TOPIC: GenCon 2017 Hotels Reservation Updates

For those wondering about future hotels in the works.



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The third pin you see right across the street from the ICC is the Marriott which is planning a Refurbishment to be complected in 2018

Then about 3 miles out is one more.

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Great info/links, thank you Rebeg.
I'm curious what "Hotel Category: Luxury" means in this context. For comparison, would either the Marriott Downtown or Crowne Plaza be considered "luxury" hotels?

Druegar wrote: Great info/links, thank you Rebeg.
I'm curious what "Hotel Category: Luxury" means in this context. For comparison, would either the Marriott Downtown or Crowne Plaza be considered "luxury" hotels?

According to their site, The Marriott is considered "Luxury"

Does "their" refer to Marriott or the company who produced those maps?

Druegar wrote: Does "their" refer to Marriott or the company who produced those maps?

Unfortunately no. The info comes from a contractor website that allows contractors to locate and make bids on work for a particular project that is in the works.

I'd have guessed that those hotels would have more rooms. This doesn't seem to be a significant increase. Although I know everything helps.

I have said for years that Indianapolis in particular and Indiana as a whole needs to get serious about transportation. We ended up getting the Sheridan North on the far north end of the 465 loop. It is 12 miles from the ICC. It is thankfully on the Number 18 Bus line, but it a 52 minute ride to the downtown Transit Center, still several blocks from the ICC. I need to double check how early and late it runs.
I know the voters passed a 1% tax to improve transportation and build some BRT's, but if they really want to keep the big conventions, they have to massively improve transportation, and then the far flung hotels won't seem so far.

I know some hotels started offering hourly shuttles back and forth to the convention but frankly if you need to get somewhere on time it can be a pain. Uber prices get crazy and taxis arent cheap.

It appears at this point like Gen Con has reached it's capacity limit. Attendance has plateaued the past 3 years and I don't see it growing in the future unless more hotel space is added. Demand appears to be higher than ever, but there is just nowhere to go with more people. Right now, the only way you could increase attendance is by squeezing more people into the same number of rooms.

I don't know what the answer is, but for True Dungeon I am glad to see them start to explore other options like the Celebration and GameHoleCon. It's too bad Whosyercon couldn't support it any more, I'm sure Gen Con will always be their premier event, but they'll need other options if they want to grow.

Dave wrote: It appears at this point like Gen Con has reached it's capacity limit. Attendance has plateaued the past 3 years and I don't see it growing in the future unless more hotel space is added. Demand appears to be higher than ever, but there is just nowhere to go with more people. Right now, the only way you could increase attendance is by squeezing more people into the same number of rooms.

I don't know what the answer is, but for True Dungeon I am glad to see them start to explore other options like the Celebration and GameHoleCon. It's too bad Whosyercon couldn't support it any more, I'm sure Gen Con will always be their premier event, but they'll need other options if they want to grow.

I think attendance will grow again this year. Non-downtown rooms aren't at capacity (outside the block).

Dave wrote: It appears at this point like Gen Con has reached it's capacity limit. Attendance has plateaued the past 3 years and I don't see it growing in the future unless more hotel space is added. Demand appears to be higher than ever, but there is just nowhere to go with more people. Right now, the only way you could increase attendance is by squeezing more people into the same number of rooms.

I don't know what the answer is, but for True Dungeon I am glad to see them start to explore other options like the Celebration and GameHoleCon. It's too bad Whosyercon couldn't support it any more, I'm sure Gen Con will always be their premier event, but they'll need other options if they want to grow.

I'm not going to denie housing is a consideration for some. But in all honesty, I would place cost higher. This is the first year in the last 4 that haven't seen a badge increase.

To look at it another way. Last year our group of 5 sharing a DT room spent on average $800/person to go, and cover all cost from the badge, event tickets, hotel, food and maybe an item or two in the Exhibit hall. And I'm sure there are people who spend far more then we do.

With a cross country flight thrown in, I wish I could get our cost as low as yours.

That said, badge cost price increases represent a marginal percentage of the total cost. If they want to make it $100 I don't care. Much like TD prices, I am going to pay them.

We always get one or two rooms outside the block, just to be sure we have them. Then if we go inside the block, we can bring a larger group, or spread out a little. 5 in a room gets to be a bit much.

Regardless, overall cost is quite high, but the experience is still worth it, in my opinion anyhow.

I think attendance will be higher this year, as it is the 50th anniversary.