Ole Jacobsen [mailto:ole(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com] writes:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010, Yoav Nir wrote:
Hopefully. But only the two hotels listed there have agreements and
special rates for IETF attendants. In Maastricht there were a lot of
hotels with special rates, so a lot were listed.
Yeah, and people (as usual) complained that they could get much better
rates outside the IETF block. Can't win that one.
Perhaps not (there will always be a Motel 6 or some such down the road), but
that's not the question & definitely not the problem. The question is why,
when the IETF has essentially promised to fill the Shangri-La Beijing for
the week, is it possible to book a room on the Shangri-La Web site right now
for the entire week of the meeting at less than the IETF rate? The question
is why I was able to book a room @ the Hiroshima hotel for less than half
the IETF rate (admittedly w/o breakfast; was the "free" breakfast worth
~$80/day?). The problem is that, eventually, the IETF will no longer be
able to fill the conference hotel because of the outrageous rates
"negotiated". IEEE 802 has already run into this and has had to resort to
offering a meeting fee discount to those who spend at least one night in the
conference hotel. The IEEE got into that position, I'm told, thanks to the
corruption of a meeting scheduler who locked them into a particular hotel
chain for many years in advance in return for valuable kickbacks. What is
the IETF excuse?
In all those locations this was not a problem, but I don't know how
to spot a fleabag hotel in China. I believe I can do this in the US
or Europe.
Lonely Planet? Google? Ask someone who has been there? Wait a couple
of weeks and see what the host comes up with?
Again, that's not the problem: in about an hour I was able to come up with
half a dozen 4*+ hotels as close or closer to the Shangri-La than the
official overflow hotel @ a maximum rate of $72/night (for a new, deluxe 2
bdrm apartment). Why should I have to? Again, we're basically promising to
fill the hotel for a week in November; that's worth money to the hotel but
we don't seem to be seeing any of it. I've even been told that the IETF has
recently been paying for the use of meeting rooms @ the conference hotel.
Why?
.
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