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[Ponda]

Hi organisers

So with August fast approaching and not much more having been said on the subject, are there likely to be more rooms opened or added in the EF block? Or failing that, any news on an Overfill hotel as there has been in the past?
Friend is on the waiting list for us awaiting a room but would it be an idea for a mail to be sent out reminding people they will be assigned a stranger if they don't arrange with people themselves (to hopefully free up some rooms with people who know each other and have individual rooms at present) and maybe some options for hotels in area that may be recommended by locals.


Cheers guys and hope you are all well.

[SouthPaw]

Friend is on the waiting list for us awaiting a room but would it be an idea for a mail to be sent out reminding people they will be assigned a stranger if they don't arrange with people themselves

Not an official answer, as I'm not EF staff, but given that bookings are being made directly with the hotel this year, there will be no random sharing. So if you've booked a room for two people and don't find someone to share with, you'll pay the full cost of the room. This is a change from previous years where you booked a space in a room through the convention, which enabled a finer control over capacity.

The flip side of this being that over 200 people have booked Single rooms (see Cheetah's post in the Announcements section), which artificially limits hotel capacity. Can't have your cake and eat it folks!

[Cheetah]

What SouthPaw writes is correct.

[Ponda]

Aaaaaand the other questions ? :p

[Cheetah]

I'm sorry, I have no news for you regarding the other two questions. It's possible that room blocks are given back, so that space becomes available, but nobody is willing to give us a guarantee when or how much - so I'd rather not make any promises I can't keep.

We do not have any special overflow deals this year ... we honestly did not expect we'd need one ... 

[VulpesRex]

   I would like to suggest something for the original poster to check out; it might not work, but inquiries won't hurt!

   The Estrel is a popular "Destination Hotel"; and apparently they have separate room blocks for use by airlines and travel/tour services.  When we think of airlines and hotels, we first tend to think of them as transient air crew lodging, between flights.  But such hotels are usually very near the airports served by the airlines, to minimise shuttle costs and lost rest time between flights.  I don't know if this apllies to the Estrel, but I don't think that is is likely that the airline room blocks are for transient crews.

   Well then - what else might an airline reserve a room (or block of rooms) for?  To sell to tourists!  Many airlines offer not just to fly you to a foreign destination, but to book your room for you too, as part of a package deal - especially if that room can be associated with something like a show, or convention, or other popular event!  IF you currently have a reservation to fly into Berlin for EF, go to the webpage for your airline of choice and see if they can arrange to add lodging as part of the travel plan, and if the Estrel is one of their listed choice hotels.

   Again - this may not work, but it is worth the effort of checking it out.

[Ragear]

hotel search pages like trivago.de are still offering hotel rooms at the Estrel. Check with them, but make sure that you'll be at this specific hotel. Took me 3 trials to achieve this, but I worked it out. (the operator/ travel agent may have in his fine print that he may relocate you in case of overbooking, bear in mind!) It may be an option to go for a higher room type like suite or so the have success.

Ragear

[Ponda]

Cheers all, I shall continue my search 


Many thanks for info.