote:
orangedragon wrote:
No not poppycock. Just got off the phone with the Conrad (suites available for $650 a night) only other room available is Hilton (room available at $450 a night). We've attended multiple years and NEVER had this kind of problem. No housing within 10 miles of the convention center that doesn't cost a fortune. Will be cancelling our tickets.

It is poppycock.You said "THERE'S NO DOWNTOWN ROOMS OUTSIDE THE BLOCK."
There are, as your own post verifies.
You mean: "THERE'S NO DOWNTOWN ROOMS OUTSIDE THE BLOCK AT A PRICE I'M WILLING TO PAY."  
Which is not the same thing at all.
Stop spreading misinformation.  
There are downtown rooms outside the block.
Maybe you should curb your snotty attitude and go back and reread my post. You know, the part that says "No housing within 10 miles of the convention center that doesn't cost a fortune." That is not misinformation. And I never said that there were no downtown rooms outside the block. That was someone else in this thread.

If you're not capable of clearly communicating, you can expect to be misunderstood.

Look at your own note quoted at the top of this thread.

You made a false claim about room availability.

Now you say that your very clear, explicit statement meant something else.

OK.  

I agree with your statement that there are no in block rooms you  can afford.

Posted by dlrivers
#43

I am seriously disappointed in the new hotel portal system for Gen Con 2017. Of all the years I have gone to Gen Con in Indianapolis this year was the worst for hotel registration. My set time to get into the portal was 9:59 PM. There were very few hotels left. None of the downtown hotels were left and only one out by the airport. I have seen better picks the next day than I had this year at my allotted time.

Posted by zaphod
#44

Your complaints make no sense.  This is by far the most fair the process has ever been.  Random for everyone is far better than system crashes and refreshes, in a process where only a select few get lucky anyway.

Random lottery = equal chance for everybody.  Try to think rationally and without emotions about your misfortune.

Posted by zaphod
#45

Also, I should add that this fair, random system is what the MAJORITY of attendee's have been asking Gen Con for years.  It's a result of them listening to their customer base.  

Also, its been well established that there only a couple of cities in the country with more hotel space that is easily walkable (e.g., Vegas).  Most of those cities would drive the cost astronomical and completely change the feel of the convention. Indy will remain the best option.

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