National Convention Housing Information

VFW 109th NATIONAL CONVENTION HOUSING

Orlando, Florida - August 16-21, 2008

TO: Adjutant, Department of New Mexico, VFW

FROM: National Convention Office, VFW

SUBJECT: Convention Housing

DATE: December 17, 2007

We are excited to be hosting the 109th National Convention in Orlando, Florida, August 16-21, 2008 and anticipate many members will take this opportunity to plan family vacations. To assist our members we will open housing and convention registration early this year – December 31, 2007.

This early open will be communicated to each post by email. It is however, our understanding, many posts may not access their email accounts on a regular basis. We are requesting assistance, from all Department Headquarters with communicating this early open. Convention registration and housing information will also be mailed with the election reports scheduled for February.

Your Department has been assigned to the Rosen Plaza with a block of 15 rooms. Your name has been provided to the hotel and you may begin making suite/hospitality arrangements immediately, by phoning Lisa Garcia at 407-996-1734. If you will be assigning this task to someone in your office, please provide the individuals name to Deb Macias at dmacias@vfw.org and we will communicate the change to the hotel.

NOTE: All sleeping room reservations, other than suites, must be made through the housing bureau. Housing officially opens December 31, 2007. Please use the attached housing form to make a reservation.

Download form:
Adobe Reader Housing Form VFW 2008	MS Word Housing Form VFW 2008

To assist you with controlling expenses for your hospitality suites, the following Food & Beverage clause has been negotiated with the hotel:

Food and Beverage* . . . Hotel will provide special pricing of 20% over cost (hotel's actual purchase prices) of bottled liquor for use in VIP Suites or Hospitality Suites (for VFW Departments assigned to hotel) during the conference.

*Clean-up and set-up fees may apply. Please review with your catering contact.

Additionally, Orlando hotels are becoming smoke-free or have limited smoking floors available. The Rosen Plaza is a smoke-free hotel. A cleaning fee may be incurred for smoking in a guest room. Please review the hotel’s smoking policy with your catering contact.

A list of amenities for your hotel may be found on the hotel website www.rosenplaza.com or by contacting the hotel at 407-996-9700.

Each Department will also receive 1/40 comp room nights based on actual pick-up. It is the responsibility of the Department Adjutant to assign, and communicate to the hotel, the names of individuals to receive complimentary rooms earned by the Department by the group cut-off date – July 14, 2008. To assist you with identifying the number of anticipated comp rooms your department may be entitled to receive, you may request a current hotel pick-up report from the Convention office by calling 816-968-2747.

Be sure to book your reservations by July 14, 2008 in order to receive special convention rates noted below:

Rates for:

Single: $115

Double: $115

Triple: $135

Quad/Club Level: $155

Suites:

The hotel is offering discounts off 2008 rack rates for a limited number of available suites. Please review availability and pricing with your hotel contact.

The enclosed housing form may be duplicated for general use in your Department. Each reservation will require a separate form. Departments are urged to distribute important convention information to their posts and include it in Department publications.

We look forward to a successful convention in Orlando!

cc: Department Commander
Department Sr. Vice Commander
Vanessa Kane, CMP
Lisa Garcia, Rosen Plaza Hotel
Susie Brenner, The Housing Connection