Let me first say I've been attending Gen Con every year since 2005. Regrettably this is looking to be the first year I will not get to attend. 

I was 3 hours and 30 minutes into the room queue and needless to say there were no downtown rooms available. 

I refuse to pay the ridiculous out of block prices and encourage everyone else to do the same. These hotels will not ever extend the amount of rooms they put into the block if we keep renting out of block rooms for $400+ a night. 

As as I said I've been going to Gen Con since 2005 and have watched these out of block rooms increase exponentially throughout the years. 

Let them eat all those rooms and they might offer more in block rooms next year. 

That being said if anyone has a king or double room downtown (in block pricing only) they need to get rid of I'd be happy to take it off your hands. 

I made my post hoping to help people who want to go to GenCon who have large groups and can split up the price. If you don't get an in block room, sorry, you can't just pout and demand they increase in block rooms. You have to pay more. Get a larger group and split up the cost.

You made a thread telling people just not to go and then ask to take someone else's reservation.

That pretty much summed it up. I won't be going without an in block room. 

Whats your point?  

People who have the money, will pay it.  This is capitalism.  Demand is exceeding supply.  It doesn't make me happy, but honestly, taking a cab or Uber back and forth from an Airport hotel (which will have free parking) won't cost much more than paying the $28 (plus tax) parking fee most of the downtown hotels charge.  It's just the midday naps/showers/costume changes that become prohibitively expensive/difficult.
 

Every person who buys out of block relieves pressure on those in block. Those rack rate room prices you are seen have always been there for many reasons; it's just now that Gencon has the entire downtown pretty much locked up, those are the only rates you see.

It doesn't really matter. Almost all of the out of block rooms with skywalks under 450 are gone.

The hotels charging 650 a night shouldn't get any business, but 450 with a group of friends is manageable, again. It's hard to comaplin about price when you can walk up to your room at 2 am and go to sleep, get up at 7 and be right back.

Driving to and fro really changes the convention experience.

I'd rather be downtown, but if I'll at least give it a one time shot if it happens. 

Capitalism is one thing, but the out right egregious greed is shocking. More than twice the normal rate markup from the entire downtown Indy hotel group sucks. Adkison, if you want to stand up for something, stand up for all those who can't afford to partake because of this.

There are a small number of rooms downtown they don't book as part of the block, and once those are gone, they are gone.

Are you kidding, those hotels reserve maybe, maybe 20% of their occupancy for the Gen Con block (the problem). They acctually hold off their booking for this weeked so after the blocks are filled then the rooms go live after.

Three years an running on getting f'ed on getting a room downtown. This time there were six of us trying to book a room and not one of us had a time slot before a 1 1/2 for the portal. Real random.

FYI: rack rate, IOW, those high prices you see being charged.

"First of all, rack rate is not - at least not in the US - set by law. If some hotel clerk told you that, he or she either didn't like you,  or just didn't want to give you any kind of discount. Every hotel sets its own rates - and its own exceptions to and discounts from those rates.
(Some localities require the hotel to post their rates, like on the inside of the door to your room, usually a scheme to thwart price gouging, or fraud by clerks. Where there is such a requirement, you'll see an astronomically high rate posted, in anticipation of the expected rate for the most high-demand special event in the area . . .) Rack rate is the asking price for a room, the set price from which nearly all discounts are calculated.

also, you know many hotels have special privelkges for club members. Like the Hyatt--they have a guarantee for damond club members. 48 hours notice..you get a room. guess what rate you pay? Yep, that super high rate you see.

"Guarantee valid for one standard guestroom when paying the hotel’s Hyatt Daily Rate. Not valid at Hyatt resorts, Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva properties, Hyatt Residence Club resorts, or during extraordinary room demand."

Rack rate rooms are the last rooms kept in inventory. Only during extraordinary demand do they sel at that rate. Guess what? GenCon is extraordinary demand. You, GenCon, Cthullu, and the FLying Spaghetti Monster can't change this.

Please. Just because you are unhappy you didnt get a luck draw is no reason to simply start making junk up. Not everyone can get a cheap downtown room. If you insist on only booking at convention discount, then know a bad string of luck might mean its years before it happens, especially if you work in small numbers. Everyone else faces the same challenge. You can keep trying to work for the next seven months and get a room, or you can spend your time pitching a pointless hissy fit. Spend your time as you wish, but hold no illusion you will get anyone to listen, care, or a policy to change.

::facepalm::

Anytime demand goes up, the rooms go up in price.

But telling everyone else not to go because it's too expensive for you, or telling people not to go because "7 or 8 people in a room splitting the bill is a firecode hazard" is just silly. It's like you're trying to control what other people do with their money.

If you have a group of friends, it's worth the extra cash to stay downtown. Those mid-day breaks, hanging out in the lobbies late and playing games, and being able to walk to the room to drop off purchases is a huge deal. Downtown definitely has an amazing feeling at 2 or 3 in the morning knowing your room is 2 minutes away.

What I dont want or need is a $200 room being sold at $500. That is price-gouging which should not be tolerated.

But no one is going to (or has the ability)  force the hotels to lower their prices, despite high demand, to make you happy. Thats not how it works.

http://archive.wtsp.com/news/local/article/218416/8/GOP-wants-lower-hotel-rates-for-convention

St. Petersburg, Florida -- Shortly after it was announced Tampa would get the 2012 Republican National Convention, tens of thousands of local hotel rooms were secured for the event. Contracts were signed a short time later, locking in rates. But Republican organizers are now asking hotel operators to lower their rates.
"I think it's fair to say our members were caught off guard," said Bob Morrison, the executive director of the Hillsborough County Hotel Motel Association.

Morrison adds he's not heard of any Bay area hotels that tried to take advantage of the situation by charging outrageous rates. In fact, he says the numbers he's seen suggests hoteliers acted in good faith.
"Every hotelier I've spoken to has indicated that their quoted rate was lower than what they could have charged, consistent with the contract provisions."

The TradeWides Island Resort, for example, agreed to a rate of $159 per night. That compares to a rate of about $150 for the same room this past August and $392 for that same room during the 2009 Super Bowl week.

And those hotels actually did NOT take advantage. So my point stands. Gencon could actually try to do something pubically.

I think the point some people are missing here is that the Rack Rate is the "normal" rate for that room. The hotel usually offers the room at a lower rate to fill it, or in this case Gen Con has most likely guarenteed x# of rooms at y # of nights, so the hotel let's them go for a discounted rate because they have been gaurenteed that they will fill the rooms. So, don't think of it as "The hotel is charging $500 for a $200 room" and more like "The hotel is discounting this $500 room to $200".

Ok, so,lets clarify. Ae you complaining about in block room costs, or out of block room costs? No going back and forth, be clear what you are talking about.

Your article is about a group trying to negotiate prices for a contracted block of housing. Many of the prices discussed here and on other threads concerns out of block housing. Gencon has no right, nor requirement, to try and control prices for rooms not in their convention block. So, I'll now turn to in block cost discussion, because either A: you werent talking about them, or B: your article here doesnt apply, and you have no argument. No rational basis exists to argue that GenCon should try and control out of block prices.

For in block room costs: GenCon has done something publically. They've negotiated the best room rate they can, and secured as many rooms in that system as they could. The hotels won't relase any more. Many others have observed how harder it is to find downtown roosm out of block, and naturally supply and demand make those rooms higher.

There is nothign more GenCon can do. Going back and trying to renegotiate a contract is not done lightly. You need a sound basis (well, unless you are a cheapskate political party, apparently). One of the reasons you sign a long duration contract is to reduce constant negotiation, after all.

Whenever you have a convention, or big ball game, or Superbowl..prices go up. This isn't price gouging. Nothing hear remotely qualifies as price gouging. 

Just pretend GenCon demands hotels lower prices even lower than the already negotiated prices. One big hotel decides not to participate in the the convention block once their deal expires, and list their rooms at whatever rate they wish. And I'm certain they would sell. and then GenCon loses even more power, and more hotels will follow.

Theres no way prices are going to go down. If you think any other result is possible, (outside of a masive decrease in convention attendance), you are being unrealsitic.