convention rooming dept

Darryl

So this past weekend I took my girlfriend and my boys on a little weekend getaway. We stayed in a hotel and early Sunday morning I went out for some Starbucks. When I returned and called the elevator it arrived, the doors opened and inside waiting to come out was a nice lady with that all too familiar badge on her lapel. We exchanged pleasantries and she was on her way to her convention. However that very brief encounter got me to thinking a little bit. Does the society still put out a list of hotel rooms to stay in? Do they still command that you wait until the appointed time to make your phone call to reserve the room at the society's negotiated rate? Does anyone still make reservations over the phone? Back when I was in the conventions we used to go to had about 3 or 4 (maybe more can't remember) hotels that were walking distance to the arena. These hotel rooms were coveted big time and usually filled up within a day or 2 after the society gives its ok to start calling. There are several advantages to staying in a hotel that's walking distance from the arena. First of all you don't have to buy the parking pass. Do they still sell parking passes?? Also you can get up bright and early get your briefcase which should be packed with bible, songbook and other literature and head on down to the convention wait for them to open the doors go inside save your seats then go home and go back to bed. Or if you are a "brother" (sorry again "sisters") you can volunteer to be an attendant get in there early save your seats then disappear and go home and go back to sleep. Also If you are a young go getter of a "brother" noone will really think it will be odd for you to be out of your seat for long periods of time they would just assume that you are somewhere working hard behind the scenes when in actuality you are back in the room watching TV or drinking coffee or whatever. That is why you have to have one of those rooms very close to the arena. I often wondered when word came down from on high and the letter and list was read at the elders meeting, and strict instructions given on exactly when to start calling and not a minute before, how many elders ignored that command and when ahead and made reservations for themselves. Anyway with Orbitz and other travel sites now you can just make a reservation for every weekend from mid june to mid Aug way ahead of time then just cancel the ones you dont need when you find out the dates

zeb

I had wondered why so many of the seats were 'reserved' so early..

sir82

Yes they still publish a list of "approved" hotels. They've set up websites for some of the hotels to make your reservation with discount, a little easier.

In years past, elders got the list a few weeks in advance of when it was announced to the general public. It was very easy (& probably pretty common) for elders to snarf up the best rooms in advance.

For the past couple of years, though, the hotels don't let you do that. If you call before the start date, the special JW discount code is not found on their computers & they don't give the discount. Also, the new website is just a placehiolder until the date arrives.

StarTrekAngel

Not only they still publish but they ask that you use the hotels regardless. Even if the assembly hall is 45 min away from your home. We had letters sent to us when our shiny new AH was inaugurated. They said that we had to consider our brothers that are coming from afar and that without our participation the hotels may not be able to continue offering the discounted rates. Needless to say most of us would not dare the expense. We drive to the assembly every day from our house.

DesirousOfChange

I would never break the rules and call early. Fortunately, we had the "luxury" of a Tuesday night TMS/SM so we would be one of the first Congs to have the DC letter read. As Secretary, I'd have a copy of the rooming list and make my call to reserve rooms at the best hotel right after the SM announcement, or at least right after the meeting. Often I'd reserve for family members and several close friends who did not have Tues meetings, too. Everyone in our Cong had the better hotels. DOC

Driving Force

My wife always made the hotel bookings and one year she went online to the hotel's website to check if there were any reservations at one of the WT recommended hotels, low and behold there was, at a price lower than what the WT stated.

darkspilver

Hey Driving Force!

My wife always made the hotel bookings and one year she went online to the hotel's website to check if there were any reservations at one of the WT recommended hotels, low and behold there was, at a price lower than what the WT stated.

I understood that WT did this to get over 'dynamic pricing' - where the price goes up the less rooms there are - so that all attendees can pay the same, rather than allowing a few early bookers to get a 'cheap' prices and the rest to pay rack or more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_pricing

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4045046.html

Look ma! I remembered! No signature!

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5729994584096768/signatures-on-posts

BluesBrother

They certainly do make block bookings and tell them firmly not to book elsewhere, or privately.

I guess there will always be a few rebels .....

someDUDEinAsmallCubicalSomewhereOverTheRAINBOX

Phhhttffffff, I never cared about that list. I'd wait until the hotel closest to the convention had a deal, and booked it. I didn't feel like driving from further out just to atone the GB direction. F them.

No Apologies

Hated the recommended lodging list and all the stupid rules about using it. It never failed that even if you called immediately after scanning the list and jotting down some numbers and hurrying home( before the days of cell phones, of course), all the best places were already booked up.

convention rooming dept

Share this