Our Facilities - An Introduction

Renovation will be based in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, just a couple of miles from the airport. The Reno-Sparks Convention Center was one of the key reasons why we chose Reno for our bid. The feel, layout and convenience of the convention center is one of the things that most shapes the experience of the Worldcon for the members, staff, the dealers, artists, exhibitors and program participants. Full details of the convention center can be found here. Accommodation for our members will be provided in three hotels: the Atlantis, Peppermill and Courtyard by Marriott. The Atlantis is directly connected to the convention center by a fully air-conditioned sky bridge, and will be our party hotel. The Peppermill is just a few blocks walk from the convention center, and its Tuscany Ballroom will be home to the Hugo Award Ceremony and Masquerade. The Courtyard by Marriott is a smaller, fully non-smoking hotel. The Reno-Sparks Convention Center and our three hotels are all located on South Virginia Street which runs on a North-South axis just to the West of the International Airport. As noted above the Atlantis is connected to the convention center by sky bridge. The other hotels are around 10 minutes walk or a short cab ride away. Our hotel pages provide full information on each hotel, including room types, rates, restaurants and amenities.

The Renovation Shuttle Service

Renovation will be providing a dedicated bus shuttle service between the Peppermill Hotel and the RSCC/Atlantis complex. This shuttle will run on a continuous loop throughout the day, with additional vehicles added on the nights of the Hugos and Masquerade when demand for the service will be highest. We expect there to be 2-3 pick-ups per hour during the day, corresponding to around 20 minutes between buses, increasing to at least 6 pick-ups per hour (10 minute interval) at peak times.

Note that the bus shuttle service will not run to the Courtyard by Marriott due to the small size of the room block there.

Smoking

The divide within fandom regarding smoking mirrors that in our society as a whole. Our main hotels in Reno have, as part of their major remodeling, been working diligently to address the concerns of both sides of this divide. They recognize that their clientele, just like our membership, includes both smokers and, increasingly, non-smokers, and are working to accommodate the needs of both groups with as little inconvenience as possible to all.

• The convention center is completely non-smoking, as are most public facilities in the United States.

• The Atlantis and Peppermill hotels include a mix of smoking and non-smoking rooms, segregated into separate floors - so no non-smoking bedrooms are on the same floors as smoking bedrooms. At the current time, around 20% of bedrooms are smoking, and we expect this percentage to be the same or lower in 2011. Outside of the bedrooms, hotels allow smoking only on the actual casino floors and in bars that do not serve food. This is dictated by Nevada state law.

• All other areas of these hotels are completely non-smoking. This includes the entirety of the 2nd floor of the Atlantis, where the Con Suite will be located, as well as the sky bridge which links that floor to the convention center. Fans will therefore benefit from a continuous smoke free zone extending from the convention center across the sky bridge and into the Con Suite.

• The same goes for the 2nd floor of the Peppermill, the location of the Tuscany Ballroom and other Peppermill function rooms we will be using, ensuring that all space used for the convention is smoke free.

• Both hotels also have sophisticated filtering and scrubbing technology to remove smoke and particulate matter from the air in the casino floors and bars in which smoking is allowed so that the other areas are not affected.

• For those fans who want a completely smoke-free hotel in which to stay, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott.