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Conference Housing Secured
Mar. 22nd, 2007 05:01 pmYesterday I finally got around to starting to work on actually reserving a place to stay in Galveston. My conference is next week, so I am an idiot. But somehow I had it in my head that if necessary I could probably just drive around and find some place to stay. And if this turns out to be the biggest Galveston party week of the year, Houston is in easy driving distance and is huge.
I was really dreading doing this, and I'm not sure why. I always think of hostels as "youth hostels," and I am not a youth; therefore I am an infiltrator. And you can't make reservations online at the hostel, you have to call them. Long distance. And then you have to ask them for favors. And what if no one's there except while I'm at work?
Let me just repeat that I'm an idiot.
But things totally worked out for me. I called from home using an ordinary everyday phone. A perfectly comprehensible human being answered the phone.
"Sandpiper Hotel."
That doesn't sound like "International Hostel Galveston" but I remembered reading that the hostel was located in a hotel, and this name sounded familiar.
"I'm calling for the International Hostel."
"Please hold."
"No problem."
The same voice came back. "Hello."
That's it? No explanation? "Um, I'm calling for the International Hostel."
"This is." Oh. Guess it's not the same voice after all.
So, it turned out they still had beds available. For all three nights. They are still $18.50 + tax = $21.28 per night plus a $5 room key deposit. An annual membership is also required. My hint that I would like to negotiate this price led to a comparison price for the hotel part of the place: $59 per night. And you get two gigantic beds all to yourself. But you don't have access to the common room, refrigerator, free washer and dryer, etc. It was only $30 anyway, no big deal.
So the total price for three nights comes to $93.84, which is totally, totally awesome. The hotel at the conference is something like $129 per night.
I said that in the olden days you had to bring your own sheets to hostels, but I got the idea that wasn't required at this place. I asked if there was anything I should bring that I might not think about.
So I got to learn that you have to bring your own laundry detergent. Hee hee! And the cheapest grocery store is just eight blocks away, although if you are feeling lazy there is also a drug store right across the street which has two aisles of groceries and some of the groceries are even the same price as at the grocery store. There are eight beds per room, but usually there are only one or two people per room.
I love this place! (Opinion completely subject to change once I am actually there.)
After that call I was pretty much skipping around the house. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was supposed to be being responsible and calling and finding out if the hostel would really be a reasonable choice and then making some kind of reservation and now it is all done!
I don't know why I was dreading it so much. It was totally easy and even fun. There's no reason to fear calling service people anyway. It's their job to be nice to you. And they're so used to dealing with wiener heads that it's not even that hard for them to be nice to me. (Yes, I know not all service people are nice, but if you haven't given them any money yet, you can just hang up on them and move on. Calling one is really not something to dread and put off starting for several weeks or months.)
Journal entry of the day: Indigo Rose's Why I love my massage therapist way more than my doctor - It's partly because she is very good friends with her massage therapist, but it's an interesting comparison anyway. For example, doctor: "He told me that my symptoms meant I was unlikely to have a concussion." Massage therapist: "Duane told me that [my persistent headache] is not my usual stress or tension related headache. He pointed out a bruise forming on my temple (another?!) and said that this headache is going to require me to heal, not me to relax. He suggested that I wait another week or two before becoming worried. This is really handy information, since it means I don't waste my time thinking I've tensed up again and instead just take a painkiller."
I was really dreading doing this, and I'm not sure why. I always think of hostels as "youth hostels," and I am not a youth; therefore I am an infiltrator. And you can't make reservations online at the hostel, you have to call them. Long distance. And then you have to ask them for favors. And what if no one's there except while I'm at work?
Let me just repeat that I'm an idiot.
But things totally worked out for me. I called from home using an ordinary everyday phone. A perfectly comprehensible human being answered the phone.
"Sandpiper Hotel."
That doesn't sound like "International Hostel Galveston" but I remembered reading that the hostel was located in a hotel, and this name sounded familiar.
"I'm calling for the International Hostel."
"Please hold."
"No problem."
The same voice came back. "Hello."
That's it? No explanation? "Um, I'm calling for the International Hostel."
"This is." Oh. Guess it's not the same voice after all.
So, it turned out they still had beds available. For all three nights. They are still $18.50 + tax = $21.28 per night plus a $5 room key deposit. An annual membership is also required. My hint that I would like to negotiate this price led to a comparison price for the hotel part of the place: $59 per night. And you get two gigantic beds all to yourself. But you don't have access to the common room, refrigerator, free washer and dryer, etc. It was only $30 anyway, no big deal.
So the total price for three nights comes to $93.84, which is totally, totally awesome. The hotel at the conference is something like $129 per night.
I said that in the olden days you had to bring your own sheets to hostels, but I got the idea that wasn't required at this place. I asked if there was anything I should bring that I might not think about.
So I got to learn that you have to bring your own laundry detergent. Hee hee! And the cheapest grocery store is just eight blocks away, although if you are feeling lazy there is also a drug store right across the street which has two aisles of groceries and some of the groceries are even the same price as at the grocery store. There are eight beds per room, but usually there are only one or two people per room.
I love this place! (Opinion completely subject to change once I am actually there.)
After that call I was pretty much skipping around the house. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was supposed to be being responsible and calling and finding out if the hostel would really be a reasonable choice and then making some kind of reservation and now it is all done!
I don't know why I was dreading it so much. It was totally easy and even fun. There's no reason to fear calling service people anyway. It's their job to be nice to you. And they're so used to dealing with wiener heads that it's not even that hard for them to be nice to me. (Yes, I know not all service people are nice, but if you haven't given them any money yet, you can just hang up on them and move on. Calling one is really not something to dread and put off starting for several weeks or months.)
Journal entry of the day: Indigo Rose's Why I love my massage therapist way more than my doctor - It's partly because she is very good friends with her massage therapist, but it's an interesting comparison anyway. For example, doctor: "He told me that my symptoms meant I was unlikely to have a concussion." Massage therapist: "Duane told me that [my persistent headache] is not my usual stress or tension related headache. He pointed out a bruise forming on my temple (another?!) and said that this headache is going to require me to heal, not me to relax. He suggested that I wait another week or two before becoming worried. This is really handy information, since it means I don't waste my time thinking I've tensed up again and instead just take a painkiller."