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Mike Glyer's news of science fiction fandom
Filers and all the world.
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Hampus, I’m looking at the times quoted on Worldcon75’s Hotels page — which I would hope have been determined by Helsinkians, and are therefore reasonably accurate.
@Aaron, I tried to leave a comment on your blog too.
30-60 minutes twice a day to get to and from hotel/con? I don’t remember hearing this at any of their bid parties. That’s going to mean the 5-2-1 rule is going to be even harder to keep. Seems to me getting an Airbnb out on the fringes of town would be not only cheaper but much more convenient. Even if the transport passes are free, time isn’t.
This will not be a problem in San Jose. The hotels are all very close walking distance (even fannish walking distance, not European walking distance) to the con, particularly the one that’s attached to the convention center. You could still take the trolley about one stop if you want, I guess. 🙂
@Cora: Can’t you reserve the hotel room now and then adjust or cancel your reservation later? That’s what I do with hotel rooms, or don’t they allow that in socialist hellholes 😉 over there?
I dunno. If I’m going to have cattle, I want a suite. Even one cow is pretty big for a hotel room, even if it’s only a 12 euro cow. And I bet you can’t even take your cattle on public transit, which means they’ll get bored all day in the room by themselves and start tearing up the carpet and breaking into the minibar.
JJ:
Looking at them now and can see one for 45 min, otherwise none above 35 min. Plenty around 25 min. And one single with walking distance.
That is what I thought, so I booked the Airbnb closest to the Exhibition Centre. Be sure to use the Journey Planner I linked to to see how public transportation is from that place (or just mail with those having the apartment).
Here is the map of public transport, showing the exhibition centre and what public transportation goes from there (the exhibition centre is the one in the middle named Messukeskus / Mässcentrum).
http://linjakartta.reittiopas.fi/en/#?x=2552110.7320708&y=6676957.9923117&mapview=map&zoom=6&popup=false
The light green dots are train, the dark green are tram and the blue are bus. As you see, there are stations every where around the centre with transport coming from all directions. Helsinki is partially dual language (finish and swedish), so I think I could help if it is needed.
@lurkertype:
Better still, a mere 35 km bicycle ride from my house. ;->
But yes, you’re right, Worldcon 76’s probable convention hotels are very close to McEnery Convention Center including the lovely old Sainte Claire Hotel (now going under the name Westin San Jose). Others including relatively cheap motels are a short distance north up the very convenient First Street light-rail line.
According to Helsinki’s bid site FAQ, the actual distance and travel times from the convention center is pretty much completely glossed-over (the longest travel time mentioned is 5 min). They make a huge deal out of the onsite hotel, but don’t mention that only members with accessibility needs will have access to rooms there. (I’m very glad that onsite rooms have been set aside for those who need them — but I’m not terribly impressed that the bid FAQ conspicuously fails to mention that this hotel’s rooms will not be available to the general membership.)
And it sounds as though they are planning to have the evening parties in the convention center, which 1) worked SO well at MAC II 😐 , and 2) means 2 round-trip journeys every day, if you want to go home, shower, and change clothes between the afternoon and the evening.
Cheaper alternatives for Helsinki:
Cheap Sleep Hostel which is a few minutes tram ride away.
Hotell AVA, 10 minutes with walk and tram.
Important thing to note: What WorldCon 75 has done is negotiate discounts with the largest hotel chains in Helsinki. This does not mean that they are the cheapest hotels or the ones closest to transport. Only that they are the biggest chains.
Do check out other hotels close to railway station like Omena Hotel Helsinki City Centre or Omena Hotel Helsinki Lönnrotinkatu and see if you can get cheaper prices there if price is an issue.
Heads to booking.com…
Finds the CheapSleep place coming up. Booked.
The Flow Festival will be in Helsinki at the same time as WorldCon. No idea what bands will play, but there was a good line up this year.
Please note that in many cities in Europe convention centers are usually not in city centers and there may not be as many close convention hotels due to space limitations. Personally I guess I’m just use to the idea of using public transportation to getting from the hotel to the convention center. I also prefer to be able to see some sights and not only the convention/conference location while I’m visiting a new city. Of course that means that you need to take the travel time into account.
As for Helsinki Worldcon bid, they did not hide the fact that you would need to use public transportation to get to the Exhibition Center (if you don’t have a car). Personally, I think it’s great that City of Helsinki will give all attendees a free transportation pass. That’s a really good deal! (It’ll be valid only within Helsinki city limits. If you need to travel to or from neighboring cities of Vantaa or Espoo that together with Helsinki make up the Helsinki metropolitan area, you’ll need to buy separate tickets. The Helsinki Airport is actually located in Vantaa and there are both train and bus connections to Helsinki city center. )
The Holiday Inn at the Messukeskus Exhibition Center is not a very large hotel (I’ve stayed there a couple of times). I think they made a right call to reserve it for those attendees who really have problems getting around because otherwise it could have been a bit of a mad dash when people started making reservations there…
Many hotels in Helsinki city center are within 5-10 minutes walk from the main train station that has many frequent connections to the Pasila train station (about 5 min by train) and then it is just a few minutes walk to the Messukeskus Exhibition Center from Pasila train station. I think that 15-25 minutes travel times are reasonable.
@Lee and @lurkertype: I have all comments sent to moderation. I’ve had issues in the past with Puppy hangers on (including a particular Marmot) leaving vile messages. Rather than let them sit until I can delete them, I moderate them first. Both your comments should be visible now.
Terhi: Please note that in many cities in Europe convention centers are usually not in city centers and there may not be as many close convention hotels due to space limitations. Personally I guess I’m just use to the idea of using public transportation to getting from the hotel to the convention center. I also prefer to be able to see some sights and not only the convention/conference location while I’m visiting a new city. Of course that means that you need to take the travel time into account.
The point that I (and probably some others here) am implicitly making is that attendees can expect to spend 1-2 hours on a round trip to the convention center. If they go back to their hotel in the afternoon to shower and change before the parties, they will spend another 1-2 hours on a round trip to the convention center. So attendees are looking at between 1 and 4 hours a day just on travel time. This is a pretty large time cost for a Worldcon, where most of the time hotels are typically within a few blocks of the actual convention.
Absolutely, the free mass transit passes are a wonderful plus. However, if they only last for the duration of the convention, many (if not most) people will want to be spending much of their time at the con and will be doing their sightseeing in the days before the convention starts, or after it ends — in which case, the free passes won’t be much help for touristing.
I am considering taking the lodger’s Brompton. But going anywhere without a bike just feels weird.
Mark Gerrits on Twitter has linked to a Google Map he made of all the Worldcon75 hotels in relation to the convention center.
Just to plug Dublin 2019 – the Convention Centre is in the city centre and there are several fairly close hotels (hostels and rentable student accomodation a bit further).
It would be pretty cool if someone were to hire the Jeanie Johnston for a party. Seen here with the CC in the background.
@JJ
I think you’re overestimating the travel times. I made a couple of travel plans using HSL Journey Planner and I got travel time estimates from 35 to 38 minutes from three hotels which are not in the city center and might take a bit more time (Radisson Blu Seaside, Scandic Grand Marina in Katajanokka and Holiday Inn City West in Ruoholahti. The last one is not among those that have negotiated room rates at this time.)
Of course this depends how fast you walk to metro or tram stop and how well you minimize your waiting time, but in these cases 40-45 minutes is maximum. If you’re in a hurry you could share cab ride (a bit expensive) but during rush hour that might not be any faster.
Also, I just noticed that the HSL journey planner is a bit misleading in that it always prioritizes the nearest tram or bus route even when it would be faster to walk (or take a tram or metro/underground) to the main train station and get a train to Pasila from where. The train connection is faster and less prone to disruptions than trams. (At least during summer. Winter is a different matter…)
I agree that if you plan on getting back to the hotel and changing before parties or evening activities, it’ll be a bit of a hassle but not unusual in my experience. Speaking from experience of attending many, many conferences and conventions both in US and Europe.
The thing about the transportation passes is that you anyway save money that you can then use on your possible sight seeing days. One day travel pass for Helsinki public transportation costs 8 € and for regional travel (including e.g. Vantaa) it’s 12 € this year. That’s not bad. (The fares may rise next year.)
There is also Helsinki Card that in addition to free public transport includes other things e.g. entrance to many museums etc.
I hope this helps.
Terhi: I think you’re overestimating the travel times. I made a couple of travel plans using HSL Journey Planner and I got travel time estimates from 35 to 38 minutes from three hotels which are not in the city center and might take a bit more time… but in these cases 40-45 minutes is maximum.
So 2 round trips to the convention center a day would take between 2.5 and 3 hours. This is a big time cost for a Worldcon day. To give you an idea of why I say that this is a big deal, Worldcon attendees are generally accustomed to having a 2 to 10 minute walk (and no transport expenses) to the con from their hotel. It’s not usually a big deal to pop back to your room for a rest, or a clothes change, during the day. In Helsinki, that won’t really be an option.
Also note that attendees aren’t going to have any idea whether the directions the Journey Planner gives them are the quickest or most efficient — they’re just going to follow those directions.
Of course, for some people this will be no big deal. For others, it will be a deal-breaker. While the Worldcon75 bid may not exactly have hidden this information from Worldcon members, it certainly was not upfront about it, either. Most people, like me, would have taken the FAQ on good faith, and might have reacted quite differently if the bidcom had openly said “most hotels will be at least a half-hour trip away from the convention center”.
@JJ
Most of the hotels will be considerably less than half an hour trip from the convention center. I’d estimate 15-22 minutes. I’d say the deal breaker for most people will be if they even can afford to travel to Helsinki and pay for the accommodation in the first place.
Journey Planner: It’s good to play around with the different methods of transportation (leave out tram and bus for instance).
But, hey, Worldcon 75 will be a bit different and it will be truly a *World*con! I say, if you have time and can afford it, please come to Helsinki and see what you can discover in this rather unique part of the world!
Terhi: Most of the hotels will be considerably less than half an hour trip from the convention center. I’d estimate 15-22 minutes
Would you be willing to post a list of some of those hotels for people interested in going to Helsinki? The Original Sokos Hotel Pasila is 15 min walk or 5 min by tram, the Hotelli AVA is 11 min by walking/tram combo, and the Hotelli Cumulus Kallio Helsinki is 16 min by walking/tram combo, but I haven’t been able to find any other hotels less than 25 minutes away.
Hotel distances: This really is normal for a Worldcon outside North America. As Terhi says, the big cluster of hotels right around a big conference facility is not generally a thing in the rest of the world. I went to the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow and the 2007 one in Yokohama, and in both cases staying at an affordable hotel meant being a couple of subway stops away from the main convention facility.
I expect the bid committee did not so much deliberately hide the information as assume that most site selection voters already knew it would be part of the deal. (This may even have been a correct assumption, as voters would skew toward long-time Worldcon attendees, who are more likely to have past experience with non-NA locations even if they live in NA, and Helsinki voters in particular would skew toward Europeans, who would know what’s customary in Europe.)
Tor.com Publishing pointed out that it was their 1 year anniversary yesterday, having pumped out 30-odd novellas. I’ve been following their output with interest ever since their initial half-dozen proved to be such high-quality. I make it 31 novellas published (plus one novel), and I’m at 21 read (+1 tbr). Of those, I reckon there are maybe about 8 that I’d rec with heartfelt enthusiasm, 2 or 3 that I found deeply meh, and the rest of a consistently good quality. More than that, it’s an easy way to try new authors or get something a bit different from an established one.
It’ll be interesting to see if anyone makes a play for this sort of market. I could see Baen leveraging their existing stable of authors rather successfully, for example.
Helsinki’s travel times from their hotels to the convention center appear to me to be similar to those for most of the people attending the 2015 Worldcon in Glasgow, which was similarly spread out. (There were two medium hotels on site, some dorm-style housing about a 1 km walk away — that’s where I stayed — and everything else was a train ride to the city center.) Worse, the train stop where much of the nighttime action happened was closed on Sunday, and thus the convention had to lay on shuttle buses for that day only. (That shouldn’t be an issue in Helsinki.)
In London, I had a similar roughly 1 km walk (almost half of which was inside the convention centre) to get from my hotel (the Crowne Plaza) to where most of the convention was happening. Yes, I got blisters on my feet from the walks.
So while this is inconvenient, it’s about the same amount of inconvenience as any European Worldcon is likely to be. About the only way to avoid this sort of inconvenience is to only select American Worldcon sites, and then only those with mega hotels attached to convention centers. This significantly reduces the pool of available sites.
JJ on September 2, 2016 at 1:20 am said:
But in fact it worked pretty well in London. It’s not the concept; it’s the execution. And given that the person who was in charge of the London execution of the concept is a senior member of the Helsinki committee, I expect it to work out better there than it did in Kansas City.
As Terhi, Petrea and others said, here in Europe convention centres are always outside the cities and only have one or two hotels directly attached to the convention centre. The layout of European cities mostly does not allow for building big convention centres inside the city centres. And there normally aren’t that many hotels directly at the convention centre, because not a lot of people are staying there when there is no convention going on.
In my home town, the convention centre is fairly close to the city centre, but it’s still a 5 minute walk to the nearest hotel and 10 to 15 minutes to the city centre. This is normal and Europeans are used to transit times, when attending conventions and conferences. Plus, convention centres are usually well connected via public transport, taxis are easily available for those who prefer them.
Agree with all above, convention centres are seldom in the city in Europe and even if there are hotels close (in Stockholm we have four hotels around), there will be a larger walking distance than say MAC2.
But the train to the exhibition centre in Helsinki is fast. That and a short walk should be around 25 min for most hotels as mentioned by the WorldCon 75 website. And that is not unusual for Europe.
@Mark
I’ve written 24 reviews for Tor.com novellas, of which I recommended 9, which is almost twice the average amount. They’re definitely doing something right.
Going back a bit, speaking of _Castle Hangnail_, I see in _Ansible_ that it won the Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Fantasy. Congratulations to our Wombat! And congratulations to Naomi Novik, who won the Adult Fantasy award for _Uprooted_.
N.B. I tried to italicize the titles, but my tablet insisted on shoving a Cut/Copy/Paste bar right over the italic button, and wouldn’t move it. I tried clicking copy in hopes it would go away, and it did, but so did my highlight. Grr. Also my autocorrect is making my blood pressure go up. Grump.
@jonesnori/Lenore Jones:
That happens on my phone, usually when I’m trying to highlight text to add a hyperlink. What has worked for me is to hard-return the selected text down to the middle of the entry box so there’s enough blank space above it for the cut/copy/paste dialog to sit there instead of encroach on the formatting buttons.
Post-apocalyptic ants! What happens when an ant colony establishes itself inside a Cold War nuclear bunker?
Ok, as a public service I did some journey planning from different hotels around Helsinki city center. I used HSL Journey Planner.
I may have underestimated some walking distances but since I’m a relatively fast walker but distorted my thinking a bit.
According to the HSL Journey Planner, Pasila train station is about 600 m from Messukeskus main entrance but I think it’s perhaps less than that (I think this takes into account that you may end up walking a longer distance on the train station platform before you can get to the street).
When taking a train you may end up walking a bit more but it is usually still faster.
The tram stop is only 100 m from Messukeskus (the stop is called Messukeskus). Tram lines 7A, 7B and 9 run from the city center to Messukeskus.
If the hotel is near a tram stop for lines 7A, 7B or 9, you might need to walk shorter distances but tram is usually slower than train.
Bus stop for bus #69 is next to the Pasila train station, 400 m walk to Messukeskus (according to the HSL Journey Planner).
(800 m = half a mile)
Here are some hotels and approx. travel times.
* denotes hotels for which Worldcon 75 has not negotiated prices (at least has not published any info).
Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna – across from the street from the Main train station, 17 min by train to Pasila and walk to Messukeskus; 26 min by tram #9, walk 200 m to the Main train station tram stop (stop name: Rautatieasema), take tram to Messekeskus tram stop.
Holiday Inn City Center* – right next to the main train station, 17 min by train and walking; 26 min by tram #9, 250 m to the main train station tram stop (stop name: Rautatieasema).
Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel – 17 min by train and walking, 300 m to the main train station; about 26 min by tram (#9), 300 m to Kaisaniemenkatu tram stop
Hotel Seurahuone* – right across the street from the train station; 17 min by train and walking; 25 min by tram (100 m to the tram #9 stop at the Main train station (Rautatieasema))
Scandic Simonkenttä – 20-21 min by train and walking, 600 m to the Main train station, train to Pasila, walk to Messukeskus; 26 min by tram #9, 100 m to Simonkatu tram stop
Solo Sokos Hotel Torni – 22-23 min by train and walking, 700 m walk to the main train station, take train to Pasila, walk to Messukeskus; about 30-31 min by tram #9, 400 m to Simonkatu tram stop
Hotel Arthur* (a bit older hotel but OK quality) – 17 or 18 min by train, 400 m to the main train station; 22 min by tram #9, 200 m to tram stop (Kaisaniemenpuisto)
Original Sokos Hotel Presidentti – 23- 24 min by train and walking, 700 m to the Main train station from the hotel; 26 min by bus #69 from Kamppi bus terminal, 300 m to Kamppi bus terminal (Platform 72)
Hotel Cumulus Kaisaniemi* – 19 min by tram #9, less than 100 m to tram stop Kaisaniemenkatu; 22 min by walking and train, 400 m to the main train station
Original Sokos Hotel Helsinki – 20-21 minutes by train and walking, 500 m walk to the main train station; 26 minutes by tram #9, 400 m walk to the tram stop (Kaisaniemenkatu)
Hotel Helka* – 24 min, 300 m to bus stop (bus #69), bus ride to Itä-Pasila, 400 m walk to Messukeskus
Scandic Paasi – 18 min by tram #9, 300 m to tram stop (name: Kallion virastotalo); 23 min by tram #7B, 300 m to Hakaniemi tram stop;
Radisson Blu Royal Hotel – 1 km from the main train station; 23 min by bus #69, 100 m to Kamppi bus terminal (platform 72); 29 min by tram #9, 200 m to Kampintori tram stop
(I planned to arrive at Messukeskus by 9:30 am on a Thursday morning this September. (Timetables may change by next August but travel times not really…))
I hope this helps!
@Aaron
Pfft. Astronauts. Now that’s a niche market! No wonder Worldcon is dying. You need to appeal to the masses, not the elite!
Also, ::Belated God Stalk::
Thank you, Terhi!
@Hampus You’re welcome! Ole hyvä!
Oh, BTW, I found this rather a cool video about Helsinki.
Thanks for the info, Terhi. This will come in useful when deciding on a hotel.
@lurkertype
It depends on the hotel and how far in advance you cancel. Some allow you to cancel free of charge, others don’t. I’ll talk to my Mom during the weekend, since she’s also coming to WorldCon next year (to my surprise, she said she wanted to go), and then we’ll check out the hotels and reserve our room. My Mom has some mobility issues, though not severe enough to require a room at the conference centre hotel.
Lee on September 2, 2016 at 3:02 pm said:
Post-apocalyptic ants!
That is so cool and weird that I can’t stand it.
Also, thank you so much to Terhi and others who are being so helpful about hotels and transport in Helsinki. I won’t be there unless any number of things change dramatically, but the armchair travelling is delightful.
Kiitos, Terhi. Looks like my wife Deirdre and I will be at the Radisson Blu Royal, Kamppi district, Helsinki city centre. For me, that’s a comfortable 4 1/2 km walk northeast to Messukeskus, or there’s the Route 9 tram or main-line train if I’m feeling lazy. But I’d rather be on foot and see more of the city!
Terhi: Ok, as a public service I did some journey planning from different hotels around Helsinki city center.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to do that, Terhi! I know that it will be helpful to a lot more people than just me.
@Dawn Incognito, good idea, thanks!
@Cora, why not drop a note to the access email address explaining the situation, while still making a cancelable reservation elsewhere? They may have room, and then your mother could be more comfortable.
That’s what I did. I’m finding walking painful lately (my back), but I know others are worse off, so I asked them to put me in their second tier of requests. Then I made a reservation at the Sokos Pasila, which is the next closest hotel, to cover me in case they don’t have room. Going on past history it can take quite a while for all the access requests to come in. (I was involved in handling them one year, and have seen the emails for two others.)
@jonesnori/Lenore Jones
I’ve put a request to the access address. I hadn’t thought about making a backup reservation. Will have to talk to hubby about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Many thanks to @Hampus Eckerman, @Terhi, et al. for all the info. Wow, I had no idea till I read this thread tonight that hotels were available.
BTW for people having sticker shock, Worldcon 75’s hotels page says: “Please note that we are still in the process of negotiating some of our hotel deals, especially in the lower price range. They will be added to this page as things are finalized. This will happen in the next few days and weeks.”
There are lots of hotels in Helsinki, and not all of them cost that much. Don’t assume that every hotel in the convention’s block are the only hotels in the city. Go searching around. I’ve booked rooms at the Holiday Inn City Centre (and I suspect a bunch of other people will as well) that cost less than €120/night (including tax but not including breakfast). Mind you, in my own case, I’m using IHG points for a chunk of my stay.
Inasmuch as it doesn’t look like attrition (where the contracting convention is on the hook for hotel rooms in the room block that go unsold) isn’t a factor in Helsinki, I have no problem with booking off-block or using hotel points for my own stays next year.
There are a LOT of people going to Helsinki who’ve never been to a European Worldcon. They really could have been more clear about the distance/time, and about other, cheaper hotels. I mean, I know Worldcons and went to bid parties and stuff and I had no idea — as didn’t many Filers. Americans aren’t a’scared of public transit (it’s not like we rent cars for Worldcon anyway!) we just like to know how long it’s going to be. Also we shouldn’t have to depend on the kindness of people like Terhi to tell us in a random net forum, the concom should have done that.
I agree with JJ: they should have been much more upfront about it, saying “it’s half an hour between hotels and con”. Put it in the FAQ. And point out more clearly all the other hotels.
I don’t use any mobility devices, but walking half a mile total to and from the transit, walking around all day, and then 800m back? Excruciating pain, no spoons (no naps), and double the time it takes the people making timetables to walk. Especially, o ghu, if I bought bulky or heavy stuff like books. I hope there are plenty of taxis available for people like me (so much for the free transit pass). Exactly HOW disabled do you need to be to qualify for the on-site hotel?
I think they kind of have to have the parties in the centre — with no main hotel and all the lodgings so spread out, there’s nowhere else. As long as there aren’t the stupid corporate restrictions on food and booze like KC, it should be fine. But yeah, people are going to have to decide between missing afternoon programming and dressing up for the parties. And get up extra-early for the Business Meeting.
Glad to hear Dublin won’t be that way; I’m more likely to make it anyway.
@Aaron: Don’t care much if mine’s visible, it was more an FYI directly to you. But thanks.
@Kevin Standlee:
I’m no anti-government extremist but I must say I prefer breakfast to tax. I think you made a bad deal.
lurkertype: There are a LOT of people going to Helsinki who’ve never been to a European Worldcon. They really could have been more clear about the distance/time, and about other, cheaper hotels. I mean, I know Worldcons and went to bid parties and stuff and I had no idea — as didn’t many Filers.
Yeah, my biggest gripe here is about the utter lack of transparency and honesty on the part of the bidcom. You don’t brag about what a wonderful onsite hotel you have — and then deliberately omit to say that this hotel will not be available to the general membership. You don’t make a mention of “5 min” distance from a hotel — and then fail to say that most of the hotels are at least 25 minutes away. And you don’t then say “But all European cons are like this,” as if everyone who has never been to a European con is stupid for not knowing that.
I realize that they knew that being this upfront and honest about the hotel situation might have caused some Site Selection voters to vote differently — but that does not excuse their choice to not be upfront and honest about it.
@lurkertype, I’d make the same suggestion to you. Write Access, being as clear as you can be about your situation so they can triage properly. You needn’t be using a mobility device – pain is a perfectly good reason. Then make a cancelable backup reservation at your second choice hotel. You don’t want that to be unavailable if it turns out there’s no room at the Inn.
@Lenore Jones
Thanks for the tip. I’ll discuss this with my Mom and see what she thinks. She’s in a similar situation like you, cause she has back troubles and can’t walk all that long without resting (plus she’s 74), but there are plenty of people who are worse off. We’ll definitely try to find a hotel that’s close to public transport. I also told my Mom about the benches and parks at MidAmeriCon, so she knows that there will be plenty of places to sit down, which is the most important thing for her.
@lurkertype
I agree that there should be more information about transit times and hotel locations at the Worldcon 75 website. But I suspect that the expectation that there would be a lot of hotels directly attached to the convention centre never really occurred to anybody on Helsinki committee.
It certainly never occurred to me, since I’m used to the fact that when I attend a conference or convention, the hotel will probably be quite a bit away from the convention centre. Because even with the really big convention hubs like Hamburg, Hannover, Frankfurt, Leipzig or Berlin, the majority of hotels are not on site. When I attended a three-day conference in Hamburg, the convention centre was located in a pricy suburb with equally pricy hotels and my hotel was located in a different suburb and I had to travel by subway/train between the two sites (and I had hurt my foot and had walking problems at the time, which was not great). And the one time I visited the Leipzig book fair, I stayed in Halle, a completely different city 40 kilometers away. Okay, so I was actually attending an academic conference in Halle, which took place at the same time, and grabbed the chance to visit the book fair. But even there, my hotel was quite a bit away from the conference site in a suburb that could have doubled as the set for a post-apocalyptic movie and I had to take the tram. They offered free public transport passes, too, which was great.
Coincidentally, I think I have only been twice at conferences where the conference site was within walking distance of my hotel. Both were in smaller towns where everything was within walking distance.
Cora: I agree that there should be more information about transit times and hotel locations at the Worldcon 75 website. But I suspect that the expectation that there would be a lot of hotels directly attached to the convention centre never really occurred to anybody on Helsinki committee.
They’ve got at least a half-dozen, or more, Americans on the concom — including one of the the two Con Chairs. They knew.
Yes, the Americans should have known about the expectation that there would be a lot of hotels near the convention centre.
Coincidentally, my Mom might actually be happier at a hotel in the city centre, where she can go off and do something else, since I don’t think that she cares about the business meeting, for example.