Alexis Park: the saga continues...

[converge]

Ok, so last year there were quite a few heartaches over treatment of con attendees, with regards to hassle for reservations, price issues, etc. I assume that most people have their rooms accounted for by now, so:

How has the Alexis treated you (so far) this year in comparison to previous experiences?

Last year, I made my room reservation around the same time, for the same type of room, not a whole lot different.. and during the process was met with some rudeness, and abrupt treatment.

This year was completely different, and so much more pleasant. I was able to reserve a room for more days than would be normal for a con attendee, later than most attendees had made there reservations. Just last night I changed my reservations slightly to include a second person for the standard room, easily. The entire process this year has been quick, painless, and the people at Alexis have been very friendly and helpful.

[noid]

without going into too much detail (that and I dont have the nitty-gritty of it), but I understand that there was some internal changes being made at the AP prior to DCX. So its possible you were dealing with new staff that didn't know how to interface with Defconners..I had this issue with the new morning manager when I tried to check into my room early.

Me: I know check in isnt till 2, but I have been driving for the last 21 hours. I am one of the main organizers of this event and I need sleep before your security people put me to work

Her: sorry sir, check in isnt till 2, I dont care who you are.

Me: I'm not in the mood to be fucked with lady, I have a very busy day ahead of me and I need a few hours sleep

Concierge: Oh shit, hey noid..how ya been?

[concierge takes AM manager behind the one way mirror for about 30 seconds]

Her: Sorry about that, let me get you checked in

Me to Concierge: I owe you booze

So I think some of the new people had a very confrontational attitude last year and once they realized that

a) a bad attitude when dealing with hackers will get you more than you can handle

b) We're actually reasonable people when you're not trying to fuck with us.

so they changed their tune. Overall, I have always been happy with the way the AP treats us as organizers and attendees. I think some of the new people just needed a little 'breaking in'. We (Defcon) bring in a very massive chunk of their revenue, especialy in August which is during their 'off' season, so our patronage is appriciated.

[astcell]

I have the attitude that unless something is going very very wrong I will smile and keep my mouth shut. They tried to charge me $129 a night when I paid $99 in advance for one night, they tried to charge me for water damage that had been around forever.

Maybe this year the AP can splurge and hire translators to accompany the security guards so we can finally communicate with them.

[Gadsden]

Originally posted by astcell
I have the attitude that unless something is going very very wrong I will smile and keep my mouth shut. They tried to charge me $129 a night when I paid $99 in advance for one night, they tried to charge me for water damage that had been around forever.

That have been cool with me so far, so I can't complain. Astcell, you brought up a good point some time ago, and this post reminded me of it.

Check your room for damage as soon as you check in, then get the management to document it so you don't get stuck having to pay for a remodel!!!

[blackwave]

while making the reserverations a few months ago i had to call back twice so that i could get a person to deal with rather than the initial bitch that answered the phone... all is currently good, let's see what happens when we get there :)

[tommEE]

I have stayed at the Alexis Park every year and I have seen them take advantage whenever they can but on the flipside, it's not like they don't put up with plenty. The puple water was a nice touch last year. The prices have gone up every year. This year I am going to have a heart attack for what my hotel bill will be this year. Just remember, if you swing by the party, drop a tip in the bucket.

Oh. yes, the moloch party will happen this year, sorry for no party last year.

[renderman]

My reservations went well, not problems. Though after reading this I might call back to confirm.

The Hotels attitude towards us has been interesting to watch over the 4 years I've been going.

At DC7 the staff were walking around with a look of utter horror on thier faces like it was the coming of the apocalypse. After reading about previous defcons, I was surprised we were invited/allowed back.

At DCX last year though they were very cool, the hotel staff had special shirts made up, and the special room keys were a nice touch.

All in all I've been impressed with the treatment, I 'm just not impressed with thier rates jumping each year. We don't break that much do we?

[astcell]

Originally posted by tommEE
Just remember, if you swing by the party, drop a tip in the bucket.

That bucket was for TIPS?!

I am soooooo sorry.....hope it cleaned okay :(

[h3adrush]

..

i didnt have any problems with the ap, except that my check card didnt clear at first but turns out i was a dollar short.

[octalpus]

Re: ..

Originally posted by h3adrush
i didnt have any problems with the ap, except that my check card didnt clear at first but turns out i was a dollar short.

Oohhh... that sucks. I've found that once I'm actually there, the staff is really friendly. Most of my problems have been before arrival, with reservations and rate problems (except for that whole BS of tying up all the available funds on my CC last year... they were friendly, I just didn't KNOW about it... GRRRR).

ANYWAY... for DC8, my CC payment hadn't posted to my account, so when we went to check in, it declined. They very patiently called the CC company, waited for me to talk to them, and then even more patiently spoke with them to get a manual authorisation for just the amount of the room (which was awesome, because I was counting on having at least a few hundred above tied up in a pre-authorisation amount). I thought that was pretty nice. They were also kind enough to take the phone into the back while they discussed it with the company, and leaned over the counter to let me know what was up, so as not to embarass me over it. Again, real classy. So... I can't complain there.

But... I'm staying next door this year. The aggravation last year plus the jacked up rates convinced me that it's just not worth it. I can get a room just as close without all the hassle.