Room Update: Arts and Crafts Conference

I knew it was going to happen, but it still seems to catch me by surprise each time.

This week the Omni Grove Park Inn informed us that they are completely sold out of rooms for the National Arts and Crafts Conference on February 16-18.

However – that does not mean the National Arts and Crafts Conference is sold out.

Given the size of the Heritage Ballroom where our major seminars are held each day, we can reserve seats for more people than the Omni Grove Park Inn can sleep. But even those numbers are limited, so if you are wanting to purchase a three-day Conference Events Pass ($160@), which includes all six seminars, discussions, tours, demonstrations, shows, 88-page catalog, calendar, tote bag, and poster, please call our office at (828) 628-1915 (M-F 9am-5pm).

Those who only wish to shop the shows (115 exhibitors) each afternoon do not need advance reservations, as you can pay $10 at the door when you arrive. Outdoor parking is free, as are the first three hours of garage parking. There is a fee for valet parking.

For a complete conference agenda, please go to Arts-CraftsConference.com.

For those of you who have a GPI reservation and who made a special room request, here is how we handle it. First, we make a list of each room request in the order in which the reservation was made, starting back in January of 2017. Second, when someone requests a room which has already been assigned to an earlier reservation, we reserve the closest available room for you.

We then forward those requests to the reservation department at the Omni Grove Park Inn, and they do their best to honor each of our requests. Because of circumstances beyond our control, however, we cannot guarantee anyone their request.

For instance, during last week’s cold spell, a pipe in the Sammons Wing froze and burst, ruining the drywall in six guest rooms. Those guests were assigned different rooms while the damage was repaired. Fortunately, those rooms will be back in service this week, but this illustrates how even our carefully manicured plans can be sidetracked by outside forces.

For those of you wanting to make room reservations in nearby hotels or motels, Asheville has no shortage of options. Rather than try to list them all here, we recommend that you use Google to search for possibilities that match your criteria for cost or location. We are not able to run a shuttle bus to the GPI, but there are dozens of lodging options fewer than 15 minutes from the Omni Grove Park Inn.

Note:  We urge you to use a ride service that will deliver you directly to the front door, as parking will be a challenge all weekend.

Finally (I think), if you have a GPI reservation or a Conference Events Pass reservation and have not received and returned your name badge form in your Pre-Conference Packet, call us today (828) 628-1915, for your name badge is your entry ticket to all conference events.

See you soon,

Bruce Johnson

Conference Director

(828) 628-1915

“We can solve nearly every problem before the conference, but very few at the conference.”