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LIST OF HOTELS THS RESERVATIONS (Live on 10/22/09 at 11:00 am EST)
2010 BIG SOUTH STAY & PLAY BENEFITS
- Lowest group rates over the event dates with rate integrity checks
- More hotels to choose from, more rooms and more price points
- Travel agents can book for you
- Rewards Program for teams booking a minimum number of rooms -- new 1/15 paid rooms comp policy
- Parents can book rooms and give teams “credit” towards Rewards Program
- Enhanced reservations process through a NEW web site with “drag & drop” rosters into rooming lists, immediate confirmation & no immediate cash outlay
STAY & PLAY POLICY DETAILS
What is Stay & Play:
Stay & Play is a housing policy adopted last year by the Big South that requires all teams and attendees to book their hotel rooms at an approved event hotel, within the event hotel room block. Last year the Big South was successful in getting many hotels to offer lower rates than in past due to this policy. That trend has continued this year. Another benefit of the program is that we have been able to include many hotels that choose not to participate in the housing program of the Big South in years past.
Why does Big South use Stay & Play:
The primary reason was to find a collective way to control the increase in various hotels rates that we had been seeing over the past few years and to make sure that the hotels were putting aside enough hotels rooms for our participants at reasonable rates. Our room block size in the downtown hotels had steadily been declining in the last 3 years. The hotels were giving us fewer and fewer rooms so that they could sell more rooms at a higher rate outside of the block. With this new policy we have now had hotels come back to us and grant us larger room blocks at the lower group rate. This means that more people will be able to get into the "good" hotels at a reasonable rate. We also adopted this program so that we can prove hotel usage to the city, thus lowering the cost of the facilities used and keeping the entry fees more constant. It also allows us to secure space years out so that we know we can host the Big South at a consistent time of the year.
What is the new 1/15 Comp Policy:
For every 15 rooms actually used, a team will be awarded one comp room night (the 16th night) at hotels other than the headquarters hotels (The Omni, the Marriott Marquis and the Westin) So booking as a club with multiple teams, booking parents rooms and having parents associate their individual bookings with your team will help you reach the 15 paid/used rooms level and therefore be eligible for the new comp room policy.
What if my team wants to stay at a specific hotel:
The reservations for Big South open on October 20th at 11:00 am EST. We want to give teams every opportunity to suggest hotels or hotel types that suit their needs. You can contact THS with a request to add a hotel or hotel type to the event approved list up until October 9th. We will certainly try to add suggested hotels although we cannot guarantee that we will be able to add every request. After this date, the hotel list will be final. Please submit the Request Form to krystle@thsweb.com with your request.
How do I make a reservation:
The Big South has contracted THS as the official housing service of the event. They will be managing all of the Big South hotel blocks at the approved hotels. Therefore, your reservations must be made through THS in order to fulfill the Stay & Play Housing Policy. The RESERVATIONS link at the top of the page will take you to their web site.
Are the hotel blocks just for teams and coaches:
NO... we certainly want to encourage parents to take advantage of Stay & Play. Their rooms can be credited towards a teams total room nights to aid in getting free comp rooms.
How does Big South know my team has completed this requirement:
We will be in constant communication with THS keeping up-to-date records of FINALIZED hotel contracts. Once you have finalized your hotel contract -- meaning signed/accepted and return your hotel contract, not just made a reservation -- you will receive acceptance notification into the event as long as the other entry criteria have also been completed. See How to Enter for complete entry details.
What if I book for the entire club:
No problem at all. Just make sure to let THS know how which rooms within your group booking apply to which teams. As long as you have 5 rooms assigned to each team you have met the minimum requirement.
How do I know we are getting the best group rates:
THS & Big South will routinely run rate integrity checks on the event hotels for rooms over the event dates to make sure they are offering the lowest group rates to our participants. (This excludes employee, government, AAA and AARP rates) If you receive a WRITTEN confirmation of a lower rate than we have published at one of our event hotels, during the event dates, please forward that information to us and we will take care of making sure you receive the lower rate for the event blocked rooms.
Why are some hotels not listed in the event approved list:
While Big South has invited most all hotels in the Atlanta and surrounding areas to join the event block, there may be a few reasons why a hotel does not appear in the list of approved hotels: The hotel did not submit a bid for rooms; the bid submitted had a rate that the Big South consider too high for its participants and the hotel did not want to lower their rate; the hotel was unable to offer room types (doubles) that the event needed; the hotel did not have group availability over the entire event dates; the hotel would not agree to other terms that Big South requires in the event contract; the hotel was not of the standard that the Big South felt was appropriate fo our attendees.
What if we are a local team and drive back and forth each day:
The Big South has kept years of records on where teams have stayed. If your club/team has been one who has historically driven back and forth, you are already on our Local Team List and will not be required to book rooms -- please email us at info@bigsouth.us to confirm you are on the list. If you are new to the Big South, please email us to let us know you have registered for the tournament. We will then confirm your location is within a reasonable, drivable distance and place your club on the Local Team List. Please understand that a teams “local” status is determined solely at the discretion of the event staff. You may have to comply with the Stay & Play policy to gain entry into the event even though you feel that your team is within a reasonable distance to drive back and forth.
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