Gamehole Con 2025 Thread

[billd91]

Well that sucks. Gamehole Con said that the housing portal opens at noon. I go in exactly at noon, everything in walking distance is sold out. I refresh for a while, clear my cache and try again, try in another browser...all sold out. Either they already had the rooms for exhibiters etc., or by "noon" they meant Eastern time. Or they started earlier than noon and I was too dumb to check.

If they said noon, they'd have meant Central.

 

[MNblockhead]

If they said noon, they'd have meant Central.

Well I was in at exactly 12 noon Central and all 7 of the walking distance hotels on the mmxreservations site were already sold out.

 

[billd91]

Alex is posting about it on the Gamehole Facebook page. They had directed Visit Madison to open at noon but the portal opened it early.

 

[MGibster]

Well that sucks. Gamehole Con said that the housing portal opens at noon. I go in exactly at noon, everything in walking distance is sold out. I refresh for a while, clear my cache and try again, try in another browser...all sold out. Either they already had the rooms for exhibiters etc., or by "noon" they meant Eastern time. Or they started earlier than noon and I was too dumb to check.

I ended up going directly to the hotel's website and booking that way. I didn't get the con price, but it was worth being able to just walk to the venue instead of having to drive.

 

[Birmy]

I wasn't able to be there when rooms were (supposed to go) on sale, but the group I usually go with had no luck, thanks to the early snafu. GHC Discord is full of understandably irate and disappointed people who are now left scrambling. GHC says it's Visit Madison's fault and they're in touch with them, but it looks like the damage is done. Push comes to shove, we can get something a little further away or just pay the non-convention rates, but it's deeply irritating to be robbed of the chance. Definitely unhappy with this development.

 

[MNblockhead]

Alex is posting about it on the Gamehole Facebook page. They had directed Visit Madison to open at noon but the portal opened it early.

Yeah, I saw that on Discord. Usually I try to access these kinds of sites early because often the third-party entity operating them doesn't stick strictly to the schedule. Didn't this time, lesson learned.

 

[MNblockhead]

I wasn't able to be there when rooms were (supposed to go) on sale, but the group I usually go with had no luck, thanks to the early snafu. GHC Discord is full of understandably irate and disappointed people who are now left scrambling. GHC says it's Visit Madison's fault and they're in touch with them, but it looks like the damage is done. Push comes to shove, we can get something a little further away or just pay the non-convention rates, but it's deeply irritating to be robbed of the chance. Definitely unhappy with this development.

Yeah, I was upset, but after reading the discussion on Discord, it is clear that it is not the Con organizers fault. I suppose they could have sent out an e-mail as soon as they learned about it, but I'm not sure how early the portal opened and how long it was open before the con organizers knew about it.

It's not such a huge deal with this con, because even the close hotels are a bit of a walk and people carrying a lot of stuff to run games or take back purchases often end up driving anyway. Parking should not be an issue, especially with the increased amount of parking, so finding a hotel a bit of a drive away isn't that inconvenient and will save a lot of money.

I stayed at the Fairfield Inn last year and, really, it would have been more convenient to drive. I liked the walk in the evening, but it wasn't very convenient in the morning. It would be the same with the other hotels on the other side of John Nolen Drive (the Holiday Inn Express and Sheraton). Of the 7 hotels that were sold out by noon, only 4 are a reasonable walk. I was able to get a room in the Home2 Suites by Hilton, by calling them directly. Its more expensive but it is the easiest walking distance and, more importantly, the run some gaming events at that hotel. Otherwise, if I hadn't been able to get a room at that hotel, I would have looked for a hotel a little further. You can get rooms at budget hotels not listed on the housing portal that are only a 5-10 minute drive (Valued Stay, AmericInn, Wyndham Garden, Baymount, Quality Inn, etc.)