[100edition]

I booked my room! (thats the good news) Smoking rooms only left (thats the bad news) but trying to remain super positive and thankfull for all my blessings this year I won't plan on spending much time in the room any way! Awesome rides to be had and scenery to be enjoyed.

Vicky was super helpful and very nice and said they have a few people working there that know the area VERY well and are willing to help show us where the best rides are! AWESOME I can't wait.

I was not able to get a pull out cot for the room as there are three of us booked in so if anyone ends up needing to share there room, please let me know maybe we can work something out.

I have registered with Tracy as well and as a reminder if YOU have not yet contacted Tracey to register, please do so.
Looking forward to this all Canadian cross Canada trip since my dollar is worthless south of the border.
Cheers!

PM sent

 

[neverdone]

Just got off the phone with Vicky at the motel. Only a handful of rooms left. Monday and Friday are pretty much booked.

 

[Quicksand]

Update 23 07 2015 12:20 MDT

[If you listen to the options then press 4, then listen press 5 next, this will take you directly to Vicki you won't have to deal with the front desk or being transferred. Much easier more direct" Lady Z... Thanks for this information.

Update, 20-7-2015 at 21:37 MDT

Calgaryglide

Just a heads up, this shortcut no longer works, at least I couldn't get it to. After you press 4 it goes directly to a person with no option to press 5. I got to Vicki yesterday by the person transferring but no go last night. The person who picked up said I was calling his cellphone!?!

No worries though. Just call reservations and ask to talk to Vicki and you'll get there. BTW Vicki sounds like a real firecracker I wonder if all Canuck women are like that :grin::surprise::grin:

 

[Psycho]

Don't panic.....but

Just a heads up, this shortcut no longer works, at least I couldn't get it to. After you press 4 it goes directly to a person with no option to press 5. I got to Vicki yesterday by the person transferring but no go last night. The person who picked up said I was calling his cellphone!?!

No worries though. Just call reservations and ask to talk to Vicki and you'll get there. BTW Vicki sounds like a real firecracker I wonder if all Canuck women are like that :grin::surprise::grin:

The short cut above does work but they did change their menu...first press 6 then 5 and this will get you through to Vicky during regular business hours.

I booked my room today - yahoo! But there are only smoking rooms left and after I booked Vicky informed me that there are only 6 rooms left. So run don't walk to your phone and make your reservations. If you do miss out leave your contact information and if there are cancellations Vicky will accommodate us as much as possible. She is very accommodating and will do good by the group, she is as excited to meet and greet as we are.

Looking forward to the virtual coming to reality.

Cheers
Psycho (Al)

 

[SharknoseScott]

I was, and still am, a supporter of SW VI in Canada. And I appreciate the (largely, thankless) efforts that go into making these events so amazing. Having said that, choosing a hotel that only has 111 rooms (and now is pretty much full, with accommodations less than desirable for those heading up there; smoking only rooms/twins/etc./if you can get in) is hugely disappointing. One of the best parts of our annual gathering is the opportunity to be together at the same host hotel (if we choose). We have grown in attendance; last year there were close to 200 bikes, right? Stoney Nakoda has 111 rooms? How was that going to work with a group of our size? Now folks aren't able to get in and they have to compromise (again; smoking rooms/twin beds/etc.).

Sorry, this aspect of the planning was, in my opinion, piss-poor. I am looking forward to being there and to riding in the beautiful country of our Northern neighbors. I passed on the the group discount and booked a junior suite on-line. Others might want to consider that (I don't want the smoke smell and want to sleep with my wife, not in a separate bed; just sayin') if it's worth the $$$ (after all, it's gonna cost some bucks to do this anyway). Plus, there probably won't be any rooms left. And I really don't think that you should have to worry about booking so far in advance (i.e., that in January you are going to have difficulty getting a room) to attend an event that we want other Road Glide riders to enjoy (current non-forum-members). I have invited others that haven't been part of the forum to come to this event. Why would they feel welcome when they can't even get a room at the host hotel?

Anyway, the hotel looks nice, but it is too small to accommodate a group of our size (in my opinion). Considerations for the next event, again in my opinion (as there was no firm location for this one at the time of the presentation); get a place that can handle 200+ riders and passengers. Rant off.

 

[FNCHUCKIE]

I was, and still am, a supporter of SW VI in Canada. And I appreciate the (largely, thankless) efforts that go into making these events so amazing. Having said that, choosing a hotel that only has 111 rooms (and now is pretty much full, with accommodations less than desirable for those heading up there; smoking only rooms/twins/etc./if you can get in) is hugely disappointing. One of the best parts of our annual gathering is the opportunity to be together at the same host hotel (if we choose). We have grown in attendance; last year there were close to 200 bikes, right? Stoney Nakoda has 111 rooms? How was that going to work with a group of our size? Now folks aren't able to get in and they have to compromise (again; smoking rooms/twin beds/etc.).

Sorry, this aspect of the planning was, in my opinion, piss-poor. I am looking forward to being there and to riding in the beautiful country of our Northern neighbors. I passed on the the group discount and booked a junior suite on-line. Others might want to consider that (I don't want the smoke smell and want to sleep with my wife, not in a separate bed; just sayin') if it's worth the $$$ (after all, it's gonna cost some bucks to do this anyway). Plus, there probably won't be any rooms left. And I really don't think that you should have to worry about booking so far in advance (i.e., that in January you are going to have difficulty getting a room) to attend an event that we want other Road Glide riders to enjoy (current non-forum-members). I have invited others that haven't been part of the forum to come to this event. Why would they feel welcome when they can't even get a room at the host hotel?

Anyway, the hotel looks nice, but it is too small to accommodate a group of our size (in my opinion). Considerations for the next event, again in my opinion (as there was no firm location for this one at the time of the presentation); get a place that can handle 200+ riders and passengers. Rant off.

Dear SNS, I can appreciate your openness to be disgruntle on a forum. Opinions are like assholes. The people that are in charge of putting this on have been looking out for everyone as a whole since before last shark week. The main factor was keeping the price in a reasonable range. If the smoking rooms are such a bother for you why did you not reserve one earlier? The hotel is super nice I have been there and made my reservation in person. I doubt a smoking room would be noticed. I hope that you think about this when you put in a bid to host SW. Its not the easiest job. So quit kicking them in the junk! Rant over

Love Chuck
AKA gazso19

 

[SharknoseScott]

Chuck.

Okay, so for what it's worth, I am waaay more gruntled than disgruntled and truly looking forward to SW VI. I have voted for Canada every year that I could (when they first presented). Can't wait to ride in the great white north. And you are right about opinions. And, of course, hindsight is 20/20, right? Woulda, coulda, shoulda booked earlier.

Sorry that my post came across as overly negative. That wasn't my intent. I think I acknowledged that a lot of thankless efforts go into these events. And, frankly, the planning in this one seems top-drawer. My "piss-poor" comment was wrong and an over-reaction; so I apologize for that (especially to the planners and organizers for SW VI). I am confident that this will be a fantastic event.

My biggest concern is frankly not about the "smoking rooms". It's about the number of rooms. The hotel looks awesome, and I am in. Our annual rally has grown, and I would hope that more than 200 riders will want to go to Canada. I appreciate the concern to keep the rates down for attendees, but having a hotel with only 111 rooms total seems to limit the possible attendance. I am guessing that there are few, if any, available rooms left. I would hope to have more attendees this year, but am concerned that not being able to stay in the host hotel might discourage some people (RG forum members or non-members) from showing up. Especially if they didn't have as much hindsight/foresight as those who already booked.

I could be wrong and I hope so. I am absolutely looking forward to SW VI. You are fair in calling me out in being overly negative. I am sure that the Canadians have planned a great event. Can't wait, and hope to be able to buy you a beer.

Scott

 

[calgaryglide]

We will now start a block of rooms at an alternate hotel to be announced very soon. This was done for SWI, II, IV and now will be repeated for SW VI. We do expect some attrition of the reservation list, it happens every year, plans are made to attend but life pops up and interrupts those plans for some of us.

From the beginning we expected a lower attendance for SW in Canada, compared to SW V in Texas. The committee knew that there would be folks that would not want to leave the U.S. for a myriad of reasons. We are very pleasantly surprised with the numbers so far.

I have also been asked about campgrounds nearby by a few individuals and have responded to them with a few excellent locations located close to the host hotel but right in the mountains. It looks like there may be few folks travelling up with their toy haulers and staying a little longer to tour farther north up to Jasper.


Regarding hotel selection. I began soliciting hotels in early 2015 in the Canmore and Banff area. There were only a handful of hotels that would accommodate our group. Most of the hotels in Banff start at 180.00/night up to ridiculous and are setup for tour groups from Asia and Europe, their parking and meeting room capabilities are very limited.

A couple of hotels are setup for meeting/convention/weddings. Room rates are not bad but you are paying for the ambiance of the Rockies in a high class setting (Banff Fairmont Springs Hotel)(looks like a castle) Banff and Canmore are very much tourist destinations, they have two busy seasons, ski/snowboard and spring/summer/fall. The shoulder seasons are very short. The ski/snowboard season has been known to extend into May overlapping the start of golf/hiking/summer tourism.

Canmore is the cheaper sister of Banff but runs on the same premiss for tourism. The best time of year to host a SW is August, the week before Sturgis. This allows for the most people to make the trip and make two great events. We solicited the larger hotels in Canmore for hosting the event. One location was perfect, more rooms, great parking, close to the microbrewery. Unfortunately their prices for rooms began at 164$/night and they were non-negotiable in their banquet space at 1500.00 just for the room to host the banquet. Their banquet meal prices were very high as well. I felt they were gouging us a little bit on purpose and not negotiating in good faith. When I approached them about putting a tent up in the rear parking area and cordoning it off for motorcycle only parking, they starting putting up all kinds of roadblocks.

The next choice of hotel had the number of rooms require, ok banquet space that they would negotiate on the cost, ok menu but were located right next to the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline, literally a board fence in between the rail right of way and the hotel parking, I could envision the bike alarms sounding throughout the night as several freight trains rolled thru town keeping our group and other awake all night. The last thing I want is tired grumpy riders each day. While their room pricing was not bad at 146/night, the parking situation and no possibility of a hospitality tent ruled out the venue.

The Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino bid on our group at 104$/night Canadian. They have banquet facilities, a casino, huge parking lot where a tent won't be a problem, shuttle service to Canmore and while not ideal, fuel is only about 5 miles away.

As stated earlier we are pleasantly surprised at the number of rooms booked and the folks that want to come. I believe that this SW in Canada will most likely be a one time occurance and that all future SW's will be held in the U.S.

My purpose from the start was to invite the members that like to ride long distance and experience the area they are riding too to come and visit my backyard but to do it affordably. I don't like to compromise but we had too to keep the trip affordable for the masses.

Yes the event is growing and I do believe that future events held in the U.S. will see larger attendance. The need for larger venues will become the norm and will definitely have to be taken into consideration. The problem being that some of the best places to see and ride are in smaller locales and the local trading area will just not support such large hotel complexes to make them viable locations year round.


Calgaryglide

 

[Smarty]

We will now start a block of rooms at an alternate hotel to be announced very soon. This was done for SWI, II, IV and now will be repeated for SW VI. We do expect some attrition of the reservation list, it happens every year, plans are made to attend but life pops up and interrupts those plans for some of us.

From the beginning we expected a lower attendance for SW in Canada, compared to SW V in Texas. The committee knew that there would be folks that would not want to leave the U.S. for a myriad of reasons. We are very pleasantly surprised with the numbers so far.

I have also been asked about campgrounds nearby by a few individuals and have responded to them with a few excellent locations located close to the host hotel but right in the mountains. It looks like there may be few folks travelling up with their toy haulers and staying a little longer to tour farther north up to Jasper.


Regarding hotel selection. I began soliciting hotels in early 2015 in the Canmore and Banff area. There were only a handful of hotels that would accommodate our group. Most of the hotels in Banff start at 180.00/night up to ridiculous and are setup for tour groups from Asia and Europe, their parking and meeting room capabilities are very limited.

A couple of hotels are setup for meeting/convention/weddings. Room rates are not bad but you are paying for the ambiance of the Rockies in a high class setting (Banff Fairmont Springs Hotel)(looks like a castle) Banff and Canmore are very much tourist destinations, they have two busy seasons, ski/snowboard and spring/summer/fall. The shoulder seasons are very short. The ski/snowboard season has been known to extend into May overlapping the start of golf/hiking/summer tourism.

Canmore is the cheaper sister of Banff but runs on the same premiss for tourism. The best time of year to host a SW is August, the week before Sturgis. This allows for the most people to make the trip and make two great events. We solicited the larger hotels in Canmore for hosting the event. One location was perfect, more rooms, great parking, close to the microbrewery. Unfortunately their prices for rooms began at 164$/night and they were non-negotiable in their banquet space at 1500.00 just for the room to host the banquet. Their banquet meal prices were very high as well. I felt they were gouging us a little bit on purpose and not negotiating in good faith. When I approached them about putting a tent up in the rear parking area and cordoning it off for motorcycle only parking, they starting putting up all kinds of roadblocks.

The next choice of hotel had the number of rooms require, ok banquet space that they would negotiate on the cost, ok menu but were located right next to the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline, literally a board fence in between the rail right of way and the hotel parking, I could envision the bike alarms sounding throughout the night as several freight trains rolled thru town keeping our group and other awake all night. The last thing I want is tired grumpy riders each day. While their room pricing was not bad at 146/night, the parking situation and no possibility of a hospitality tent ruled out the venue.

The Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino bid on our group at 104$/night Canadian. They have banquet facilities, a casino, huge parking lot where a tent won't be a problem, shuttle service to Canmore and while not ideal, fuel is only about 5 miles away.

As stated earlier we are pleasantly surprised at the number of rooms booked and the folks that want to come. I believe that this SW in Canada will most likely be a one time occurance and that all future SW's will be held in the U.S.

My purpose from the start was to invite the members that like to ride long distance and experience the area they are riding too to come and visit my backyard but to do it affordably. I don't like to compromise but we had too to keep the trip affordable for the masses.

Yes the event is growing and I do believe that future events held in the U.S. will see larger attendance. The need for larger venues will become the norm and will definitely have to be taken into consideration. The problem being that some of the best places to see and ride are in smaller locales and the local trading area will just not support such large hotel complexes to make them viable locations year round.


Calgaryglide

I can't wait to roll out of Texas heading north meandering our way to Canada taking in the sites and then meeting up with everyone once again. Let me say a big "Thank You very much" for all the effort and time you and the committee have put in to make this Shark Week a success. Looking forward to another great Shark Week and what our neighbor Canada will fill our eyes and senses with while there. The countdown is on!

 

[100edition]

Going to be epic for sure. Got the count down clock running.

 

[Root76]

I'm super positive, though Vicki just said Shark Week has now booked the entire place. I'm now on the wait list... She suggested Cochrane, Canmore, or Calgary for alternate lodging locations. Hopefully Mr. Calgaryglide will come through on this.

My only problem is confirming if it's gonna be only me, or "plus 1" (two-up) coming. Oh, and a passport...:nerd:

 

[Quicksand]

I'm super positive, though Vicki just said Shark Week has now booked the entire place. I'm now on the wait list... She suggested Cochrane, Canmore, or Calgary for alternate lodging locations. Hopefully Mr. Calgaryglide will come through on this.

My only problem is confirming if it's gonna be only me, or "plus 1" (two-up) coming. Oh, and a passport...:nerd:

Stay vigilant in landing a room at the host hotel. Due to the circumstance of life there will be people that have to cancel all the way up to go time....there always is.

 

[JayKS]

If someone acts fast, there should be a King-Smoking room open that I just cancelled.

Long story. I do have a room reservation at the hotel, but this one should now be available.

Get it while it's hot!

 

[IdahoHacker]

Ok, this may be a bit embarrassing, but I'm still new here, and I just found this thread about Shark Week. What is Shark Week? Obviously it's a gathering, with rides and other activities.

Is there a web site with a list of activities, pics of prior years, etc., etc.?

Thanks!

 

[hotrodad]

Here you go!

snipped

Is there a web site with a list of activities, pics of prior years, etc., etc.?

Thanks!

Here you go Road Glide Gathering - Road Glide Forums
Read all about it.

 

[DreamRider]

Is there a web site with a list of activities, pics of prior years, etc., etc.?
Thanks!

Photothreads for each SharkWeek Event:

SWI
http://www.roadglide.org/146-archives-swi-gettysburg-pa/8886-shark-week-i-photo-thread.html

SWII
http://www.roadglide.org/154-archives-swii-leclaire-ia/20737-**official-swii-photo-thread**.html

SWIII
http://www.roadglide.org/162-archives-swiii-st-george-ut/50418-official-swiii-photo-thread.html

SWIV
http://www.roadglide.org/273-archives-swiv-nh-me/163162-**-official-swiv-photo-thread**.html

SWV
http://www.roadglide.org/314-archives-swv-kerrville-tx/222418-**swv-official-photo-thread**.html

NOTE: You can find these and Plenty more threads in the Link Hotrodad provided, simply look in the ARCHIVES sections at the top of the page.

 

[IdahoHacker]

Thanks, guys! Appreciate the help!

Clay

 

[jeff338wm]

Just called the Hotel and all rooms are sold out. They have a smaller sister hotel with 48 total rooms, supposedly even nicer, they will contact about booking overflow from our group with at the same rate for us. I'm to give them one week to get it arranged so we'll see next week. More to follow!!!

 

[Hullhorr]

You might check and see if the hotel will create a wait list to fill any cancellations. There are usually several cancellations as the event gets closer and people have things come up.

 

[doobros]

Buy Chuck a beer and you have a friend for life