NBRS 2024 Hotel Contract RFQ Q and A.docx

NBRS 2024 Hotel Contract Questions from Interested Parties

1. Do you anticipate all 550 rooms staying over on Friday, since there is no space on Friday? Does the group go off site?

Historical data shows that our group pick up on Friday is between 450-550. The group does not generally go off site.

2. I see F&B is listed, does the group need F&B at per diem rates?

There is a set Food and Beverage Budget for this program. Please anticipate menu modifications or special menu requests to meet the expected overall Food and Beverage budget for this event. See Appendix II, which requests an “Avg. Meal price by category” be included in the quote.

3. We do have a couple of your preferred date options we can but wanted to check on your space flexibility in order to make this work?

We will consider different breakout room configurations, as long as they can hold the capacity as listed on the RFQ. However, the general session space set up is not flexible.

4. Can you shift peak nights to arrive Sun/Mon - is this an option you would consider?

Shifting peak nights to arrive Sun/Mon will run us into the Veterans Day holiday, which is not ideal for ED (holiday work/overtime pay issues).

5. What is the group’s flexibility on changing the set up and size of breakouts? With the current specs, we would need to reuse the General Session for several of the breakouts to make the space work, is this an option?

We’ve done that before, but we will need to determine how many of the breakouts they want to hold in the general session space. We indicated in the RFQ that we could use the general session room as a breakout room for one of our sessions. However, due to the extensive A/V and staging setup, it will require additional time for set-up, so it’s not ideal to reuse it for other sessions.

6. For the Solicitation listed above are you open to reusing the General Session Room for multiple breakout sessions?

See response to Question 5 above.

7. Are you open to using an overflow hotel for some of the sleeping rooms if we can’t accommodate all 775 on peak?

The Department is open to using an overflow hotel. However, we’ll want to know how many rooms the ‘prime contractor’ can accommodate on the peak nights before shifting to an overflow hotel. The preference is that the event hotel can accommodate our peak nights and offer the overflow if we exceed.

8. Checking if early December is an option if the F&B and meeting space pricing is better or are those dates concrete?

As stated in the RFQ, at this time, quoters that cannot provide services in November 2024 will not be considered.

9. Are the preferred concessions in the solicitation required or preferred?

Preferred concessions are not required. Concessions offered or accepted will be used to identify a best value quote.

10. How do I submit & perform a site visit? Do we have to go or can this be done by on site management?

Hotel site visits may be scheduled after all RFP submissions have been reviewed. The Department’s Events Team will contact the contractor directly to schedule site visits.

11. If you have some flexibility with your space (breakout rooms in theater instead of rounds) and possibly splitting space between the center and a hotel, we might be able to make something work in Baltimore?

At this time, there is no flexibility with the area of consideration, which is the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, including Maryland and Virginia hotels with ready access to public transportation options offered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.