Writer GoHs: Anne and
Todd McCaffrey

Artist GoH: Barclay Shaw

Fan Guest: Gary S. Blog

Albacon

October 10 - 12

            2008

  1. Home
  2. Registration
  3. Hotel
  4. Guests / Panelists
  5. Events
  6. Dealers
  7. Art Show
  8. Albakids
  9. About & Contact
  10. Sitemap

Hotel

Albacon 2008 will be held at the Crowne Plaza Albany City Center where we have been in 2004, 2005, and 2006. See the Reservations section below for information about reserving a hotel room for Albacon. Make sure to reserve your rooms early to take advantage of our cookie offer (see the Cookies section below). If you are planning a host a party at Albacon, please take a look at the Parties section below.

Directions

You can access directions to and maps of the hotel at this url: http://www.cpalbany.com/directions2.htm

Additional maps and street-view photo collage can be accessed at Google.com.

Pickup (and bus, plane, and train info)

The Crowne offers pickup from the Amtrak train station and the airport; committee members are investigating whether pickup from and dropoff to the central bus station, (34 Hamilton St, Albany, NY, served by Greyhound and Trailways of New York) will be available. The Greyhound page lists stations in the Albany area.

Albany International Airport (ALB)

Rensselaer Train Station

Rates

The room rate for Albacon will be changing just as the membership rate does, with time. The earlier you reserve your room, the cheaper it will be. All standard rooms (single/double/triple/quad) are the same rate.

Room rates before March 31, 2008:               $109
Room rates Before September 10, 2008:        $119
After September 10, 2008:       Room block closed

Once the room block closes on September 10, 2008 (at 3PM), Albacon no longer has any guaranteed rooms. If the hotel has available rooms, our attendees may reserve them at the Albacon rate. Some years the hotel has sold out by our cutoff, others there have been rooms available. To insure that you get a room, make sure you make your reservation by the cutoff date.

Reservations

The Crowne Plaza is now accepting room reservations for Albacon. To make a reservation and get the Albacon rate, follow this link to the Crowne Plaza website. Enter check in date of 10/10/2008 or 10/11/2008 and a check out date of 10/11/2008 or 10/12/2008. If you want to arrive earlier or stay later we can do that at the same rate, but the only dates that the on line system knows about are the above listed dates. Use a Group Code of "ABO". To extend the reservation earlier or later, once you make a reservation for the above dates, then email us (hotel@albacon.org) with your name, email address, reservation number, and the dates you wish to check in and check out. We'll extend your reservation and send you a confirmation via email within a week.

Parking
When you make your reservation, the hotel's website will list a charge for parking. Albacon attendees get free parking at the hotel (unless you choose to use the Valet service). When you park your car in the hotel's attached garage, keep the entry ticket with you. We will have validation stickers at Albacon Registration and Information. The hotel should not charge you for parking when you check in, and when they have in the past, they have always reversed the charge when asked.

Parties

Just as we did in 2006, we are having a dedicated Party Block. This enables us to keep noise issues to a minimum, limit access to the Parties to Albacon attendees, and have a much better party experience for members, as all the parties will be very close together. In 2006 this was very successful, but in order for it to succeed, we need to know if you are planning a party so that we can insure that your room is in the Party Block. So, if you are planning to hold a party at Albacon 2008, please email us at hotel@albacon.org at least two weeks before the convention (earlier if possible). Any parties not located in the Party Block will be shut down.

Cookies

At the very first Albacon, if you registered in advance for the convention, we gave you a box of a local Albany favorite, Freihofer's Chocolate Chip Cookies. This year, if you make your hotel reservation before April 1, 2008, there will be a box of Freihofer's Chocolate Chip Cookies waiting for you at Albacon. If you are staying four or more nights at our hotel for Albacon, there will be a box of Freihofer's Chocolate Chip Cookies waiting for you. If you make your reservation for four or more nights before April 1, 2008, then there will be two boxes of Freihofer's Chocolate Chip Cookies waiting for you. Watch this space for instructions once our hotel room block opens.