Housing FAQ

Why aren’t there enough rooms in the Unified Symposium room block?

Each year we contract more rooms than are reserved. There are enough hotel rooms in total to meet demand. However, the hotels are not within walking distance to the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.

Why aren’t ASEV or CAWG members or exhibitors given a priority in booking rooms?

The majority of CAWG and ASEV members that attend do not stay overnight in Sacramento during the conference. Most of the rooms are utilized by exhibitors. The UW&GS attendee profile includes CAWG and ASEV members as well as sponsors and exhibitors who collectively represent our customers who invest in this successful event.

Additionally, managing online housing on a preference-basis for a group of attendees such as members or exhibitors is not practical or simple to orchestrate. The net result would also still not provide rooms downtown for everyone that wants one.

Why aren’t there more rooms at the downtown hotels?

We make every effort to obtain the maximum number of rooms we can and have been able to increase the total available inventory by negotiating multiple rate tiers with the Hyatt and Sheraton. Most everyone that needs a hotel room wants one downtown. This expectation is understandable. However, the inventory of total rooms available in downtown Sacramento is a smaller number than the number of people wanting these rooms.

If the Hyatt or Sheraton in downtown Sacramento are sold out before the UW&GS housing opens, does that mean that the UW&GS has all the rooms?

No hotel will offer all rooms in its inventory to a conference. However, these two hotels provide a significantly higher number of their total inventory than the industry standard for a conference room block. How much is available and at what rate is based on supply and demand. This is similar to any other product in a marketplace (perhaps like grapes or wine). Hotels pre-sell some rooms to online entities (e.g.: Hotels.com or Expedia). They also reserve a certain number of rooms for their preferred guests and walk-in business.

The established success of the UW&GS is advantageous in negotiations but our repeated success is also assurance that hotels can sell some rooms at higher rates each year.

What if I cannot book a room at one of the UW&GS contracted hotels I prefer?

There are more than enough hotel rooms in Sacramento available. If you are not able to reserve a room at one of our hotels after housing opens, please visit the Visit Sacramento (Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau) housing page for additional hotels to consider. You may also consider contacting one of our hotels closer to the conference week as there may be cancellations. You can request the UW&GS rate but the hotel may or may not offer this rate after the room block is closed.

Do the show organizers earn a commission or percentage of the rate on the hotel rooms booked?

No. We negotiate the lowest rates possible for our members and exhibitors attending the symposium. We do this by not receiving any portion of the hotel room revenue. We do earn one complimentary room per 50 booked at our two headquarters hotels. These earned rooms are used to offset our housing expenses for our staff, contractors and invited speakers and in total they only reduce our related expenses.

Why isn’t the Unified Symposium held in another city where more hotel rooms are close to the event?

This has been considered for years and continues to be. It seems so simple to just find another venue that better serves our and your needs but it is not. The organizers are committed to continue to hold the event in California.

The only alternative venue that can at least accommodate our current session room and exhibit floor space needs is in San Francisco. We have evaluated many options with very limited outcome. The convenience of close proximity between the hotel rooms we need and a convention center is not significantly better in other cities. Where we can add more nearby rooms, the additional hotels we could consider have significantly higher rate ranges and “nearby” is not as close as our two headquarters hotels in Sacramento.

Additional concerns for our exhibitors and attendees with an alternative venue include significantly increased fees and costs in regard to: (a) union labor, (b) parking, (c) meals and (d) hotel rates. We are not assured that our repeated successful attendance would prevail with such a change in economic impact for you.