We have a hotel update today from the head of the Sacramento WMA 2011 organizing committee and he says that he met with all the official hotels this week and advises that there is availability in all of them, although it was my understanding that the Larkspur Hotel was sold out. That is the hotel which is the closest to the track and I think that we should assume that it is sold out.

HOTEL AVAILABILITY: Two important points from his update message:

1. To date, 252 dormitory reservations have been taken and only 25% of those are Americans, so while I do not know what the total number of available dormitory rooms is, I expect that the dormitory space will sell out quickly.

2. While there IS hotel availability in all or most of the official hotels, large groups may have difficulty getting a large group into a single hotel, so if you are part of a large group and you delay much longer in making reservations, you may have difficulties.

AMERICAN GATHERING PLACE: I had an e-mail from a member of the masters committee sometime after convention asking if we could find a room near the track for an American gathering place. It is my understanding that there are no free rooms available at or near the track for any purpose and I do not know if there are rental rooms available. Even if there are rental facilities available, I have no idea who would pay for them.

Athletes will be spread out over a number of hotels...there are at least 24 official hotels in three major hotel areas and many athletes are staying in non-official hotels, as well. Therefore, with the possible exception of the downtown area, there is little likelihood that athletes will "run into" each other while walking about or hanging out, once they have left the athletic facilities. This is not a complaint...just an advisement as to what to expect and it is not unlike many of the recent meets which we have recently attended. Particularly without a central hotel area and/or pedestrian area, this is the situation. So you might want to book with your friends in small or large groups to ensure that you see friendly faces. Some of you who stayed at the Doubletree Hotel for the US championships, might want to consider staying there again and getting some of your fellow Americans to join you.

The head of the organizing committee will be in Albuquerque at our US championships and will be available to answer questions on hotels or anything else.

Marilyn Mitchell
WMA Organizational Committee