A new home in Walnut Creek

Hello all,

First off, many thanks for all your support. I got a flood of emails, tweets, and personal calls from folks who wanted to help us find a new home. And it worked!

We've been talking with the Walnut Creek Marriott and it looks like they could be our new home for 2016 and on! I toured the hotel and loved it.

The Perks

• It's very close to BART. A 10-minute walk or a call to the hotel for a shuttle will get you there fast.
• The space is just beautiful. See the pictures below. It's a open floor plan with tons of little nooks for socializing. We've got board rooms big and small that can be partitioned off as needed, and with cool service passages between them, aka Jefferies tubes.
• The bathrooms in the gaming areas are all ours! They will be all-gender access for the duration of the con.
• 4,000 additional square feet including room for an exciting new addition to the con, to be announced soon!
• 20 private game rooms--up from 18 at the Hilton last year.
• Food! So many food options. In addition to the hotel's own breakfast buffet, there are a dozen restaurants within a few blocks, and over 100 within a 3 mile radius. Even better, the complimentary hotel shuttle will drive you to any of them. I found a place 100 feet from the door that serves up a tasty breakfast burrito for $4.50. Not bad!
• The hotel is willing to draft a contract for 2016 as well as hold the space for 2017 so there would be no surprise increases next year.
• A full bar in the lobby, open from 11AM to midnight.
• Free Wi-Fi for all guests.

Here's what it will cost us. For the attendees:

• Reduced room rates for con attendees at $129/night.
• Parking is $10/day. That's been negotiated down from their standard $23 daily fee. It's also valet parking, so you don't have to hunt for a spot!

For the con:

• The space is roughly $3,500 more than the Hilton was. This is dramatically lower than quotes from other Bay Area hotels, and it includes more space and 20 private gaming rooms, so we're getting more out of it!

Pictures

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What do you think? Should this be our new home? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter, Facebook, or email thewolf at bigbadcon dot com.