NAC A: Cincinnati

[Craig]

This is our official thread for the first NAC of the 2010-2011 Season.

NAC A - October 15 - 18: Cincinnati, OH
Events: Division I, Division II, Veterans, Wheelchair

Can locals point us in the right direction for local brews/bars/eats in walking distance to the venue and host hotel?

Michael collected information via Kayak on getting flights and hotels: Our NAC A post is here.

[Craig]

Just checked out the THS links for the event - They show no rooms available during the NAC. Via our links we've found a number of rooms available no problem.


EDIT: As teacup points out below, there are a few rooms left at $99/night for specific days at the Millenium hotel via THS. Since I needed rooms for the entire time, that's what my searches were for.

mfp also makes a point below about there being affiliate links. Yep. There are. I've edited the posting to bring that out front and center.

We ended up signing up for the Kayak affiliate program because we ended up using either Kayak or Priceline for almost all of our travel last season.

[teacup]

Rooms are available on THS, just not for the 14th to the 19th. Enter different dates to see availability.

The Hyatt and Millenium are both beside the venue.

[mfp]

Just checked out the THS links for the event - They show no rooms available during the NAC. Via our links we've found a number of rooms available no problem.

Just checked out the links in the FDN article ...

The link provided to "Book your flight to Cincinnati" goes to a Kayak page for the Millennium hotel and nothing to do with flights.

The other links in the article that are supposed to go hotel information do correctly link to hotel info -- each to a Kayak page for the named hotel. I'm guessing they're affiliate links where FDN would make a small amount for traffic or bookings done through them. Which is completely fine -- giving people more ways to support FDN is great. Disclose and promote it!

However if these are indeed affiliate links, then as much as I hate THS and would never use them, claiming incorrectly that THS has no rooms available during the NAC and directing people to use affilliate links wherein the "reporter" has an undisclosed interest would seem sketchy.

As for hotel searches, I've found that Hotelscombined.com can sometimes do better than Kayak as Hotelscombined seaches more sites. Hotelscombined also has an affiliate program, though perhaps not as generous as Kayak's.

As for Cincinatti downtown hotels on the days of the NAC, it looks like the Millennium might be (opaquely) available through Hotwire at $63 a night. Btw, Hotwire also has an affiliate program

[Greybeard]

I wonder if it is going to be covered by Les Nesman.

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

[Craig]

As for Cincinatti downtown hotels on the days of the NAC, it looks like the Millennium might be (opaquely) available through Hotwire at $63 a night. Btw, Hotwire also has an affiliate program

Thanks for the tips. $63/night would be a great rate for the Millennium! (I just checked and for Friday and Saturday Hotels.com came up with $109/night. Maybe priceline?)

Now when I do the "don't show me the hotel name" search, I'm getting a 3 1/2 star hotel for $66 or $67/night. That looks to be the Millennium.

Also, when I did the THS search, I was searching for us and we require the entire stay - no rooms for that. As of 1pm, there are a few (when I looked it was 3 rooms left for Friday and a couple for Saturday) in THS's inventory at $99/night.

[misha]

As for Cincinatti downtown hotels on the days of the NAC, it looks like the Millennium might be (opaquely) available through Hotwire at $63 a night.

Just booked Oct 14 - Oct 17 on Hotwire for $69

[mfp]

Thanks for the tips. $63/night would be a great rate for the Millennium! (I just checked and for Friday and Saturday Hotels.com came up with $109/night. Maybe priceline?)

Hotwire searches for Cincinnati for downtown hotels for the period of the NAC return a "3 1/2 star" property at $63 per night for Thurs/Friday/Sat/Sun nights or $66 per night for Fri/Sat night stays. Based on the list of amenities, this property might very well be the Millennium. (There are web sites and forums on which people try to map opaque Hotwire descriptions to the names of the hotels).

However since it's an opaque Hotwire offer, we won't know for sure until someone goes for it and reports whether it is the Millenium or some other 3.5 star property.

As for Priceline, hotels often accept Priceline bids lower than what Hotwire bids for the same property/dates might go for. However with Priceline, the bid might be picked up by a different hotel property.

[dberke]

I, and several clubmates, got the Millennium for $50/night on Priceline (while THS was sold out!) It's a 3.5 star property downtown.

Dan

[Craig]

Just booked Oct 14 - Oct 17 on Hotwire for $69

Misha - Did it come back that it was the Millennium?

[oso97]

Thought I would throw this into the mix....

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_n...nfested-cities

[misha]

Misha - Did it come back that it was the Millennium?

Yes. sorry that I did not make it clear.

.

[misha]

I, and several clubmates, got the Millennium for $50/night on Priceline (while THS was sold out!) It's a 3.5 star property downtown.

Dan

Damn. Should have waited for your post

.

[teacup]

The Hyatt was $116.00 per night plus full breakfast.

[Craig]

Confirmed Hotwire bid on 3 1/2 star downtown hotel. $64/night.

[Inquartata]

Thought I would throw this into the mix....

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_n...nfested-cities

Fourth worst city for bedbug infestations. And Detroit, where NAC D is scheduled, is #3.

The Hyatt was $116.00 per night plus full breakfast.

And supposedly 4 star, though the reviews on tripadvisor.com are awful, for whatever that's worth. Reviews for the Millenium are only slightly less bad. Garfield Suites gets high marks. I could have booked there a while back, but I needed two beds and they only had singles available.

Anyone know when THS releases its blocks of rooms?

[flechewounds]

any locals know the drive time from Blue Ash to the Duke center? I'm going to have a car anyhow (flying into Columbus on SWA - no Delta for me!) and that area is near where the Apple Store is (usually means that it is at least not to dicey of a neighborhood). My guess is about 45 minutes on Fri & Mon, and about 20 on Sat/Sun... can anyone confirm? Thanks...

[magriffin]

I used to live in Cincy many years ago and those drive times sound reasonable from what I remember. Mon & Fri drive times all depend on what time of day you're going. Maybe someone who has lived there more recently than I has better info though.

[piste off]

Fourth worst city for bedbug infestations.

Don't worry, I'm sure those little light avoiding pests will extend you a professional courtesy.



R-

[piste off]

With Hotwire... if a hotel does not specifically state non-smoking they can give you a smoking room. Does that bother anyone? It seems that most of the good deals listed for CIN do not specify and you are taking a chance if it does.

R-