The hotel room booking form is included with PR2, which was mailed to members in April 2004. You can also book your room online, paying the deposit via PayPal. A pdf of the form is available here. If this is your first Eastercon please read the article below from PR2 - it may help you understand how to get the room you want. If you are an old hand, we may be doing things a little differently and there may still be useful information. Jaded pedantic old fans who know everything about conventions might like to read it to find misplaced semi-colons and split infinitives.

Once again the Eastercon is being held at the Hinckley Hanover International Hotel. We are going back because we like it and feedback from prior conventions (including the original Paragon Eastercon in 2001 and Seacon Eastercon in 2003) has been good. The hotel is situated midway between Leicester and Coventry just south of junction 1 on the M69. Access to the hotel by car is excellent and Hinckley has a frequent rail service. The station is just over a mile from the hotel. Birmingham and East Midlands airports are only 30 minutes away by car. Outside the hotel is open countryside.

Accommodation
The hotel has 350 bedrooms all doubles, twins or suites. Many of the rooms have a bed settee which allows triple or quadruple occupancy. Some rooms have internet access (hotel phone rates would make this expensive). All bedrooms are accessible with some on the ground floor modified to make them more suitable for people with disabilities.

Disabled Access
Although there is ample function space we have not decided on the layout we will use. As with many hotels there are problems with disabled access. All the primary programme space, dealers' room, art show, and video stream will be on the ground floor or accessible by lift. There are some single steps which limit access but there is always an alternative route. The Lakeside suite on the ground floor is only wheelchair accessible by going outside.

There are a number of function rooms that we will have to use which are at the tops of stairs without lifts. We are in discussion with the hotel about ways to make these accessible. It is our intention to use these mainly for convention offices. However, if we do use these for programme it will be as minimal as possible.

We are still discussing how best to use the hotel's function space - if you have been to a convention in the hotel and would like to contribute to this discussion, please email hotel@paragon2.org.uk

Lounging Space
The Snooty Fox pub is a permanent pub style bar. We are also looking at how to have a non-smoking bar using part of the function space.

Food
Food is available in the restaurant, bar, and via roomservice, and a there is a wonderful seafood restaurant across the road (Barnacles). But the hotel is in the countryside and you will need transport (or a taxi) to go to eat elsewhere.

Queries
If you have any queries about the hotel, please contact us:
Alice Lawson - function space
Steve Lawson - bedrooms
at hotel@paragon2.org.uk

What's this hotel booking form thing?
With PR2 we sent members a Hotel Booking Form. There is also a pdf of the form here or you can do the whole thing online and pay your deposit with PayPal. This is your opportunity to book a room in the hotel and tell us about any special requirements that need to be arranged with them. You must be a member to book a room. You can join at the same time as you book your hotel room. 

The hotel
There are more than seven hundred beds in the hotel. These are spread amongst three hundred and fifty bedrooms. A small number of rooms are for single occupancy, most are twins or doubles, some are modified for disabled access and some can accommodate up to four adults plus children. The family rooms have a double bed and a comfortable double sofa bed.

Why book early?
We will deal with bookings strictly in order of receipt. If it is essential for you to have a single room, you must book early. Numbers of single rooms will be very limited. If you book at or shortly after Easter 2004, you will almost certainly get what you want. Book after Christmas and single rooms will probably have been all allocated.

If you have special needs or need one of the disabled access rooms then early booking is strongly advised.

If you need a double or twin then early booking is not as urgent but we may fill the hotel. If we do, there are not many hotels nearby to act as overflow. None are within easy walking distance. We are making no overflow arrangements and prices at these hotels are likely to be substantially greater than those in the Hanover. Details of possible overflow hotels will be posted here and in future PRs.

Finally, early bookings help your committee. If we can show the hotel substantial early numbers, it helps in negotiations on such things as bar prices, beer quantities and cheap food. It also helps us arrange room allocations earlier spreading our work over a longer period as we lead into the convention.

What kinds of room occupancy are there?
(or How do I get a single/someone to share with?)
You can ask for one of several different types of room occupancy either as a single or sharing with someone else. You can find the person you wish to share with or you can ask us to find you a sharer. The options are;

Single- I will not agree to share a room
We will book you into a single room if available. If you book after all the available singles have been allocated we will not book you into the hotel but contact you to inform you of the situation. If this is your position, early booking is essential.

Single- I will agree to share a room if no singles are available
We will book you into a single room if available. If you book after all the available singles have been allocated we will treat you as a Twin- please find me a sharer.

Twin- please find me a sharer
We will match you for gender and smoking with someone else who has asked to be found a sharer. You will be booked into a twin room. A completely unscientific survey suggests that people who have used this service at previous conventions have met people they would not have met otherwise and in some cases had sharers with such completely different activity patterns that they have hardly seen them.

Double- sharing with:
We will book you into a room with a double bed with the person you name on your booking form. The sharer you name must be a member and the booking will not be made until we have a booking form from both sharers. A single form from both sharers at the same address is acceptable but if you live at different addresses a form each please.

Twin- sharing with:
We will book you into a room with twin beds. Otherwise, it is the same as Double- sharing with.

Family- triple/quad
We will book the three or four people named on the form into a room that has a double bed and a substantial double sofa bed. This room is charged on a per room basis. We will want only one form for each room. All names on the form should be members at the time of booking.

When can I stay?
The convention runs from Friday to Monday afternoon but you may book at the same rates for Thursday and Monday nights. Although the convention has closed there are often parties following the tear down on Monday and staying the extra night can be fun.

What sort of special requirements can I ask to have met?
You can ask for anything. We will try to meet any request but remember the sooner you ask the more time we have to deal with it and the more reasonable your request the easier it is to get the hotel to help.

We anticipate some fairly standard requests and they are listed on the hotel form. These include:

• Room in no smoking part of hotel
• Room in quiet area
• Cot in room
• Vegetarian meals

There is also a space for you to list specific needs and requirements. Please continue on a separate piece of paper if the space is not sufficient.

If you do not tell us what you need, you will not get it. If you have a problem with the hotel, your room, or the staff, we will do our best to sort it out. If however you complain that you have four pillows when you like six and you have not told us, tough! It is also fair to say that only viable requests will be entertained. If you ask for a lilac coloured room or a round bed, Alice will refer you to our resident psychiatrist. (Oooh, I want one - Ed.)

What do I do about children?
Over 16 they count as people and need a room booked in the usual way. Under 16s in the parents' room stay free. Many rooms have a sofa bed that can be used. A truckle bed can be supplied at a cost of £10 per night. The children would be charged for breakfast. Under fives are free. Five to sixteen year olds will be charged £6.50 for each breakfast taken. The children need to be members of the convention.

Deposits
We need a deposit of £20 per person with the completed hotel forms. This amount will be applied to your bill by the hotel. Cheques should be made payable to Paragon2. There will be an online booking system with the opportunity to pay by Paypal available after Concourse (Easter 2004). No room will be booked without a deposit. The date of a booking will be the date both the hotel form and payment are received.

Paying for your room
You are wholly responsible for your hotel bill including any extras such as phone bills and drinks or meals charged. Your deposit will be credited against your bill. If you are sharing, you are responsible for your share of the bill. Room rates are

• £31 per person per night sharing
• £41 per person per night in a single room and
• £73 per room for up to 4 adults in a family room.

All these rates include full breakfast.

What do we do with your booking form?
On receipt of your form, we will record the important details in our database (we already have your membership details), checking that you and any sharer you name are members. If you are a member, we will send a copy of the details we have about your booking to you. We prefer to do this by email and if we have an email address for you, we will use it. If you have named a sharer who is not yet a member, the message will include this fact. When your sharer joins, naming you, we will confirm this fact by email.

Necessary information about your booking will be passed to the hotel. The hotel will have none of your membership details and limited information about your booking until shortly before the convention. Any queries you may have should be sent to the convention contact address below, or you can email members@paragon2.org.uk.

How should you fill in your form?
Legibly. If you have handwriting that is difficult to read consider completing the form in block printing or possibly using the online form and paying the deposit by Paypal.

Who should you contact with queries?
Do not contact the hotel directly. They will not have your details. All membership and hotel booking matters should be sent to:
John Dowd
4 Burnside Avenue
SHEFFIELD S8 9FR

Tel 0114 2810674

Email members@paragon2.org.uk

The fastest response is likely to be email. It is usually checked daily.

My Booking Details
In your PR2, at the end of the Hotel Booking article there is a space where you can make a note of the booking information you have sent us.

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