And yeah Kate, don't even think of bogarting the JZ (and Teppy and flea may be in the area at the same time). We're watching you.

Everyone should come to the Valley! Seriously, it's like a smaller, more rural San Francisco. It's totally Buffista Heaven.

Going to the Miyako shortly.

ita, summer is SF's cold period. April and May tend toward rather nice, as does autumn/early winter. But these days, who knows?

Has everyone checked in from London? Everyone accounted for?

Also, JZ won't be here in SF while JohnSweden is here.

I know. I'm seriously peeved about it, too.

We can be peeved together, at opposite sides of the continent (again). Grump, grump. Ah well, you have fun and enjoy rarely-seen Buffistas, and I'll do the same.

t brave little toaster-face

Regarding F2F dates, June is busy for me. April/May are fine, with the exception of your Memorial Day weekend, and even that is workaroundable.

Debet, I'm looking at the dates you posted and they're all Saturdays. Don't we want Thursday through Sunday for the rates?

She posted the Saturday dates as a marker for the potential weekends. Friday and Saturday nights are usually what most Buffistas end up booking. Less so on Thursday and Sunday nights, though there are usually several who want one or both of those nights as well.

Deb, one question that I have about the Miyako (for them to answer, I mean) -- in the block of rooms, will they be able to provide the option of Japanese or Western-style for all attendees, or will we be reserving a specified number of each?

Lyra has put her finger on a problem. Most of us don't know our schedules this far in advance.

This is the other half of the problem. For me the later we wait on setting the dates the less likely I'll be able to get them clear. If I can put things on my calendar a year in advance then I can typically hold the dates open.

OK. Back from the Miyako.

First of all, a quick note on the dates, from the San Francisco perspective: The weekends of April 15 and 22 are going to be nightmarish and close to impossible to book in San Francisco, because it's the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The Miyako, of course, is twenty feet from the centre of those festivities: it's in the heart of Japantown.

Jessica, I was taken on a tour of the hotel and shown the mix of rooms we'd be booking: I asked to see and was shown the rooms with two twin beds and the rooms with two double beds. All have the Japanese design: deep soaking tubs inside the glassed room, screens, tansu chests. All the rooms have dedicated internet access lines and port, but the hotel isn't full DSL yet. That may change by next year. So the internet access is there in every room, but it isn't the hot wireless.

I was also shown the completely ADA-compliant rooms in the Garden wing, and erika's prospective room had me drooling. Everything is done with wheelchair access in mind, right down to the marble shower with benches and hand-held multi-spray fixtures. Major yum.

I think all the rooms are at least mostly Japanese in flavour, and I think we can request that.

The hospitality suite/room for prom is the Osaka Room. It's in the basement, at the garden level; I'd say it holds 50 people comfortably. I was given the tour by the assistant manager, but the person I need to speak to, Lili, is up to her ears today, so we'll be talking tomorrow. I explained about the deal at the New Orleans hotel - comped suite if the minimum number of room bookings was met - and he said they offer that kind of contract all the time. A fridge, with our own food and drink, didn't appear to faze them at all; they can also provide the requisite AV equipment and a fridge. There are tables in there; they can provide a PA for Prom, if needed, but then, so can we; I spend half my time tripping over Fender amps and Studiomaster heads these days.

The hotel had a refurbishing after the Radisson chain bought it, but it's still the rock and roll hangout of choice, apparently - Margaret's office is plastered with signed photos from everyone from Megadeth on up. She says they get all the bookings for the Fillmore and the Boom Boom Room (see next post).

I'll do the immediate area localities in the next post.

Now for some details:

I handed Margaret, their events coordinator, three sample dates, and got the following firm numbers. This was based on a block booking of 25 rooms, but she understands it could be as low as twenty and as high as thirty. The dates I'm giving are the Thursday-Sunday morning block; extending that through Sunday night on an individual basis is an option.

6-9 April: $99 per night

11-14 May: $99 per night

18-21 May: $109 per night.

These are, alas, not inclusive of San Francisco's wretched hotel tax of 14%. But those are the prices. Once we narrow down, I can get firmer figures. Also, will get the final best they can do on the Osaka room.

Parking: Hotel valet service, with full in and out privileges, $20 a day. That's a stellar rate for San Francisco. Also, there's the Japantown Garage, two minutes away; full-day rate is $13 (that includes overnight), but I think no in and out privileges.

To be continued.

All have the Japanese design: deep soaking tubs inside the glassed room, screens, tansu chests.

Ah, okay -- when I hear "Japanese-style rooms," I picture heated floors with mats in lieu of beds. But soaking tubs + Western-style beds sounds perfect!

The Miyako, continued:

The neighbourhood:

The hotel is at 1625 Post, in the heart of Japantown. It's not on any major hill (which is a good thing); turn left in front of the hotel and you are, quite literally, in the centre of Japantown, pagodas, sushi, shopping and all. Walk west for two blocks, and you're in the Fillmore; turn left at Fillmore and walk one block, and you can either walk into John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room, or into the Fillmore West.

For transportation, it's hard to imagine a better spot. The Post Street bus stops nearly in front of the hotel. One block south, there's the 38 Geary, which goes all the way to the ocean at the western end, and all the way downtown on the eastern end.

For restaurants - ok, that would take all day. Sushi fans would be in heaven; over on Fillmore, there are restaurants of every ethnicity imaginable, including one of my favourites, La Mediterranee. There's a branch of Gimme Shoes. There's shopping for miles.

The hotel is maybe ten minutes away from Union Square shopping by bus, and maybe fifteen minutes away from the beach.