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This year’s hotel for LepreCon will be the Francisco Grande
Resort. LepreCons 21 through 24 were held at this site
and now we’re back again! The resort has remodeled all of
the sleeping rooms, the function space, the restaurant and the
lounge. They have added outdoor seating to the north of the restaurant
and lounge, too. For those of you who remember us being
there it will look familiar, but newer. As in the past staying
there is very like being at an oasis in the desert, an outpost
in space, a positively memorable experience.
Of the 101 rooms on the property we have 90 reserved
on the peak nights (Friday and Saturday). This includes
a mixture of Courtyard (37 rooms) and Tower (64 rooms).
The Courtyard is the two-story structure to the east of
the Restaurant and Lounge. There are no elevators here,
but we have great rates in these rooms. $79/nt plus tax
gets you either a King or a Twin room. Twins have two twin
beds while Kings have one King bed. The resort also has
three (3) non-smoking junior suites which are really two
standard rooms interconnected with a king bed for $129/nt
plus tax. There are two buildings with rooms facing either into
the grassy courtyard or out to the edges of the property. Smoking
and non-smoking rooms are available. A few handicap rooms
exist. All rooms are single through quadruple.
The Tower is the big tall nine-story structure
that overlooks the surrounding countryside like a sentinel
on another planet. The 9th floor is the Eagle’s Nest which
is function space. The 8th floor has the Penthouse Suites
which are $174/nt plus tax and already booked for use; the
convention will be using 801 for Consuite, 802 for Filking
and 804 for Staff Lounge. The Dark Ones are using 803 for
parties. The rest of the rooms are on the 2nd through 7th
floors with ten (10) rooms per floor. You have a choice
of Kings, Double Queens, or Executive Suites. The latter
are slightly larger and are in the corners (201 and 210,
301 and 310, etc.). Tower Kings and Queens are $109/nt plus tax.
Tower Executive Suites are $129/nt plus tax. Some rooms interconnect.
All Tower rooms are non-smoking, single through quadruple,
and have great views to the north.
The property is a golf resort with the Tower
to the northwest next to the course, the Restaurant, Lounge
and Function Space south of the baseball-shaped pool (east
of the Tower), and the Courtyard to the east of the RLFS.
The Eagle’s Nest in the Tower is for Programming. There’s
a Ballroom south of the Lounge inside where we’ll have our
Art Show and part of the Dealers Room. Across the Foyer
to the east is the Mesquite Room where more dealers will
be located. South of the Mesquite is Palo Verde, another
Programming room. Freebies and Fan Tables will be in the
L-shaped Foyer that wraps around the Ballroom. On the north
side of the Courtyard north building on the first floor
is the Massage Room which will be used for Programming.
Above there on the second floor is the Boardroom, also for Programming.
The resort is about five (5) miles west of downtown
Casa Grande, Arizona. To get there from Phoenix take I-10
eastbound towards Tucson. After you pass the Rest Area you’ll
pass over a ridge into the next valley. You can take any
of three exits to the right (west) towards Casa Grande.
The first goes through a newly developed area. The second
exit is where the outlet stores are located. The third is
just north of the interchange with I-8 towards San Diego.
This latter exit is more convenient for folks coming from
Tucson. All three roads intersect downtown at the Holiday
Inn. Take the highway west out of town. You’ll pass right
by FGR. All parking is free.
To make reservations please call 800-237-4238
and mention LepreCon 34. They do not have the capability
to book reservations online using a group code, unfortunately.
You’ll need to guarantee your reservation with either a
credit card or send them a deposit of one night’s room rental
plus tax. If you are not quoted a correct rate or have any
other trouble when you call, please make your reservation
anyway and send me an email with the date, time, reservation
number, person with whom you spoke, and description of the
problem. I will then contact the Group Reservations Manager
directly. You may reach me using lep34
(at) leprecon.org or you may call me at 480-945-6890
(24hr home office). Please make your reservations before
Wednesday April 9, 2008, as our room block goes away the
next day and getting a room is based on availability with
the general public. Remember, room nights offset our function
space costs which help us break even on expenses for the
convention. Please book a room and enjoy the getaway experience!
Mike Willmoth, Hotel Liaison
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