Worldcon in France team member Alex S. Garcia has announced the proposed venue for the 2023 con is in the city of Nice, in the south of France — the city’s main convention center, The Acropolis.
The Acropolis is located in the heart of the city, very close to the old town and to a large selection of hotels and restaurants. By 2023, it will be easily accessed by a tram line from the airport.
Garcia says the team will be making presentations at Smofcon, and next year at the Worldcon in Helsinki.
They are accepting pre-supporting memberships. The rates are:
- Level 1 : $20 / 15€
- Level 2 : $50 / 40€
- Level 3 : $100 / 80€
If France in 2023 wins, the cost of presupports will be deduced from convention memberships.
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
I wonder how expensive rooms will be in a resort city.
Chip has a point, especially if the dates are in the European summer vacation, which Worldcons generally are.
Also, great title.
IIRC, Winter is the busy season for most Mediterranean resorts. There could well be some decent deals in the summer heat.
Also, congrats to our host for making the pun I was too chicken to make when this got announced yesterday.
Sightseeing tip from the household historian: When I told him about the bid for the Nice convention center and added, “which for some reason is called the Acropolis”, he said it was probably because of the notable Greek and Roman ruins in and around the city. So there’s something to check out if you go.
Although one might think the logic would go the other way. Since we know the presupport prices, we might be able to deduce the convention membership price.
“Deducted”, one assumes. (I will appertain my beverage while following election results this evening.)
I’m hoping that we’ve turned the corner on US Worldcons being the default. Yes, greater international movement will change how people relate to Worldcon as an institution, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
@Mike
Unfortunately the French Riviera is still pretty busy in August. It isn’t as busy as some Med resorts in winter because the weather is cool enough that people aren’t going to be on the beach.
However I would imagine that the real expensive hotels will be along the front (La Promenade des Anglais). Prices will be a fair bit cheaper in Nice city centre near the convention centre. However those hotels are more likely to be smaller ones on the whole.
I would certainly want to talk to them to see if they expect any problem with total number of rooms taking into account the normal tourist trade.
The French Riviera sounds like a great place to be, and Worldcon would be a swell excuse.
BUT, as others have wondered, what about the hotel prices and availability?
lurkertype: as others have wondered, what about the hotel prices and availability?
I just tried booking a double room at the Ibis Nice Palais des Congres from 2017-08-16 to 2017-08-21 and got quoted 474.00 EUR (~$522 USD) for 5 nights with no discount applied — which seems pretty reasonable.
A lot of the hotels seem to be close to the water and possibly less affordable, though.
one view of nearby hotels
(mouse over the small red dots to see unlabelled hotels)
The school summer holidays (mid July through all of August) are the tourism peak; “cheap summer deals” aren’t a thing.
I don’t know whether it’s any pricier than any other popular parts of Europe during August though.
@JJ: $100/night is very reasonable. En suite plumbing nowadays, even.
@lurkertype
I would expect around $80 a night around the convention centre. Probably double that if you want to be in the swanky hotels on the sea-front.