t- they're offering to upgrade the rooms at no cost, or they're offering discounted rates on all rooms?

I believe that their offering to upgrade (some) rooms to balcony while keeping the price already quoted ($109/night). Here's exactly what he said (context=asking if we are still interested in the St. Louis, he's starting to send out contracts for that time):

....I am willing to offer upgrades to balcony rooms at group rate to whomever you would like to place in those rooms..

It looks to me like the Radisson and the St. Louis are our best choices, unless New Orleans Fine Hotels suddenly decide to be forthcoming about what they can offer us. St. Louis has the edge for me, it's an excellent location and the nightly rate is opnly $10 more than the Radisson. The Radisson has offered us an attractive deal for the hospitality suite and Prom space, though.

The Radisson has offered us an attractive deal for the hospitality suite and Prom space, though.

Have we talked about the possibility of holding the Prom off-site, like in a restaurant?

Apologies if I'm needlessly complicating things, but it's just something to think about, if the only thing the Radisson has going is the Prom space.

Were we looking into St. Louis's courtyard for prom?

The St. Louis has Prom space also (including the courtyard), it's just less clear how much it would cost - my understanding is that it would depend on what catering we order. I have menus we can choose from ,or we can provide them with a budget and they'll arrange for food. The hospitality suite would be $220/night.

The advantage of the Radisson is that the hospitality suite would only cost us $200 for the entire stay, and the prom space would be the hospitality suite plus additional space (for an additional $300). Which is kind of neat.

The courtyard at the St. Louis may not be available for Saturday night, it's got a "tentative hold" as of today. Marvin assures me they have other great spaces available.

It looks to me like the Radisson and the St. Louis are our best choices, unless New Orleans Fine Hotels suddenly decide to be forthcoming about what they can offer us.

Regardless of deals and price-breaks they might offer, an uncommunicative/unresponsive hotel staff can be the kiss of death when organizing any sort of event. I'd say that someone who can't keep the channels of contact open should be considered to have disqualified themselves from the running.

On this topic, I'd advise anyone planning a future event in Chicago/Evanston to avoid the hotel we had the first f2f at. I found out it's under new management when my office shipped me and several co-workers up there for meetings, and the new customer service philosophy seems to be "hide so the irate customers can't find anyone to complain to!"

I found out it's under new management

Dude, AGAIN?

When we booked with them, it was a Holiday Inn Express. By the time the F2F rolled around, it was a Best Western.

Maybe it's on a Hellmouth?

Marvin assures me they have other great spaces available.

Not to bring up the whole "it's hot there" conversation again, but ... is the courtyard oustside? I'm just a huge fan of controlled climate, see.

I am intrigued by Dana's question about the possibility of looking for other venues for the Saturday night festivities.

I'd be okay with that if it was basically adjacent - the costume changes alone are a big part of the fun.

the costume changes alone are a big part of the fun

Ah, right. Forgot about that part. I was kinda late getting there last time (which was my first time), so I missed the first round, mostly.