Anybody else bumped from Residence Inn on 17th St.?

[TwizstedJesus]

This is getting to be a problem with them.
2004...Get to hotel only to find that they did not have any rooms available,even though I booked them in January and, when calling them to confirm reservation they had my room "All ready"...After much bitching and bordering on threats...they put me up in a 2 bedroom suite for the whole weekend at no extra cost.
2005...Booked in January again.Call to confirm room and explain the situation with last year...Room is confirmed...Upon arrival they tell me that they have hurricane victims throughout the hotel and no rooms available...after much bitching I end up in Buckhead...too far to walk and extremely pissed off.
2006...Booked immediately after 1st band is confirmed...call every week for 7 months verifying confirmation...I'm guaranteed a room for sure this year.Arrive at the Residence Inn on Friday after staying near the airport w/rental car for Thursday(which we returned friday morning before riding the Marta to N5);I'm told that there are Dignitaries that can't leave the country until Monday/Tuesday and they have no rooms available...I proceed to freak out on the desk clerk...she gets the manager...I proceed to freak out twice as hard...still no rooms.
All the while there are metalheads bopping in and out of the hotel going to their rooms,pissing me off even more.The hotel manager tells me that he'll put me up in a room at Residence Inn on 14th? 7 blocks from the venue up hill...at no extra cost to me.I continue to freak out and he agrees to pay for cab fare for us just to get us out of the hotel.I have no choice,so we hop in the cab....Upon arrival at 14th st residence...the cabbie says...$12. The hotel Mgr gave me $8,that motherfucker!
Every year I lock in at Residence Inn on 17th St and every year I get bumped.How many others ran into this problem,and did you lock into the $99 rate early on? I'm a betting man that those who locked in cheap are getting bumped for the higher paying people at $179 ....Dignitaries my ass!!!RI is over-booking the rooms and picking the people they let in to the hotel every year,and I'm done with them. Next year I'm renting a car and staying at the Wellesley Inn near the airport at about $70 a day...with car it was $102 with taxes...still cheaper than the RapeYourAss Inn on 17th

 

[mëtålspëd]

I got the 99/night, and had no issues. What day did you arrive, as well as what time?

 

[TwizstedJesus]

Friday afternoon at 1pm

 

[ReaLM]

I had booked a room there for my friends (also back in January). I called them at 9:30am Friday morning asking if we could check-in early. I gave them my name and they said that check-in was at 4pm (even though their website said 3pm). When my friends got there around 2:45pm, they said there were no rooms left and they moved them to a hotel on 10th street. I was pissed and called up the manager and chewed him out over the phone (some of you may have heard me )... it did no good. However, at least they gave them one night free.

There, for some reason, seems to be a shortage of hotels within walking distance of Center Stage (esp. now that both the Hampton and Fairfield are closed).

Also, is there anyway PP can reserve a whole hotel for a weekend? I think some conferences do this and get special rates this way. I think that the PP crowd can fill both the Granada and Residence.

Also, the Granada should know better than to reserve any rooms PP weekend to non PP attendees b/c they will be miserable and not get any sleep.

 

[freakchylde]

I talked to one of the sales managers and I'll probably talk to him again, if Glenn can get me the dates when they're set (preferably before they're announced), so I can see about having a block set aside. They are a convention hotel, which means the conventions come first. They love having us there, but as we all book individually, it becomes a problem.

I ran into the same thing, with them overbooking the end rooms that were two bedroom suites. I was also told that two more hotels are going up. One across the highway on 17th St, and another one in the immediate vicinity. I'll keep an update on their grand openings, but was told that they would be up in time for next year's Progpower.

 

[Matt Crooks]

I booked my hotel *before* the dates were announced to the public, and I still got bounced.

They overbooked, and then the bumping was first come first serve.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I got the 99/night, and had no issues. What day did you arrive, as well as what time?

I didn't get bumped (arrived on Wednesday ... checked in around 7:00 pm), but I did have to fight with them for a while on Sunday morning to get my $99 dollar rate I was promised for Thurs, Friday, and Sat, when I reserved my room. They tried hard to charge me $179, but I wasn't having any of that. I like that hotel a lot though. It sure beats my Grenada stay from 05' when I had an unknown drunk sleeping on my floor when I returned from Friday nights Prog Power performace. I also almost got my hand smashed trying to open one of their shitty windows. I pulled the lower sash up just a bit, and the upper sash came crashing down and almost caught my fingers. Grenada no more ... hate that place now.

Britt

 

[jaimek]

I will not blame the Residence Inn for any of the 2005 bumps, given the hurricane refugee situation. Because, you know, people whose homes and possessions were destroyed should get slightly more priority than conventioners, especially when the hotel in question has kitchens.

That said, given all the shit they were getting from other people, they were very nice to me/Tracy/Christina, allowing us to stay in the 1BR suite all weekend for the price of the studio we were going to move to after the first day.

 

[Petethedrummer]

I couldn't attend this year, but last year the Residence in gave us some trouble.

We got our room, and then the second night there, they made us move to a different room because apparently we had one of the only handicap-accessible rooms. They claimed the room we were to move in to was exactly the same, but it was about half the size. Not a huge issue, but it was nice to have the space of the first room, which we were paying for...and moving was kind of a hassle since the vendors were all opening at the time they had us moving.

 

[Leopard]

I got bumped on Thursday night but got to stay there on Friday and Saturday.

 

[Pellaz]

It sure beats my Grenada stay from 05' when I had an unknown drunk sleeping on my floor when I returned from Friday nights Prog Power performace.

That is still the weirdest and most hair-raising hotel story that's come out of ProgPower.


"There's a drunk guy passed out on the floor...and he's not in Spiral Architect."

 

[Rage_109]

Yup, got bumped too! This would have been the 4th year in a row for me at the RI, after having no troubles the first three. I'm done with them and even though they paid for one night at another hotel, I think I am not going to let it go so easily after hearing all the other stories. This was the ONLY disappointment at PP this year...

 

[booB]

I guess I'm lucky I got there early on Wednesday. I'll have to make that a regular practice from now on.

 

[MetalRose]

Same thing happened to us as well, although we kind of voluntarly left. But I was a little pissed at the location (fuck 2 more blocks away) and I didn't feel very safe walking there alone by myself.

No shuttle and no offer for cab fare? Ick. I think they should have given rooms out based on who was booked first. I saw many people who were obviously not PP attendees there on Saturday night. I should have offered to trade for one night only. Oh well.

Next year I won't be so generous.

-Metal

 

[Tarathur]

Man, that really sucks that you guys had so much trouble! We ended up staying at the Fairfield over on Piedmont and driving to the venue, but it still sucked. When we checked in on Thursday, my buddies had a non-functioning phone, and the bathroom in my room was flooded. So, we complained. Then, Friday morning I was awoken at 6AM by the sound of staff on the upper floors tossing mattresses into a truck below. THUD, THUD, THUD for two fucking hours! So, I complained again. Requested an early room service too that day that didn't happen, so I got to complain TWICE that day. Then, Saturday was the best. Again at 6AM, I awake to the sound of chainsaws!!! The Fairfield booked me in a room right across from a construction site. How nice! I made my way down to the front desk and went OFF on the desk clerk – I mean OFF! I was finally given a new (quiet) room and credited a night's stay, but by this point, I was so sleep deprived and exhausted, it greatly affected my ability to enjoy Saturday night's show. Oh, I still rocked right up through the "We are STAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRS!" But, I was one whipped, pissed-off pup after that hotel experience. From what I can gather from our experience and the experiences of others, Atlanta's hotels just plain SUCK ASS. Seems folks might be better off pitching a tent on somebody's roof or crashing in their cars.

Best of luck to all next year!

 

[ThXinc]

See my latest post in the Cheers and Jeers thread and maybe you'll understand. Blame 'the few', not the hotel.

 

[llorenth]

I was also told that two more hotels are going up. One across the highway on 17th St, and another one in the immediate vicinity. I'll keep an update on their grand openings, but was told that they would be up in time for next year's Progpower.

This should help remedy most of the problems folks have had these past few years, I bet. It might also drive prices down a little, thanks to competition.
lmjh