extortionate hotels
I'm trying to find a hotel for WWDC. The hotel selection depends on a few things..the first two being availability and price..then things like free wifi and a pool and how far away from Moscone West it is. And of course, whether or not both me and one of my friends get the WWDC student scholarship, because it determines how long I can stay and how much I can pay. Best situation is if we both go, then I can stay longer because sharing a room makes it cheap. Worst situation is if my friend can't go and I don't get the scholarship (waitlisted etc.) because I'll have to split an ADC premiere membership with the .org I do work for (more them, not so much me but it's still something), which means shorter and/or more expensive stay and not as much fun, or that I don't split the pricey membership and go to JavaOne and Maker Faire at the same time a month earlier, which will be cheaper hotel and conference-wise but which will sort of wreak havoc on my schedule given it's in like half a month.
Except Apple hasn't emailed us yet about who gets one and who gets waitlisted.
Anyway, I figured I would look at hotels now just to see what the situation is like to assume it will only get worse as a few hundred more students get their acceptance emails and more people finally get around to deciding to go. I want to stay at the new InterContinental San Francisco, which is right flipping next to Moscone West. Like, last year's WWDC they were still building that shit and I walked past it every day in the morning cause I stayed at the Pickwick which is sorta next to the new hotel. Brand new. Look at the prices.
Okay, this screenshot is from Travelocity, but pretty much every website with a similar feature for flexible dates will show you the same prices for the same hotel on the same dates.
What the fuck is that? The price goes from $152 (amazing) to $206 (acceptable for two people or a shorter stay) before I want to check in. Then the weekend I want to check in is not available. Then that week goes from $233 to $494. Yes, four hundred and ninety-four dollars. And then falls down to $170. And obviously just to piss me off the pricing is only ridiculous around WWDC and not around any other time if there are any even available.
To top that off all the hotels I would stay at are also doing the same pricing stupidity (maybe it's a matter of timing?) or they don't have rooms available. What the hell?! Not THAT many people go to WWDC that all the nearby hotels would be swamped like that (that's probably tens of thousands of classy hotel rooms right there around soma/union squareish on top of even more cheaper ones and the hostels), even if you assume all the people living close enough would not commute from their homes. Is there anything else going on at that same time that it's like this or what?! I try to look at rates for the dates with no rates...and Travelocity spits out something about a $500+/night room rate while other sites like Expedia just will not let me even attempt to book a room.
This is so depressing.
Except Apple hasn't emailed us yet about who gets one and who gets waitlisted.
Anyway, I figured I would look at hotels now just to see what the situation is like to assume it will only get worse as a few hundred more students get their acceptance emails and more people finally get around to deciding to go. I want to stay at the new InterContinental San Francisco, which is right flipping next to Moscone West. Like, last year's WWDC they were still building that shit and I walked past it every day in the morning cause I stayed at the Pickwick which is sorta next to the new hotel. Brand new. Look at the prices.
Okay, this screenshot is from Travelocity, but pretty much every website with a similar feature for flexible dates will show you the same prices for the same hotel on the same dates.
What the fuck is that? The price goes from $152 (amazing) to $206 (acceptable for two people or a shorter stay) before I want to check in. Then the weekend I want to check in is not available. Then that week goes from $233 to $494. Yes, four hundred and ninety-four dollars. And then falls down to $170. And obviously just to piss me off the pricing is only ridiculous around WWDC and not around any other time if there are any even available.
To top that off all the hotels I would stay at are also doing the same pricing stupidity (maybe it's a matter of timing?) or they don't have rooms available. What the hell?! Not THAT many people go to WWDC that all the nearby hotels would be swamped like that (that's probably tens of thousands of classy hotel rooms right there around soma/union squareish on top of even more cheaper ones and the hostels), even if you assume all the people living close enough would not commute from their homes. Is there anything else going on at that same time that it's like this or what?! I try to look at rates for the dates with no rates...and Travelocity spits out something about a $500+/night room rate while other sites like Expedia just will not let me even attempt to book a room.
This is so depressing.