klezman wrote: I was looking forward to meeting your son too!

He doesn't know we cancelled yet, but I think he probably needed a bit of help from us to do this (although he's doing pretty well on his own!), so we just had to say no. I have a lot $ worth of listings for sale, but not enough (serious) buyers...

Same old song in these parts. We'll miss all of you terribly. Have fun.

TOP...maybe luck will change a bit!

cheron98 wrote:Question: For the Group Rate, is there a special code or something that we can put in to reserve rooms online or must we call them?

I think you will need to call them.

woopdedoo wrote:I think you will need to call them.

You mean, like, on the telephone? Who knew people still booked that way....

bsevern wrote:Just curious, if we have a larger bus, and more folks going, did the cost of the tour go down, or was it mitigated by the expense of a larger bus?

Thanks for all the effort putting this together, I can't wait to go!!!

The cost is just a pretty good estimate at this point - unlikely to be higher (especially for Tour #1). Wanted folks to have a ballpark.

gregorylane wrote:He doesn't know we cancelled yet, but I think he probably needed a bit of help from us to do this (although he's doing pretty well on his own!), so we just had to say no. I have a lot $ worth of listings for sale, but not enough (serious) buyers...

Same old song in these parts. We'll miss all of you terribly. Have fun.

Bummer - but ... maybe the market will come around in a couple of months and space will open up .. really hoping you can/could make it.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Also, I held out as long as I could, but I've become a proponent of PayPal, so perhaps Woop & RPM could use that for payments?

Can do that, I will just add in the transaction fee.

BTW - just noticed I had a bunch of PMs. Will get to them presently.

FYI - I was just able to book a room at the SVI for a fireplace King at the $169/nt group rate for July 24-26, so apparently there are still rooms available.

rpm wrote:You mean, like, on the telephone? Who knew people still booked that way....

telephone... what is this strange concept... ah well, i suppose a little human interaction won't kill HAK.

So, for those of you who've booked rooms already, are they asking for any form of prepayment or deposit at time of booking?

cheron98 wrote:So, for those of you who've booked rooms already, are they asking for any form of prepayment or deposit at time of booking?

I just gave them a CC number, which isn't charged until check-in. They have a 72-hour cancellation policy.

woopdedoo wrote:Can do that, I will just add in the transaction fee.

I believe if you send it as personal then there are no transaction fees.

txmusicman49 wrote:I just gave them a CC number, which isn't charged until check-in. They have a 72-hour cancellation policy.

They actually charge the first night as a deposit. Fully refundable before 72 hours

It looks like my +1 won't be coming (not certain yet, but that's the likely outcome). Anybody want to split a room? I'd rather not spend $500 on lodging

So question. What time do you think we'll be done in Wednesday? Trying to decide if I can head out Wednesday or need to spend one more night there. Thanks!

MarkDaSpark wrote:Guess RPM has been too busy to notice the overlap and update the list. I was going to say that puts Mother in ... except I think he posted he was busy the 23rd to the 25th.

Mother, is that still the case?

Yeah, unfortunately it is. My employer's big customer summit is those three days, and since it's in NYC this year I'm going to have lots of customers there.

I'm trying to figure out some way to do both, but I don't hold out much hope... I should know for sure in a few days.

CAGrl wrote:So question. What time do you think we'll be done in Wednesday? Trying to decide if I can head out Wednesday or need to spend one more night there. Thanks!

I think I drove out after the big post-tour dinner last time. It's certainly possible, but you may enjoy it more if you hang around. Especially since there will be two tours worth of people.

txmusicman49 wrote:FYI - I was just able to book a room at the SVI for a fireplace King at the $169/nt group rate for July 24-26, so apparently there are still rooms available.

Well apparently you got the only or last King available at the block rates. Either that, or the person you spoke to allowed it and the person I spoke to didn't. Since since the best she could offer me is $188/nt (279 for Fri). Whatever.

So I instead now have the double-Queen room booked for Cat & I. Guess we'll have a bed to put our suitcases on. It's not like we need a fireplace.

CAGrl wrote:So question. What time do you think we'll be done in Wednesday? Trying to decide if I can head out Wednesday or need to spend one more night there. Thanks!

Generally, our dinners have been over around 10-10:30 pm. Most Tourists seem to have enjoyed enough wine at dinner that driving off might not be a good idea. If you had some sort of non-drinking driver or public transportation laid on, it could work of course.

I think the dinners Wednesday night will be separate, since our joint dinner is Tuesday night. One of the tours will probably be in downtown Sonoma or environs Wednesday night for dinner, the other may be somewhere in Napa Valley for dinner.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Well apparently you got the only or last King available at the block rates. Either that, or the person you spoke to allowed it and the person I spoke to didn't. Since since the best she could offer me is $188/nt (279 for Fri). Whatever.

So I instead now have the double-Queen room booked for Cat & I. Guess we'll have a bed to put our suitcases on. It's not like we need a fireplace.

Perhaps some of the room-sharers who are not romantically involved (with each other) might swap with you and Cat - 'twould be a kind and noble gesture.

rpm wrote:Generally, our dinners have been over around 10-10:30 pm. Most Tourists seem to have enjoyed enough wine at dinner that driving off might not be a good idea. If you had some sort of non-drinking driver or public transportation laid on, it could work of course.

I think the dinners Wednesday night will be separate, since our joint dinner is Tuesday night. One of the tours will probably be in downtown Sonoma or environs Wednesday night for dinner, the other may be somewhere in Napa Valley for dinner.

Thanks. I'm gonna lean towards driving out that night then. Saves money and if I get a job between now and then, I might have to convince them to let me go on vacation so it might be easier to convince them that I can come in on Thursday.

klezman wrote:It looks like my +1 won't be coming (not certain yet, but that's the likely outcome). Anybody want to split a room? I'd rather not spend $500 on lodging

aha!

klezman wrote:It looks like my +1 won't be coming (not certain yet, but that's the likely outcome). Anybody want to split a room? I'd rather not spend $500 on lodging

I think I'm going to be in the same condition. Currently on the virgin list, but thinking about seeing if I can add the second as well... PM interest.

I know there's been some looking to split a room, but I don't remember who they were.... Any one looking to split a room on tour #1 would you please PM me?

woopdedoo wrote:Can do that, I will just add in the transaction fee.

Although, I believe if you specify personal, then there isn't any transaction fee to either party. Unless there's an limit on how much can be considered personal.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Although, I believe if you specify personal, then there isn't any transaction fee to either party. Unless there's an limit on how much can be considered personal.

Also, certain banks have methods of sending money just like PayPal (AllyBank has PopMoney, Chase has Person-to-Person QuickPay, etc). You enter the recipients name, email address, amount, date to send, & memo (if you want). The other person gets an email, they log in to enter their bank routing info (which you don't see) and then it gets deposited directly to their bank account.
I use the AllyBank one to send money to my dad all the time.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Although, I believe if you specify personal, then there isn't any transaction fee to either party. Unless there's an limit on how much can be considered personal.

Actually, I believe the way to avoid a transaction fee at either end is to specify having the funds come from your checking account. You might want to check on that.

Making some tentative plans, currently. Will probably come out earlier on Fri/Sat, fly into San Fran, stay the night (and have dinner at Michael Mina's or somewhere else on wooter's recommendations), then drive up to Napa the next day.

Ok, deposit made for one. RPM, please remove my +1 from the list to allow others in. If I know for sure she can come later, i'll try to get her in.

bsevern wrote:It has two queen beds, so if anyone wants to share a room, I'm game.

Itwdswafo wrote:I know there's been some looking to split a room, but I don't remember who they were.... Any one looking to split a room on tour #1 would you please PM me?

There, I helped you out.

Itwdswafo wrote:I know there's been some looking to split a room, but I don't remember who they were.... Any one looking to split a room on tour #1 would you please PM me?

I'd be up for a split, just sent you a PM (click the envelope next to your name for the PMs).

MarkDaSpark wrote:Although, I believe if you specify personal, then there isn't any transaction fee to either party. Unless there's an limit on how much can be considered personal.

It's the "gift" option that won't charge a fee.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:There, I helped you out.

Danke!

txmusicman49 wrote:I just gave them a CC number, which isn't charged until check-in. They have a 72-hour cancellation policy.

They told me they will charge the first night, and I checked my bank account online and sure enough, they do. I'm a little surprised, I thought in California it wasn't legal to charge a credit card for something that was more then 30 days out....but hotels may have a loop-pole....I dunno.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:There, I helped you out.

Thanks, I knew someone would find it

woop--sent you a PM for your contact info.

Late to the party, but my +1 and I would love to do Tour 1 (or 2, with instructor permission). We are free on those dates and can have our deposits in on time.

woop - I sent you a PM as well. Thanks!

Woop - I also sent you a PM

Woop, yet another PM for you to tend to...