Posting this here to help spread the word and perhaps assist with clarifying the lodging aspects. The blocks set aside for the Festorics event at both the Lighthouse Lodge & Cottages as well as the Monterey Tides will open the first week in March. When I registered, the form did ask about this, and I accepted, which assumes I would be notified in order to actually book it. Not sure if this is correct, so if there is anyone here that can confirm, that would be great. The O'Fest lodging at the Hyatt is offered only for the dates of O'Fest and not available for any prior dates. No issues with this registration. Travelocity is showing 89% already booked, which is why I called directly after completing the registration. I suspect by the time August gets here, this will be 100%. Again, some clarification or explanation might be needed as part of the registration effort, so that you don't have everyone trying to call and book a room themselves, while at the same time thinking that everything is already sold out. Thanks
When we stayed at the Hyatt three years ago for Oktoberfest 2013, I recalled that there was a choice of a balcony or non-balcony room, and also whether the room had A/C or not. I didn't see those options when I placed our reservations for this year through the Passkey website link so I called the Hyatt to get more info. All rooms now have A/C, so a choice is no longer necessary. The balcony rooms all look out on the parking lot and the hotel said that they had complaints from people who requested balcony rooms because they though they would have a view, just not of the parking lot, so they removed that option. Sound like you will get placed randomly in either a balcony or non-balcony room. Just be aware that if you do get a balcony room your "view" will be of the parking lot!
Adding some more info... It looks like the Lighthouse Lodge has released their block of rooms for club members that have already registered. I received a call today from them and they are offering rooms starting at $200/night. I've not heard anything else on Monterey Tides and whether they are taking reservations. I went ahead and booked at Lighthouse Lodge from the 18th to the 21st, which covers the Legends and Festorics events. I'm already booked at the Hyatt after that for O'fest. I would recommend booking as soon as possible before things start to get sold out in terms of lodging.
I booked last week at Monterey Tides after registering for O'Fest, $250/night - I presume I'm part of the BMW block & that's the correct rate, hope so anyway!
Sue and I are staying there as well! I'll be checking in on Thursday, Sue will join on Saturday, and we'll both be checking out on Tuesday to move over to the Hyatt.
