henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (01/06/85)
> The hotel rooms listed on the Usenix flier seem expensive ...
This sets me off on something I've been meaning to bring up:
***FLAME***
It's obvious why Uniforum has more hotels booked than Usenix: a bigger
audience. This does *not* explain why the Uniforum hotels cover a
reasonable range of prices, while all three Usenix hotels are at the
EXTREME TOP of the price range!!! I find it most unsettling that the
Usenix organizers, setting up a conference noted for attracting a lot
of us poor university types, ended up with three scandalously-expensive
hotels and NO cheap ones. Especially since the Uniforum people, setting
up a conference aimed at three-piece-suit-and-expense-account people,
seem to have had no problem supplying a RANGE of prices. The low end of
the Uniforum range of rates is about HALF of the lowest Usenix rate.
(The Uniforum hotels are rather spread out, but many people consider
this an acceptable tradeoff.) There seems to be a basic misunderstanding
of the nature of the customers here.
On a practical note, it would have cost very little for Usenix to include
the locations and phone numbers of the nearest half-dozen cheaper hotels
in their mailing, even if no special rates could be arranged. Those of
us who have limited budgets and no knowledge of Dallas would have
appreciated this deeply.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henrydavid@varian.UUCP (David Brown) (01/07/85)
> > The hotel rooms listed on the Usenix flier seem expensive ... > One thing that should be kept in mind is that the Usenix hotels are all in the center of downtown, while the /usr/group hotels are all near the InfoMart, which I believe is quite a ways out of town. I don't know Dallas at all, but my guess is that it is not easy to get around in the outskirts, so the money you might save by staying out there would be eaten by the car you'd need to rent. Also, it is possible that any cheap downtown hotels may not be the sort of place that you would want to stay at. I agree that the organizers for Usenix should have made an effort to find inexpensive accomodations, but perhaps they did and didn't find anything they could recommend. -- David Brown (415) 945-2199 Varian Instruments 2700 Mitchell Dr. Walnut Creek, Ca. 94598 {zehntel,amd,fortune,resonex}!varian!david
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (01/09/85)
> One thing that should be kept in mind is that the Usenix hotels are > all in the center of downtown, while the /usr/group hotels are all > near the InfoMart, which I believe is quite a ways out of town. I > don't know Dallas at all, but my guess is that it is not easy to get > around in the outskirts, so the money you might save by staying out > there would be eaten by the car you'd need to rent. Also, it is > possible that any cheap downtown hotels may not be the sort of place > that you would want to stay at. I agree that the organizers for Usenix > should have made an effort to find inexpensive accomodations, but > perhaps they did and didn't find anything they could recommend. I understand the problems, but would like to point out that some people (not me, fortunately) *cannot* afford the rates at the official hotels, and *must* find alternate accommodation, even if it does mean long walks or public transit or other inconveniences. The least Usenix could have done was to have somebody spend an hour with a guidebook and a map to identify a few likely-looking hotels. I realize that cheap hotels are probably uncommon in downtown Dallas, and that /usr/group got to the hotels first. But the folks who simply cannot afford $95/night are going to have to sleep somewhere else anyway; I am dismayed that Usenix ignored this completely. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry
keith@seismo.UUCP (Keith Bostic) (01/12/85)
Just general information, people often overlook Youth Hostels -- the rooms are clean, spacious, and *cheap*. If you're under 35 (I think, call to check) you can usually get a good place to sleep for a few bucks a night. Keith Bostic ARPA: keith@seismo UUCP: seismo!keith
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (01/14/85)
From the UniForum blurb, of which you have all probably received at least
15 copies by now (these guys really should learn about uniq...)
Shuttle Bus Service
As an additional service to attendees at UniForum '85, free shuttle
bus service will be provided during all five days of the event.
Busses will run from all official UniForum Hotels (see lsiting on
next page) and from the INFOMART and the Loews Anatole.
To fully service the UNIX community, continuous free shuttle bus
service also will be provided to and from UniForum and the official
Usenix Hotels.
Complete shuttle bus schedules will be posted in the lobby of each
official hotel and in the registration areas at the Anatole and
the INFOMART.
The Loews Anatole is the headquarters hotel for UniForum.
The blurb goes on to list the UniForum hotels. The cheapest ones appear
to be
Non Smokers Inn, $32
Howard Johnsons Market Center, $38
Best Western Market Center, $41
Dupont Plaza, $46
Viscount, $48
If these are all full, call UniForum Housing, at 214-954-1440.
Mark