Re: Hotel situation

[Ray Pelletier <[e-mail]>]

Glenn,

> On Dec 16, 2015, at 12:54 PM, Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal) <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
>    Q- Whatąs the room block size we are getting at the recent venues
> compared to what we got at previous ones like Vancouver, or Berlin?

There are many hotels in Buenos Aires but they do not have many rooms.

When we announced on 10 December that registration would open on 16 December 
we said:

Registration and hotel reservations for IETF 95 in Buenos Aires will
open at 1500 UTC Wednesday, December 16. Hotel reservations will include
the headquarters hotel and the contracted overflow hotels available
at that time.

Because hotels in Buenos Aires have a limited number of guest rooms,
the IETF has been negotiating contracts with ten hotels.  Hotels not
available on December 16 will be announced when available.

On 16 December we said:

1. Hilton Buenos Aires (Headquarters Hotel, block of 300 rooms)
2. Holiday Inn Express Puerto Madero (30 rooms)
3. Sheraton Buenos Aires (140 rooms available)
4. InterContinental Buenos Aires (150 rooms)
5. Sheraton Libertador Hotel (70 rooms)

Buenos Aires is not Vancouver, Berlin, London, Paris or San Francisco.  
It’s more like Dublin, if you recently attended the ICANN conference there.  

> 
>    Q - Are hotels artificially limiting availability of the IETF block by
> only releasing parts of it to the web booking?
>        Iąve seen hotels do this for other events.  While the whole block
> maybe 500 rooms, they release them in 50 room blocks as the
>        reservation block fills.  This creates the lucky 10th caller
> scenario, where if you hit it at just the right time you win.

That’s not the case here, or anywhere we have negotiated agreements.

We strive to contract for 600 on a peak night at the so-called headquarter’s hotel, 
but it depends on where we are. If we are in an area surrounded by hotels, and
at lower price points, we might contract for 400 on a peak night, and overflow
hotels for another 200 - 300 rooms on peak to get 780 rooms on peak.

Typically if we don’t get our target room block it’s because there’s another group
at the hotel, or sometimes it’s because the hotel is concerned about the risk 
of setting aside 70 - 90% for a group they’ve never done business with.  This concern
is also typically reflected in the cancellation provisions for guest rooms they will 
sign up to, and/or when they start cutting back the number of rooms in the block.  
All of which is evident in our first meeting in Latin America and Buenos Aires.  

For those who managed to make a reservation outside the IETF block, but at a 
higher price, we are trying to get you in the block at the IETF rate.  

Another 4 or so IETF contracted hotels are in the works and will be announced 
as soon as they are ready.

Ray


> 
> -glenn
> 
>