Sheraton Sacramento

[timbo]

Has anyone else just had their reservations at the Sheraton for the Sacramento conference cancelled by email, and moved to a hotel across the river 10 minutes out of the city?? This just happened to myself and another of my co-workers.

Here is the comment from the Sheraton operations manager:

Due to an unfortunate problem that occurred during a software upgrade, the Sheraton Grand Hotel is grossly oversold during the IAI Conference. This is solely our responsibility and should in no way reflect negatively on the association or their staff. YOUR RESERVATION # AT THE SHERATON GRAND HAS BEEN CANCELED. To avoid additional inconvenience upon arrival in Sacramento, we have arranged for your relocation to:
TownePlace Suites Sacramento Cal Expo


I booked early April, and my co-worker booked in February. Unbelievable.

[Tazman]

I am known by friends and family as an unrepentant cynic and in that vein, when I read something like Timbo's post, I wonder several things.

First, isn't the number of hotel rooms in the facility the same, regardless of the software they are using? How could a software upgrade result in overbooking? Even if they overbooked the block of rooms allocated to the IAI, shouldn't the hotel make good on the promises they made to get the IAI to sign the contract? Shouldn't they bump tourists and businessmen first, who booked their rooms at a later date than IAI members like Timbo?

Second, could it be that another conference is going on at the same time, with higher room rates than the IAI negotiated? Or not even another conference, just regular summer business and vacation bookings at full rate?

Third, how tightly was the IAI's contract with the hotel written in the first place? Did the IAI ask for sufficient rooms to accommodate the anticipated attendance? Was there a penalty clause in the contract to prevent the hotel from breaking the contract? If the hotel has broken the contract, is the IAI going to do anything about it?

I am not attending the conference, so these questions are irrelevant from my perspective. But it seems like I recall numerous issues in a number of years past with inadequate hotel bookings or glitches that threw a significant proportion of the membership "across the river" and a half hour's drive away through heavy traffic. Maybe the IAI members should be demanding answers. Call the members of the Board of Directors and find out why this is happening. Seek solutions. Otherwise, expect it again next year, and the year after, ad infinitem.

Just saying . . . . . .

[timbo]

I just found out that 150 conference attendees have been affected by this Sheraton stuff up....

[Tazman]

150 conference attendees have been affected by this Sheraton stuff up....

Un-freakin'-believable. Wonder what the conference planner, the board of directors, the officers, or the association's lawyer are doing about it?

How many members are still booked there, I wonder? How many non-member rooms are there booked more recently than members? And how many rooms have they cleared out so they can rent them at a higher rate?

I am such a terrible cynic. Somebody please explain to me how I'm wrong in my suspicions.

[Bill Schade]

Taz

You really are being cynical and it's not helpful. You should have more confidence in the conference staff and the IAI. You're not offering solutions Only inciting discord in an unfortunate situation

Perhaps the molletts can investigate this later and we can debate it forever

[Tazman]

Dear Bill

You are correct, of course. I reacted prematurely. My apologies. The IAI conference staff has not had time to pursue a resolution. I will withhold further comment and we shall see what happens.

Best regards.

[NRivera]

Taz

You really are being cynical and it's not helpful. You should have more confidence in the conference staff and the IAI. You're not offering solutions Only inciting discord in an unfortunate situation

Perhaps the molletts can investigate this later and we can debate it forever

Investigate? I thought the M.O. was to submit a complaint to the IAI under an assumed name and then complain about how nothing was done about it because it's all just a big conspiracy.

[Dactyl10]

I also have been bumped from the Sheraton Sacramento. I had made my reservation and received a confirmation number on February 20th.....so I was an early bird in booking. I am doubtful that the hotel used any logic in deciding who got bumped out to Oshkosh. This effects my Airport Shuttle that I also booked and it will be interesting to see how often I can get transportation from the new hotel (which is away from the town center) to the convention center.

[Thomas Mollett]

NRivera, regarding your insightful two cents for the day.

Our complaints to the IAI regarding the serious indiscretions of Pat Wertheim, Arie Zeelenberg and Michael Grimm, all disciples of Louis van der Vyver, were based on an investigation of several months. If you, or anybody else, want to see those complaints, then email me and I will send it to you, then debate it with me - here, or wherever you wish. Come, debate it with me. You can choose the forum and the moderator. Come. Firstly, for one, you will have to defend Pat Wertheim's dishonest lift where he engineered the results of an experiment (see image below) to fit his objective, with Louis van der Vyver sitting by his side. The type of thing the IAI turned a blind eye to. If you want to disprove what I say, please try.

I will also share with you some correspondence etc. which will clearly show how ineffective and sloppy the IAI operated, let alone their dishonesty regarding the so called PRB, which never existed. In the "rejection" letters they could not even copy and paste correctly. An unprofessional mess.

Let me give you one example of how the IAI operates. We sent a complaint against one of the Louis van der Vyver disciples, Michael Grimm, regarding his preposterous and laughable report in which he stated Inge Lotz was hit with a handgun over the head, that the killer then bit a piece of flesh from her chest and dropped it on the floor before flushing it down the toilet; then wiped the towel with the handgun, leaving gun oil on it. If it was not such a serious matter this would be seriously funny. Who has the time and energy to dream such BS up?

Anyway, after submitting the complaint, Leben said - as with the complaints against Wertheim and Zeelenberg - that it contained the "necessary elements" for further investigation by the IAI - i.e. directing it to the promised "PRB". So she basically "accepted" the complaints against Grimm. At least that is what we were led to believe. About a year later when it was time for the outcome, they told us something to the effect of "Grimm's complaint falls outside the purview of the IAI". Then suddenly.

So, I know, or rather it seems, CLPEX is a bit of an extended IAI fan list and, like the IAI, many would prefer to rather turn a blind eye to the indiscretions of their friends in the game - confirming our belief that most (not all but too many) "experts" out there, it seems, would rather serve the client than the truth. That seems to be the norm. The way some "experts" look the other way here, is just confirmation of that. If anyone here think, for example, that the handling of the Grimm complaint was what one would expect of a respectable association, then I think that person seriously needs to re-evaluate his or her sense of standards and purpose in the industry. The Grimm complaint is only but the ears of the hippo. The way the IAI handled this whole affair is simply shocking.

I am really not interested to look into the IAI's little conference arrangements, what I do know is that the IAI can't even organise a p***-up in a brewery.

I invite any member here to debate any factual issue regarding this murder case or re the IAI's handling of our complaints, with me here.

Little funny bunny indirect pokings and inside jokes do not count as debate.

[kevin]

Timbo and Dactyl,

Is this the place they booked you?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi ... ornia.html

It might take you a bit longer than 10 min to get down there in morning traffic (if the shuttle isn't busy running people to the airport at that time)....but the good news is the bedbugs are probably long gone by now.

[Steve Everist]

Timbo and Dactyl,

Is this the place they booked you?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi ... ornia.html

It might take you a bit longer than 10 min to get down there in morning traffic (if the shuttle isn't busy running people to the airport at that time)....but the good news is the bedbugs are probably long gone by now.

It's not always bedbugs: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi ... RATES_CONT

[kevin]

Well person with ants review gave 3 stars and the bedbugs was a 1 I believe? What would be in the 2 star room? beetles? an owl?

as a side note I checked about getting rebooked someplace closer and saw Holiday Inn on J street had rooms - I don't know if the Sheraton can swing something with Holiday Inn to accommodate the conference rate??

[SConner]

Would you be allowed to keep the owl? That might earn more than two stars IMHO

If you plug in Government rate for the Holiday Inn on J Street, it brings up a rate of $107/night.

[bficken]

I also got bumped to the Marriott across town. There are many issues with being in a hotel that is NOT within walking distance of the conference.
- If you miss the shuttle they are offering, and have to wait 10min for the next one, that's at least a 40min drive ONE way to the new hotel, if you include traffic. Meaning it will take almost an hour and a half to go round trip, as opposed to skipping across the street. And I'm not even including the possibility of a line for the shuttle. This takes away all ability to change clothes before the evening events, or pop back to your room to eat lunch that you stored in your room's fridge (saving money on lunch expenses). Also, if you need heavy/bulky supplies for a morning workshop, but you won't need them in the afternoon, now you have to lug EVERYTHING you need around all day rather than being able to drop them back off at your room real quick.
- My other issue is that the shuttles the Sheraton has set up to take you from the conference to the Marriott are running only during conference event times. This does not include all of the vendor events, museum trips, etc. Assuming all of us are smart enough to not drive when we drink, that means cab fare for at least a few of the nights. And unless the hotel wants to give us cash, there is no way they can compensate us for this. Because if they lower our rates, the payoff goes to our agency who is paying for the room, not to us individuals. We would have to not only get a discounted rate, but then talk our agency into upping our per diem simply because we want to drink and not have to drive. To which they will most likely say "Well just don't drink, then."

Quick solutions - the Sheraton should offer all bumped guests a place to store items/luggage during the day, a place to change clothes if necessary, and also run their shuttles 24 hours. Or at least from 6am-3am.

Another interesting thing to point out is that people have been getting bumped at different times. I received my e-mail on Friday the 24th. Some people knew as early as a week and a half before I did. Meaning they got first pick at all of the wait lists.

So why the different timelines, if it is just an arbitrary selection as to who is getting bumped? Or is someone helping the Sheraton go through their roster and slowly pick who will get bumped and who won't? The few people I know who got bumped are all from the SF Bay Area in CA. Has anyone outside of the area been moved? Or is this just a "weird coincidence?"

There are other hotels in the area that still have rooms available, but at higher rates. The Hyatt, The Sterling, and the Citizen, for example. All within walking distance. I think the Sheraton or the IAI needs to work out a deal with THOSE hotels. And if those hotels won't lower their rates, then the Sheraton can pay the difference. I know they won't, but it would be the "right" thing to do.

I received the IAI's message that they are "aware of the problem" and are trying to find solutions. But honestly, what could they do at this point?

[SConner]

For folks that have been bumped, you might have some luck contacting Starwood Customer Care (they're the loyalty management organization behind Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, etc.). Make your complaints known to them and perhaps they'll throw you some compensation in the form of free room vouchers for a later trip to anywhere that you would want to go on vacation.