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[Steve Erbach]

Dear Collaborators,

I just got off the phone with Nicole at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Reserved my room from Sat. Oct. 7 to Sat. Oct 14, 2017, for GPUG Summit!

I had hoped that the initial wobbles in the reservation process had leveled off, and they have. I used the Group Name of SUMMIT, just as it says on the “Hotel & Travel” page of the GPUG Summit site. I got the advertised rate of $214 a night for all 7 nights. (I’d seen on the Gaylord web site yesterday that there weren’t any “standard” rooms available after Thursday night; but that seems to have corrected itself.)

Be aware: the total cost for a $214 room is actually $270.26:

   $214/day room charge
+ $18/day resort charge
+ $2.50/day Nashville city tax
+ 6% hotel tax
+ 9.25% state tax

Whoooeee! That’s a lot of taxes/charges!

I was told that the room could be canceled up to 72 hours before check-in with no penalty.

Check-in at 4:00 pm (not 3:00 pm at most other joints); check-out at 11:00 am.

Looking forward to Summit in Nashville. I hope you are, too!

Sincerely,

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
——————————

[Steve Erbach]

Actually might be a little less than $270.26… depends on whether the resort fee and city taxes are taxed!

Regards,

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
————————————————————————-

[Rob Klaproth]

Steve,

 

Is this where the actual conference is going to be?  I am curious because this hotel is getting very lousy reviews on TripAdvisor and it looks like they nickel and dime you not only with ridiculous taxes and fees  but they are also charging $25 a day for parking and a $25 resort fee, so that can quickly spike the cost of your room up even more.

 

I’m going to be looking for other options, unless it’s going to be too inconvenient to get from a different hotel over to the conference?

 

 

 

 

 

Rob Klaproth

Sr. Consultant II – Dynamics GP

rob.klaproth@amllp.com

 

Armanino^LLP

11512 El Camino Real Suite 311 | San Diego, CA 92130

858 207 5137 direct | 619 243 4939  mobile

LinkedIn | amllp.com

 

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——Original Message——

Dear Collaborators,

I just got off the phone with Nicole at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Reserved my room from Sat. Oct. 7 to Sat. Oct 14, 2017, for GPUG Summit!

I had hoped that the initial wobbles in the reservation process had leveled off, and they have. I used the Group Name of SUMMIT, just as it says on the “Hotel & Travel” page of the GPUG Summit site. I got the advertised rate of $214 a night for all 7 nights. (I’d seen on the Gaylord web site yesterday that there weren’t any “standard” rooms available after Thursday night; but that seems to have corrected itself.)

Be aware: the total cost for a $214 room is actually $270.26:

   $214/day room charge
+ $18/day resort charge
+ $2.50/day Nashville city tax
+ 6% hotel tax
+ 9.25% state tax

Whoooeee! That’s a lot of taxes/charges!

I was told that the room could be canceled up to 72 hours before check-in with no penalty.

Check-in at 4:00 pm (not 3:00 pm at most other joints); check-out at 11:00 am.

Looking forward to Summit in Nashville. I hope you are, too!

Sincerely,

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
——————————

[Steve Erbach]

Rob,

Summit will be at the Gaylord. There are certainly other hotels in Nashville; There’s a cluster of inns and motels north of McGavock Pike, a couple blocks to 1/2 mile away from the convention center.

You’re going to get socked with taxes no matter which hotel you stay at: 15.25% of the room charge… plus city tax. You can’t get away from the taxes!

The resort fee is $18 a day. Don’t know why it isn’t built into the cost of the room.

My wife and I won’t be driving, so parking isn’t a consideration for us.

Good luck!

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
————————————————————————-

[Kathy Kim]

Of note – sometimes upon check in, it turns out the resort fee is included in the group rate.  I know that Summit usually has a free wifi sponsor and that is one of the main things included in the resort fee.  I don’t know if that will be the case this year or not, but it’s possible.

——————————
Kathy Kim
Director of Finance
Donor Network of Arizona
Phoenix AZ
————————————————————————-

[Steve Erbach]

P.S., when the 2017 Summit site was announced in Tampa, I know one person, at least, was very happy: Leslie Vail! What’s good enough for Leslie is sure good enough for me!

Regards,

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
————————————————————————-

[Beat Bucher]

I was able to complete my reservation online.. used the 2nd link on the Summit 2017 page.. not the main hotel web link. The 2nd link already includes the group code for the special rate of 214$/night.. and during the process I saw that the actuall resort fee was 20$/day.. not 18.. that already an 11% hike !

Those fees are ridiculous as they should be covered by the room rates..

Looking forward to see you all down there..

PS: My purchasing head told me that this was actually a very good price, as she has dealt a lot with convention / resort / hotel booking in the past for big events and the price is right she says..

PPS: I’ve played with the mind of finding another place to stay (AirBnB ?), but the surrounding areas where there are descent hotels (Hampton Inn, Hyatt and the like) are at least 20 min walk distance from the Gaylord Opry and not cheaper (some even way above the 214$ rate)..  Private homes are on the other side of the Highway 12 and not easily accessible without a car..

——————————
Beat Bucher
Business Analyst, Dynamics GP MVP
Ultra-Electronics Forensic Technology Inc.
Montreal QC/Canada
+1-514-489-4267
@GP_Beat http://dyngpbeat.wordpress.com/
Montreal QC GPUG Chapter Leader
GP2013R2 / MR2012 CU14
————————————————————————-

[Lou Spevack]

Gaylord has 2800+ rooms.  There will be more than 6000 people at Summit.  It’s a good bet that some of the other hotels will have blocks of rooms for the conference.  Just not yet.

——————————
Lou Spevack
Systems Accountant | Dynamics Credentialed Professional
American Council on Education
Washington DC
————————————————————————-

[Rob Klaproth]

I think you have to factor more then just price when you consider where to stay.   The gaylord is HUGE which means everything is going to be a huge hike.  If your key card gets demagnetized for example you can plan on a good 10-15 minute plus walk back to the front desk.  I’ve heard from many people this happens often.  Make sure you get two and be careful where you put them. 

Being such a huge resort means you will spend a lot of time walking to get from a to b.  I prefer staying at a smaller hotel where I can get in and out super easy.   I don’t mind getting an uber from my hotel to the conference it will save me time in the long run unless Nashville doesn’t have decent uber or lyft service.  🙂 

Hopefully the Hyatt and other hotels will soon have blocks.  I was able to secure a room at Hampton inn and they got much better reviews on TripAdvisor then the gaylord and no resort fee and free parking if you do want a car. 

Sent from my iPhone

——Original Message——

Gaylord has 2800+ rooms.  There will be more than 6000 people at Summit.  It’s a good bet that some of the other hotels will have blocks of rooms for the conference.  Just not yet.

——————————
Lou Spevack
Systems Accountant | Dynamics Credentialed Professional
American Council on Education
Washington DC
——————————

[Lou Spevack]

I just booked my reservation and there were no rooms available on the 12th and 13th at the $214 rate.  So I booked at the higher rate but it seems very strange that they would run out of rooms in their block for the last 2 nights.  I hope that can be fixed because I don’t need the fancy view.

——————————
Lou Spevack
Systems Accountant | Dynamics Credentialed Professional
American Council on Education
Washington DC
————————————————————————-

[Pamela Lasiter]

I just completed my reservation and was able to get a standard room for all nights including the last two.  You might want to call the resort and make sure that there really aren’t any available because I think that might have been a glitch.

——————————
Pamela Lasiter
Senior Accountant
Explorer Pipeline Company
Tulsa OK
————————————————————————-

[Steve Erbach]

Pamela,

<span style=”font-family: Georgia, Times; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic; color: #008080; background-color: #ccffff;”>I just completed my reservation and was able to get a standard room for all nights including the last two.</span>

Clean living, I calls it! Congratulations!

Regards,

——————————
“Sparkly” Steve Erbach – Business Analyst & MS Dynamics Platform Administrator
WOW Logistics – Appleton, WI
+-VP for Communication, GPUG WI (Milwaukee) Chapter
| Co-Chair, GPUG WI (Green Bay) Chapter
| GP 2013 R2 (12.00.1801)…go-live on GP 2016: 19-Dec-2016!
+-MR 2012 CU15 (found — and reported — my very own bug!)
Blog: https://www.gpug.com/blogs/steve-erbach
Twitter: @serbach
————————————————————————-

[Shanna Hensch]

Greetings Everyone,

Per your discussion, there were a couple of things that I would like to clarify for you. First, you are correct, at the Gaylord Opryland you will be charged for the flat room rate, the resort fee and the related taxes (just so there were no surprises, we did post/communicate those details out on the GPUG Summit – Hotel site). To further clarify, the resort fee is contracted at $18.00, and then you will incur the following taxes: Sales tax – 9.25%, Occupancy tax – 6%, $2.50 city tax per room per night.

Secondly, we have seen a much larger interest in attendees staying the night of Friday 13th than we intended so we have had that night sell out a couple of times already. Please know we are keeping a very close eye on our pickup and are adding more rooms as quickly as possible when the need arises.

Thirdly, yes, Summit itself is going to be held right there on the Gaylord Opryland property. I am SO very excited for this year because with having about 95% of the hotel rooms and all of the event space, it is going to be our own little Summit city!! And yes while it is a very large property, trust me, walking through the venue is nothing short of incredible! Opryland is housed under a huge atrium so it gives you the feel of being outside all the time, the 5 different sections (Magnolia, Garden Conservatory, Delta, Cascades & the Convention Center) provide distinctly different themes, and there are plenty of shops, restaurants and quaint little features to admire along your way. 

Of course it is up to each individual attendee to decide what their own personal preference is for their travels, what accommodations are in their budget range, what type of transportation they are willing to incur to get onsite, etc., but please know, if you do choose to stay at the Opryland, your experience should be nothing short of amazing!!

Look forward to seeing you all in Nashville!

Shanna

——————————
Shanna Hensch
Events Manager
Dynamic Communities
Moorhead MN
————————————————————————-

[Terry Horn]

Can you post the group code again to get the discounted hotel rate?  I tried SUMMIT but received an error message that group codes must be 7 characters.

As for the walking, plan on walking like you did in Atlanta.  The hotel is VERY spread out unless you get a room next to the convention center.

——————————
Terry Horn
IT Manager
Owensboro Municipal Utilities
Owensboro KY
————————————————————————-

[Shanna Hensch]

Hi Terry,

The group code is ONLY needed when you call in to make your reservations. The reservation web link already has the group rates applied so no additional code is needed.

Shanna

——————————
Shanna Hensch
Events Manager
Dynamic Communities
Moorhead MN
————————————————————————-

[Bill Marshall]

Gaylord and some other hotels were sued a few years ago for making this a mandatory charge. You can sometimes avoid them by asking them to break down what’s included and negotiate a different fee.  FTC has warned a bunch of hotels about this because it’s deceptively advertising a room rate that you cannot really get. 

——————————
Bill Marshall
President
mc²
————————————————————————-

[Bill Marshall]

Correction: Gaylord and some other hotels were sued a few years ago for making the resort fee a mandatory charge. You can sometimes avoid them by asking them to break down what’s included and negotiate a different fee.  FTC has warned a bunch of hotels about this because it’s deceptively advertising a room rate that you cannot really get. 

——————————
Bill Marshall
President
mc²
————————————————————————-