KoL Con 7 *Now with dates*

[Bob the Joker]

I'm good with any house that gets picked. As long as I have a spot somewhere, I'm good. I just had to move with no notice, so it's not possible for me to reserve the house. If I had any money right now, I'd be using it to pay back people who got me out the bad situation I was living in a few weeks ago.

[Ranger Bill XX]

42 days. We need to get the house sorted out, especially a headcount. If you are planning on staying in the house, please post that you are. I'll edit that info into the first post.

I contacted the house Jodez posted above via email, so if/when I hear back on price and if it's available, I'll post again.

[catatonicmonkey]

Sam and I are in for sure for Con and for the house. The only wrinkle I yet see is who will be paying the deposit and whatnot on the house rental? I can't afford it this year, else I'd volunteer.

[mrs bill]

Sam and I are in for sure for Con and for the house. The only wrinkle I yet see is who will be paying the deposit and whatnot on the house rental? I can't afford it this year, else I'd volunteer.

Ranger and I can pay the deposit, if we will eventually be reimbursed. Since we are local, it is also easier for us to coordinate things.

[catatonicmonkey]

Sam and I are in for sure for Con and for the house. The only wrinkle I yet see is who will be paying the deposit and whatnot on the house rental? I can't afford it this year, else I'd volunteer.

Ranger and I can pay the deposit, if we will eventually be reimbursed. Since we are local, it is also easier for us to coordinate things.

That'd be totally sweet, but bear in mind that many of these property owners are from (or at least live) overseas. I discovered this last year when I was first looking at houses. Just something to bear in mind.

[mrs bill]

Sam and I are in for sure for Con and for the house. The only wrinkle I yet see is who will be paying the deposit and whatnot on the house rental? I can't afford it this year, else I'd volunteer.

Ranger and I can pay the deposit, if we will eventually be reimbursed. Since we are local, it is also easier for us to coordinate things.

That'd be totally sweet, but bear in mind that many of these property owners are from (or at least live) overseas. I discovered this last year when I was first looking at houses. Just something to bear in mind.

Right, but we can actually go take a look at the house, if need be.

[Ranger Bill XX]

due to the lower-than-expected number of clammies who wish to stay in the KOLA house, combined with a lack of response from the first house's owner/manager, I've suggested to jodez that she work on finding a different, smaller place.

If you come across something, or wish to make suggestions, feel free to post.

also, spots in the house are still open - if you're interested, please post ASAP.

[jodez4]

Smaller houses with pools and hot tubs are hard to come across =/
http://www.vrbo.com/99013 <- this one gets my vote. It doesn't show rates on the listing, but from the search page said $99-$299/night.
http://www.vrbo.com/24720
The second one is across the road from the house we stayed in 2 years ago (and shows photos of that property, wtf?) I'll assume that there's will be noise restrictions after 10pm like the original house had which made it hard to spend time in the hot tub after dark.

Both sleep up to 8, so that means the 5 confirmed, Vlad and Pop if the visa gets back on time and a spare if any one is interested...

[catatonicmonkey]

According to their website, 1 week in the La Jolla (from 9/14 to 9/21, though as long as the stay is over a Saturday, actual dates don't matter much) is $1041. It doesn't say if this includes their $250 cleaning fee (that seems steep to me, but maybe it's normal), but even so that's a fairly reasonable rate. With 8 people, that comes to $130/person (or $161 if the rate doesn't include the cleaning fee). You certainly can't get a hotel room for less than that.

[jodez4]

After looking over more houses, I'm thinking our best bet may be the same house we used last year http://www.vrbo.com/163318
It's closeish to the Bill's, was fairly close to the con venues and was good value for money.
At the moment it looks as though it's available for the dates we need it.

[Squall Thrawn]

Sorry for not posting before; things were hinging on some outside factors. But I'm officially in. Looks like we're gonna have fun!

[catatonicmonkey]

Let me preface this post by saying two things:
1) I know cheaper is generally better
2) I don't actually know where the house I'm going to post *is*

That being said, sometimes it's nice to think about maybe spending a little more and getting something super nice. With that in mind, maybe we should consider this one? http://www.sunbeltvacations.com/vacation-rental-home-details.php?pid=64. It still should come out to less than $200/person if we get 8 people. Just something to consider. Having not seen the Con house from last year except for in pictures, I have no way of knowing if this is in fact nicer, but the pictures do make it look pretty spectacular. If me throwing out more options at this point confuses the issue too much, feel free to just IGNORE ME.

[Ranger Bill XX]

CM's house is pretty far north, but using the 101, it shouldn't be bad to get to the Con area (including LARP). 20-25 minutes based on the ZIP code, but I don't have the exact address.

One thing I noticed is that it's 3 BR again, even though they list an 8 person capacity.

[A_P_Vladimir]

Even close to $200 per person is way out of my budget (assuming my visa even lets me make it this year), once you factor in flights that price is a big No Way. One of the things I love about Con is how cheap it is, and for the amount of time actually spent in the house the extra money is just a waste when the cheap house is really nice anyway.

[blitzwing]

I will definately be at the con and will partake in the house.
and I vote for more reasonably priced over fancy (assumming not much time is spent at the house)

[jodez4]

Sorry for not posting before; things were hinging on some outside factors. But I'm officially in. Looks like we're gonna have fun!

Woot!!

I will definately be at the con and will partake in the house.

Double woot!!

[Squall Thrawn]

I'm definitely a fan of the more reasonably priced house (the pricier one would be cutting into my alcohol budget).

I do have a question for those who have already attended kolcon, though. Is the LARP worth the money? I watched part of the video of what i believe was last year's LARP, and to be quite honest, I wasn't extremely impressed. Is it better than it appears?

[catatonicmonkey]

Alright, then. Scratch my house. I just wanted to put another option on the table.

With Blitzwing now officially in (sweet), if we're assuming Vlad & Pop are still coming, we're looking at 9 people for the house. "Sleeps 8" houses would certainly have room for a 9th on the floor or something, but I wouldn't want to just dump that on someone. Should we look for a house that has 9 beds, or is someone OK with a patch of floor and a sleeping bag?

[jodez4]

it sleeps 8-10, meaning the sofas would be used... those sofas were damn comfy.

I'll leave that question to Bob, Squall, the rest of us didn't attend the LARP last year and it wasn't on the year before.

[Bob the Joker]

How have I missed this thread over the past few days? Oh well, on to opinions:

I had a lot of fun with the LARP last year. The only drawback was that there was a LOT of downtime. Hopefully, they have learned from their mistakes of last year, and have figured out a way of streamlining it. I'll be participating again this year, and will need teammates. I recommend it.

I'm all about the less expensive house, and don't mind sleeping on a couch, or an air mattress. If it means less expense for everyone, I can easily pack an air mattress with me if we're short beds. I'm driving down so packing excess stuff isn't an issue.