Dateline: 07-21-2009

From the CONvergence Hotel Department

We had a great year with the Sheraton and they were very pleased to host our group as always. Here are a couple of notes to bear in mind for next year:

1. While the Sheraton has a "pets may stay"policy, CONvergence does not and the Sheraton has graciously agreed to allow our rule to prevail during CONvergence week. Working animals, true service animals, are okay, but we do ask that the general pet be left at home and not brought to the hotel. Our feel is that the crowds are too much for the animal, and it's not fair to anyone.
2. The Sheraton has established smoking areas outside of the building as the entire building is a non-smoking venue. Per state law, smoking outside of an establishment must be done 25 feet or more away from the building. The Sheraton's smoking areas are thusly located, and we and the Sheraton ask that smokers use the smoking areas and not locate immediately outside the entrances. Thank you.
3. As we all know, the Sheraton, as do almost all hotels, prefers to have rooms guaranteed to a credit card. It has been proven that rooms so guaranteed increase the show rate, which is critical for any hotel and important for CONvergence as well. The hotel does reserve the right, and does exercise that right, of charging the first night's stay to a credit card in the event of a no-show. It is therefore really important, if one cannot make the covnention, to cancel the reservation and avoid that first night's charge. In addition, when checking in to your room, please be aware that the if you are using a debit card, the hotel will pre-authorize the funds, and hence make them unavailable to you. We recommend that you plan accordingly.

As always, if there are any questions for othe CONvergence Hotel Team, or you wish to make any comments in general about the Sheraton and service you received, please forward same to hotel@convergence-con.org.