Accommodations

The conference hotel is The Fairmont Banff Springs. Besides providing excellent conference facilities, this beautiful resort in the heart of the Canadian Rockies offers stunning vistas, championship golf courses, unparalleled skiing, classic cuisine and Willow Stream, a world class European-style spa. For those who want to get outside, there are ample opportunities to enjoy the alpine forests, mineral springs, and other Banff activities.

Fairmont Banff Springs
405 Spray Avenue
Banff, Alberta, Canada, T1L 1J4

Making your Reservation

You must book your lodging reservations directly with the hotel. You can make your reservation online or by phone.

Booking Deadline: October 13, 2006. Please note the promo code will not work on line after this date. Delegates will need to e-mail bsh.reservations@fairmont.com or call +1(800)441-1414 for reservations after this date. Group rate will still apply based on availability.

Online: Reservations at the conference rate cannot be made online after October 13, but rooms may still be available. Delegates will need to e-mail bsh.reservations@fairmont.com or call +1(800)441-1414 for reservations after this date.

By Phone: Call the Fairmont Global Reservations Centre at +1(800)441-1414. Callers must identify themselves as being with the Computer Supported Cooperative Work conference.

Conference Rates: All rates are in Canadian Dollars and do not include the $10/guest service charge, 4% hotel tax and 6% GST tax.

Standard room: $209 CAD/night
Signature room: $289 CAD/night
Jr. Suite: $329 CAD/night
One-bedroom Suite: $428 CAD/night

Guest Service Charge: Each person will be charged a $10 per day service charge. This service charge covers all tips and gratuities for valets, housekeeping, bellmen, etc.

Room sharing: The standard Fairmont Room Category can only accommodate 2 people. Delegates wishing to have 3 or 4 people in a room must specify this when they make their bookings, as only certain room categories that can accommodate this number.

Cancellations: Cancellation of individual reservations made up to 72 hours prior to arrival will be accepted, and the deposit refunded for those rooms for the full night's stay.

Availability: Reservations and deposits received after October 13, 2006, or exceeding the contracted room block, will be confirmed on a space and rate available basis only.

Payment: The hotel accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diner's Club / enRoute, and Discover.

Internet Access: Attendees staying at the Fairmont Banff Springs can get complimentary Internet access if they sign up the Fairmont Presidents Club. Sign up is free of charge. You must sign up ahead of time - you can’t do it when you get to the hotel. If you do not sign up in advance, hotel Internet access will cost $13.95 per day. You can sign up at the Fairmont Web Site.

Why stay at the conference hotel?

It's the center of conference activity, that's why! You'll be able to network easily with other conference attendees. It's a quick trip to get to the program and functions, and just as quick to nip back to your room for a break. You'll have a better conference experience

That's obvious. But there are other reasons that you need to consider before you look at another hotel.

The conference leaders have taken their role of finding a conference site very seriously. They looked at a number of locations. The needs of attendees as individuals were considered as well as the need for conference meeting spaces.

Everyone enjoys meeting in a comfortable conference venue, offering quality service and support for workshops, tutorials, plenary sessions, etc. As the quid-pro-quo for that service and support, the conference guarantees that a percentage of attendees will stay in the hotel. The hotel generally discounts the rate for conference attendees from their normal charges.

The hotel rates are negotiated based on the number of expected attendees and the meeting space required to comfortably accommodate them. The basis for negotiation with the hotel is statistics from that conference in prior years. The contract with the hotel then guarantees specific numbers of sleeping rooms will be used each night during the conference. A complex negotiation of meeting room space, functions and events (with food), and sleeping room provides the most value per dollar for the conference and those attending it.

If the conference does not meet the contracted sleeping room commitment, the hotel gets paid anyway. Unfilled rooms can cost the conference thousands of dollars. (The conference does not get credit for the re-sale of sleeping rooms unless the hotel is completely filled.) The next conference in the series cannot negotiate as beneficial a hotel contract, and the registration fee is then under pressure to increase unreasonably.

On occasion, one of the many internet providers or sometimes the hotel itself will offer a few rooms in their inventory at a lower price than the conference is offering. There are often restrictions and penalties associated with these rates. If you somehow obtain a better rate than the one offered by the conference, your stay will still be counted toward our required room block.

What if we don't contract for sleeping rooms? Attendees will pay more to stay at the conference hotel. The conference will incur additional expenses for meeting room rental fees, which can be quite costly. The hotel will not hold a block of rooms for attendees, which may leave some people quite a distance from the conference venue. In short, the conference ends up with higher expenses, many of those attending will pay a higher price for their hotel rooms, future conference registration fees will be pushed higher.

Please support the conference and the SIG by staying at the conference hotel.