UPDATE: 2011 Hyatt Reservations

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

There was a rumor circulating that one could already make reservations for next year. I tracked a number of people down for answers, and here's the information that I gathered as of two minutes ago:

- The block is not open yet. Neither are regular room reservations for that time next year.

- The block and regular room reservations for those dates are currently not scheduled to open until October 15 2010 at 9AM. Apparently having reservations available so early last year resulted in bugs and misinformation (which I at least experienced first hand), and they want to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Speculations:

I'm just guessing, but they may realize that having to book before the con one year in order to get a room the next year is not great, and they may be trying to make that less likely and expand the block or something for this year. Also this gives the people who won't get to attend this year a fighting chance at having a good room next year.

Also also, it may cut down on "just in case" bookings filling up the slots early and preventing people who know they'll be there from making reservations... I imagine quite a few people saw that they could make reservations early during the con last year and went into Optimism/Panic mode and booked right away so they'd have a slot if they wanted to go. If people have to sit down and remember to call to book their reservation after the con high has worn off, the "just in case" group is likely to shrink dramatically, which is good for both attendees and the hotel.

They may also be steering away from PASSKEY, though I have zero confirmation of that.

I hope that helps!

Comments

[gulfcoastanthem.livejournal.com]

I, too, talked to the Hyatt on the phone today and got the same results.
So sad, I had my hopes up!

You're probably spot-on about the "just-in-case" groups, hopefully that will allow us to get our rooms!

[nyreak.livejournal.com]

My 'just in case' plan is to figure out what all of con-area hotels are, rank them according to most desired down to least, and have the list ready. That way, if I can't get a Marriott room, I can work my way down the list until I find a hotel that's available. :)

[shadoefyre.livejournal.com]

The vast majority of travel/hospitality systems run on a 10-month cycle. Airlines and several major hotel chains stick to this system as it allows for future bookings while keeping the previous 60 days on file as required by law without having to modernize the database/server farms.

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

That makes perfect sense, and also seems to be largely true of trains and airlines as well.

Booking at the Hyatt

[muerandah.livejournal.com]

Thank you for doing this. And updating everyone. I can only say that I posted the info I was given from Jason. He might have just been paying me lip service. No matter what when we check in on Wed (Sept 1st) I shall ask about booking for next year.

Re: Booking at the Hyatt

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, me too, definitely. It'd be silly not to ask, but at least this way they're not as likely to be mobbed with callers in the two weeks beforehand. One year's worth of calls should be plenty already!

I spoke with at least a couple people who hadn't heard anything at all yet, so it's entirely possible that Jason just was operating on different information. I crossed between the Hyatt and their central reservations office a number of times, and it took a while to get confirmation of what was going on. It's not the first time a random employee has had alternate info... my first year, a guy promised me parking at the hotel just because I had a room reserved! I was so pissed when I found out otherwise, but I really should have seen it coming.

[cinemastique.livejournal.com]

Your con high wears off by mid-October? ;-)

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

Mine wears off earlier than that... I go to cons for a living and get very shy and nervous around crowds, so while cons are fun for me, I guess it's a different vibe. Especially when people aren't buying our books and prints... there's nothing worse than being trapped behind a table doing NOTHING while everyone else is out having fun. Hopefully moving to the Artist's Alley this year will get more people to stop and have a conversation instead of glancing at our stuff and moving on to the rest of the Exhibitor's Hall.

Despite the nerves and the stress about finances and the fear of crowds, I look forward to going every single year. Maybe I just get my con high before the con and during, and it goes away once I'm exhausted at the end.