When we made the initial agreement with the hotel, we had to decide on the number of rooms to guarantee. This resulted in a room charge significantly lower than their standard rate. The charges for any shortfall from the guaranteed number of rooms would be borne the committee as guarantors.
We reached the guaranteed number very quickly. We thought that when we attained the agreed upon number, the hotel would continue to provide additional rooms at the same rate, limited only by availability. That turned out not to be the case and we had to increase the number of committed rooms while still being exposed to personal liability. That additional commitment was quickly reached thanks to a great response from our members. The hotel is now reluctant to increase the number of available rooms because of their other bookings.
Due to limited room availability, if you wish to extend your stay before or after the reunion at the same rate, the hotel has rooms on the 30th and for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Please let us know your intentions by emailing (donald.blanchard@comcast.net) so we can work with the room specialist to check availability.
Other considerations are:
We have an exposure to cancelations. The reality is that many folks who want to attend are working with medical issues and do not want to commit, at this time, to either making a hotel reservation or sending in a registration fee. If hotel rooms are cancelled close to the event, they become a part of an unfulfilled guarantee, and the committee would again be liable.
Currently we have 27 rooms booked (33 schoolmates and 12 guests) but have only 16 completed reunion registration forms. Some of the costs of our reunion are fixed, independently of the number of attendees (the hospitality room). Some are more variable but will have to be purchased well in advance (setups for the hospitality room, name tags, remembrances etc.). If there are late cancellations, some of those costs will have to be borne by the committee.
To try and accommodate everyone, including working with the hotel, we feel we need to have some specific guidelines that will minimize liability to the group and be fair to everyone.
- All individuals currently who hold a confirmed reservation and have paid their registration fee are good to go.
- All individuals currently holding a confirmed hotel reservation but have not paid their reunion registration fee will need to pay your registration fee by 1 July 2024. If your registration fee is not paid by 1 July 2024 we may have to ask you to cancel your reservation in order to give it to someone who has paid their registration fee.
- If you desire to make a reservation but at this time cannot due to room block availability, you will be placed on a waiting list and be given a room if there is a cancellation or if more rooms become available at our rate.
- If someone needs to cancel after paying their reunion registration fee, it will be returned in full until 1 October 2024. Between 1 October and 15 October, one-half of the fee will be returned and after 15 October no registration fee will be returned since food preparation numbers will have been turned in.
If you would like to make a reservation and be placed on a waiting list please contact me by either email or phone (donald.blanchard@comcast.net or 850-276-0187) and I will work it for you.
Appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Don Blanchard (64)
