360Flex Hotel News - We warned ya

We warned ya, we really did, and now it might be too late... To stay at the Red Lion that is. They're not full yet, but the cheap rate they allocated for the conference has expired. Booking now, you'll need to pay/negotiate whatever the going rate is, which from what we're hearing is close to two-fitty a night. (If it was tree-fitty, I'd have used my South Park Chef sound, but it's not, so I won't, Damnit Loch Ness Munstah!)

There are some other hotels in the area, which look equally as nice as the Red Lion and are within walking distance. However, "as nice as", and "walking distance" means not much if any, cheaper. It's down town Seattle in the summer, just about as close to Shan Gri La as is possible. It's gonna be costly, I'm afraid.

When Tom and I visited for the walk thru, I stayed about a mile and a half away on Cap Hill. It wasn't much cheaper, and certainly wasn't a fun uphill walk from the Red Lion.

If you haven't booked, your best bet is to bite the bullet and book the Red Lion at the going rate. If that $40 to $50 difference per night is too much (as it can be for independent devs) hotels.com or travelocity (and their funny british gnome) might be your new best friend.

Here's four numbers you can call for rates. If Red Lion is near the same rate as the neighboring hotels, I'd suggest you still book the Red Lion for all the reasons we've listed before. We still benefit if you stay at the Red Lion, so pick the Red Lion if you can.

Also, we literally just got word that all four hotels are getting close to sold out, with it being high season. If you don't have a room...book it now!

Red Lion - 800-733-5466
Sheraton - 206-621-9000
Hilton - 206-624-0500
W Hotel - 206-264-6000