Though our Plaza Hotel venue offered a block of rooms for CommVEx, there were strings attached. First, the pricing was not any lower than what you would ordinarily find. Second and most important, if any rooms in the block were left unbooked, then I or FCUG would have to pay for the unbooked rooms! Gone are the days when years ago they could offer us a block of rooms without that unbooked rooms' penalty.
Therefore, I recommend that CommVEx attendees use sites like
http://www.trivago.com and
http://www.booking.com in order to find a room at a good price. These sites scan other booking sites for the best deals.
If you belong to
http://www.choicehotels.com or
http://www.wyndhamrewards.com , not only will you find discounted pricing on their hotels but also gather points for free hotel stays. Choice Hotels has the Ascend Hotel Collection, Cambria Hotels & Suites, Clarion Hotels/Clarion Suites, Comfort Inn/Comfort Inn & Suites, Econo Lodge, Mainstay Suites, Quality Inn/Quality Inn & Suites, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn/Sleep Inn & Suites, and Suburban Extended Stay Hotel. Wyndham has Baymont Inn & Suites, Days Inn, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson's, Knights Inn, Microtel, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge, Wingate by Wyndham, Wyndham Grand, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. With Choice and Wyndham, there are discounts for booking far in advance, for seniors, and for AARP/AAA.
If you should book with the Plaza Hotel or a downtown hotel near the Plaza, be aware that there are "resort" fees to pay, which are usually not included in the price of booking on the Web. You have to pay these fees when you get to the hotel. The only hotel near the Plaza that does not charge a resort fee is the Four Queens.
Truly,