PRE-SOLICITATION CONFERENCE QUESTIONS ANSWERS.doc

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS FROM

CSU-E CIVMAR LODGING PRE-SOLICITATION CONFERENCE

19 JUL 2011

Preamble: The following answers provided by the Government are in response to specific questions posed by industry at the CSU-E Civilian Mariner (Civmar) Lodging Pre-Solicitation Conference conducted on July 19, 2011 in Virginia Beach, VA. The following questions and answers do not constitute a request for proposal and/or amendment to a prevailing request for proposal. Instead, the following information is provided to industry for planning purposes only. In addition, the following information is subject to revision prior to release of the synopsis and/or solicitation posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website. Interested vendors shall review any synopsis and solicitation in its entirety to ensure an offeror’s proposal is in accordance with the terms and conditions of the solicitation and not simply the answers provided below.

INVOICES

Q1. How often can vendors submit invoices?

A1. Invoicing periodicity is at the hotel’s discretion. Invoices may be submitted weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, etc. The current contractor invoices weekly.

Q2. Are invoices submitted to the Government by hard copy, email, or electronically?

A2. The current contractor submits invoices to the Government either by hard copy via mail or scans the invoices and sent via email to Accounts Payable office.

HOTEL ROOMS

Q3. Who is the current contract with?

A3. The current contract for CSU-E Civmar Lodging is with 1900 Pavilion Drive LLC dba Doubletree Hotel-Virginia Beach

Q4. What is the length of stay of the CIVMARS?

A4. The length of stay for each civmar will vary. Length of stay depends on the reason the Civmars are at the CSU-E Pool, i.e. training, ship assignment, etc. Based on historical data the “average” stay of a civmar is approximately three (3) weeks. The New Hires are initially at the hotel for one (1) week.

Q5. How far in advance do we know a CIVMAR is checking in?

A5. Currently there is no notice. MSFSC intends on implementing a hotel reservation system prior to contract award whereby the Civmar calls the MSFSC POC for a reservation. The MSFSC POC then liaisons with the hotel POC to make a reservation at the hotel. Once that is in place, the hotel should be able to receive a notice of a CIVMAR’s arrival 24-72 hours in advance.

Q6. What are the normal hotel arrival times of the CIVMARS? Is it necessary to hire additional staff to cover the 2nd and 3rd shifts?

A6. Most Civmars will check in during normal hotel check in times. However, Civmars live in all 24 standard time zones, so they are arriving at Norfolk International Airport at all hours or they are driving their personal vehicles from many different locations.

Q7. What if a Civmar reports to the hotel for a room before the reserved room is available (i.e. before normal check in time)?

A7. The Civmar will then wait for the room to become available.

Q8. What if we have prior commitments/blackout dates?

A8. Once a Civmar is assigned a room, they will not be moved to a different room or location. With the MSFSC hotel reservation system that will be implemented, the hotel POC should be able to determine which hotel the Civmar should report to, taking into consideration any prior commitments/blackout dates. With regards to known blackout dates during the period of performance of the contract, each offeror must disclose those dates in their proposal. The solicitation shall explain how the offeror shall disclose this information. If awarded the lodging contract, no additional blackout dates may be added after award.

Q9. Will this contract be strictly a small business set aside or will large businesses be considered?

A9. The determination as to whether the procurement is restricted to small business concerns or unrestricted to all vendors has yet to be determined. The synopsis and solicitation posted to the FBO website shall clearly indicate whether the procurement is restricted to small business concerns (or some other socioeconomic program) or whether the procurement is unrestricted. Of note, if the agency makes the determination to set-aside the procurement for small business concerns (or some other socioeconomic program), the successful offeror shall provide 50% or more of the total labor costs during the life of the contract in accordance FAR Clause 52.219-14 (Limitations of Subcontracting).

Q10. How do you coordinate how many rooms are needed on a daily basis? If 120 rooms are held, at what point can they be released to the general public?

A10. Historically, our hotel numbers have been cyclic, so it is somewhat predictable as to when the numbers will decrease and increase. The average number of rooms required on a nightly basis is between 120 and 200. Each CIVMAR will be provided a hotel room, and will not be turned away from the hotel due to non-availability, per the contract. Again, with the MSFSC Hotel Reservation system implementation, it should be easier to control the room reservations. You will see the largest number of check-ins on Sundays, and the largest number of check outs on Fridays as CSU-E Pool numbers are higher at the beginning of the week and lower at the end of the week.

Q11. Can there be more than 2 overflow hotel properties?

A11. Yes. The contractor will need to have a sufficient number of hotel rooms available to meet the requirement for 120-200 average rooms per night.

Q12. Can our hotel be listed with more than 1 Primary hotel on the proposal package?

A12. Each proposal must identify a single primary hotel and, at least, two overflow properties.

Q13. Can our hotel be listed as a Primary hotel, but also be listed as an overflow property on a separate proposal package?

A13. Yes

Q14. Can we charge for unused rooms?

A14. The contract will stipulate the Government is only liable for and will only pay for the actual number of rooms provided by the contractor. However, if a hotel reservation is made and the Civmar does not show up or fails to call and cancel the reservation, MSFSC will pay for that one night of no-show, so long as the hotel can provide evidence that the room could have been sold to a regular paying guest for a higher rate.

TRANSPORTATION

Q15. Does a public transportation designated stop need to be within 1/8 mile distance of the hotel if the hotel provides a shuttle service?

A15. Yes. Many Civmars report to the hotel with no personal transportation and they need the mobility to go to the grocery store, shopping mall, movies, etc., which is sometimes outside the realm of the hotel shuttle service.

DINING

Q16. Are the CIVMARS on Per Diem for their meals?

A16. No, Civmars receive a subsistence payment of $38/day which is lower than the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake Meal Per Diem rate stipulated by GSA of $51/day. The Norfolk Meal Per Diem Rate stipulated by GSA is $56/day.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Q17. What are the demographics of the Civmars staying at the hotel?

A17. Historically, the average age of Civmars residing at the hotel is 46 years old. A majority of the Civmars are male.

Q18. Do the Civmars collect hotel points while staying at the hotel?

A18. No. The Civmars do not pay for the hotel rooms out-of-pocket; therefore, they are not entitled to hotel points, awards programs, etc.

Q19. What affect does rate have on award?

A19. The evaluation of an offeror’s rate (price) shall be specifically addressed in the solicitation. However, it is understood price shall be an evaluation factor in contract award and the successful offeror’s total evaluated price must be determined fair and reasonable prior to contract award.

Q20. How will the evaluations be determined, numbering system, etc?

A20. Evaluation of an offeror’s proposal (and factors for contract award) shall be specifically addressed in the solicitation.

Q21. How many CIVMARS have cars to park?

A21. Historically, approximately 50% of the Civmars staying at the hotel has personal vehicles.

Q22. What happens with lodging requirements on major/federal holidays?

A22. The CSU-E office is closed on all Federal holidays so the Civmars will stay at the hotel during these holidays. During most holidays, there is no decline in hotel numbers, except for the Christmas holiday, where numbers can decline substantially. However, historical data indicates there will be an increase in the room count in January with returning Civmars.

Q23. Are smoking rooms required?

A23. No. Providing smoking rooms is not a condition of the contract. However, if the hotel is smoke-free, there must be areas set aside for smoking outside.

OTHER INFORMATION DISCUSSED

CSU-E is like a labor hall where the Civmars sit around all day waiting for a ship assignment. It can be boring and when they get back to the hotel they want to be able to do things, not sit in their hotel room all evening and all week-end.

Per Diem Rates – Current Per Diem rates were provided. Changes in per diem rates usually occur at the beginning of the new Fiscal Year in October. Per Diem rates can be found on the Defense Travel Management Office website http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/perdiemCalc.cfm It is anticipated the solicitation will be open on the FBO website for 30 calendar days. The agency intends to award a new contract before January 1, 2012. Since the current contract expires January 17, 2012 the agency intends to maximize the time between contract award and the performance start date to afford the contractor ample opportunity to prepare for performance commencement.

Dining – Civmars normally will not be at the hotel during the lunch hours, Monday through Friday. Civmars typically depart the hotel at 6 a.m. each weekday morning, and return to the hotel at approximately 3:30 p.m. each afternoon. On the weekends, they are free to come and go as they please.

New Hire Orientation Weeks – the hotel will know by the Thursday or Friday prior to arrival on the number of rooms needed for these groups checking in on Sundays.

The hotel can also be advised in advance of any ship phase downs (yard periods) where Civmars are returning to Norfolk/CSU-E for another ship assignment.

The room rate submitted must be fixed for the entire base year of the contract. However, each option year may have a different room rate for each year. Offeror’s are not required to propose the same room rate for the entire five (5) year period under contract.

The solicitation will stipulate as such, but offerors should list all the amenities offered at the property, e.g. free shuttle, free laundry, etc., in addition to all the requirements listed in the RFP.

Only one (1) contract will be awarded to the Primary Hotel. The overflow hotel properties will be subcontracted by the primary hotel. Overflow properties will submit their invoices to the primary hotel. Only the primary hotel will submit an invoice for payment.

Since the high average of hotel rooms required per night is 200, hotels with less than 51%, or 102 rooms, shall not be considered as a primary hotel.

At all times the primary hotel must house greater than 50% of the Civmars at all times, e.g. 120 Civmars requiring hotel rooms, of which 62 must be staying at the primary hotel, 150 Civmars requiring hotel rooms, of which 77 must be staying at the primary hotel, 200 Civmars requiring hotel rooms, of which 102 must be staying at the primary hotel.)

Transportation to/from CSU-E daily is not listed in the contract. There is a separate Government contract that will be used to satisfy the Civmar transportation requirement.