British Chess Championships 2011

[Michele Clack]

It's close to the Hilton apparently. Anyone wanting a little luxury and definitely going could look out for one of their half price offers.

[Matthew Turner]

I believe the plan is for the top players to be accommodated at the Hilton, so if you want to have breakfast with Nigel Short and Michael Adams then this might be worth considering.

[Adam Raoof]

Steve Connor has been really helpful and I think the new page at http://www.britishchess2011.com/accommodation.htm
Is much improved. It now offers players three routes to finding accommodation -

1) the hotels that have offered allocations of rooms & still have availability
2) University of Sheffield accommodation
3) full listing of accommodation with contact information (inc where no on-line booking is available) via http://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk

In addition, contact information is available for the team (Jane and the Tourist Information Centre). This effectively provides information about every possible place to stay and ensures that they have access to across a wide range of both budgets and styles for our players.

[Alan Walton]

Adam, a couple of questions then

Why does the website say the Friday night is not part of the event, when clearly it is as prize giving is on the Saturday?
And why are the prices on said website over 50% more expensive than going through other internet channels for the same hotels (it even says these are discounted rates)?

These points were made earlier but nobody has seem to give any type of answer

[Adam Raoof]

Adam, a couple of questions then

Why does the website say the Friday night is not part of the event, when clearly it is as prize giving is on the Saturday?
And why are the prices on said website over 50% more expensive than going through other internet channels for the same hotels (it even says these are discounted rates)?

These points were made earlier but nobody has seem to give any type of answer

In response to my enquiry, your first point has now been addressed, I believe?

I think it says negotiated, rather than discounted. I recognise that Yorkshire Tourism is providing a service, and their fee is built in to the price. I doubt if the discounted prices include breakfast! You make a good point though, and I will pursue this further.

[David Shepherd]

I think there are a number of internet companies that offer better rates than on the official website. Could there be any scope to linking them in to the tournaments through a sponsorship deal. Many chess players use such organisations to book accommodation for many tournaments so sponsorship may well be an attractive option in order to raise their profile.

[Roger de Coverly]

In response to my enquiry, your first point has now been addressed, I believe?

I think Alan's point was that if you specify a check out day of the final Saturday on the "hotels" website, you only get a choice of two hotels. If you specify the Friday, the choice is rather wider. The student accommodation looks fine, but by comparison with Canterbury, it's both more expensive and not within walking distance of the playing venue.

Stewart inferred a while back that there was cheap "student" accommodation (for arbiters) within walking distance of the Ponds Forge. Links to the booking for this have yet to appear on the 2011 British website. Indeed attempts to find it by Google have yet to be successful.

[David Shepherd]

Checked the site today with Saturday checkout saw only the two hotels - though this is really bad and started searching elsewhere hadn't even realised Friday gave more options. Noted the cheapest university rooms had no internet access and suddenly the whole thing was looking less than attractive compared to last year.

[Roger de Coverly]

Noted the cheapest university rooms had no internet access and suddenly the whole thing was looking less than attractive compared to last year.

£ 10 a month (or less) mobile broadband with a dongle is the answer to that problem. Here and there though ( Torquay was a case in point), the reception and thus speed can be an issue. If you elect pay as you go, you only pay for the months that you expect to be away at a chess event.

[David Shepherd]

Yep sat on the lawn outside late at night in Torquay trying to get a signal put me off that one

[Alan Walton]

Stewart inferred a while back that there was cheap "student" accommodation (for arbiters) within walking distance of the Ponds Forge. Links to the booking for this have yet to appear on the 2011 British website. Indeed attempts to find it by Google have yet to be successful.

Roger, I did find the "other" student accommodation, and it was through Unison, so I presume it maybe a teaching training college of some kind, and it is within walking distance.

I didn't check the prices as it required you to register with Unison on their website

[Adam Raoof]

From the Tourism service in Sheffield:

We will shortly be increasing the room allocations at hotels to ensure that the problem you have encountered is resolved. Within the next 48 hours, you should find that when searching for hotels which include the Friday night for accommodation (with a check-out on the Saturday) your choice will be much wider than the current 2 that are being returned in the availability search.

The information you have had from David about lower cost self-catering accommodation within walking distance (or three stops on our fabulous tram system) of Ponds Forge is correct in so much as it does exist. Unfortunately, we are being told that it will be March 2011 before they have agreed rates for the summer of 2011. This is much later than we would have expected and we are pushing hard at the accommodation management team to make the information available to us sooner rather than later. As soon as we have the information, we will make it available to you.

Just a quick note about the accommodation at the University of Sheffield – you are right that it is more expensive, but from personal experience of Canterbury it is of far higher quality. The whole site has been rebuilt in the last two years and offers modern and comfortable bedrooms, dining facilities and bars and lounge are also of a superior quality. All in all, providing a superior environment to the one my colleague and I experienced in Canterbury in 2010. The campus is not within walking distance of the playing venue. However, with one of the best public transport services in the UK, it is very easily accessible using our local bus services. A general rule of thumb in the city is if you’ve waited more than 10 minutes for a bus there’s been a serious delay. If you have a car with you, it’s less than 10 minutes (with free of charge parking around the campus site and multi-storey car parks (paid for) at and adjacent to the playing venue), travelling between the campus and the venue is not as problematic as it may appear.

[Alan Walton]

Adam,

Very helpful information, fortunately I was going to wait until March/April before booking

Regarding travel into Sheffield from the campus, when I normally drive into Sheffield from the A57 (Snake Pass), it normally took us at least 20 mins to get to that side of town from the University, admittedly buses maybe good during the afternoon, but if you are travelling after 8pm which the majority will be then I expect you may have to wait a little longer for public transport

[Roger de Coverly]

Roger, I did find the "other" student accommodation, and it was through Unison, so I presume it maybe a teaching training college of some kind, and it is within walking distance.

This one perhaps ?

http://www.unite-students.com/student-a ... -sheffield#

[Alan Walton]

Roger, I did find the "other" student accommodation, and it was through Unison, so I presume it maybe a teaching training college of some kind, and it is within walking distance.

This one perhaps ?

http://www.unite-students.com/student-a ... -sheffield#

It was indeed