DPS 2005 accommodation

Good news for those who have not yet reserved housing or a hotel for DPS 2005. We can still get you a bed, and breakfast too!

Registrants who have not yet made accommodation arrangements are offered standard student rooms at St Edmund's College. This college is close to the Meeting venue and the other colleges. The accommodation will be available on a stand by basis at Registration. Those who elect to take this housing will contract direct with the College, not DPS2005, and will pay by credit card on collection of their keys. The modest charge, about $55 per night, reflects the moderate service level. (There is no butler to polish your shoes.) The rooms are perfectly good but not fancy. Bathrooms and toilets are shared. Every room has a hand basin. It's a quiet location. A reasonable uncooked breakfast is included in the price, but no dinners.

Summary
Cambridge does not have many hotels and is a popular tourist destination. Comfortable and affordable residential accommodation has therefore been reserved for DPS and HAD attendees in three of the colleges that are extensively used out of term-time for a wide range of conferences: Robinson College, St John’s College and St Catharine's College. We are confident that you will find the rooms agreeable and the college experience congenial.

The colleges only offer accommodation plans including meals, so the packages comprise room and breakfast for each night, and a set dinner in the dining hall at 7.30 p.m. on the evenings of Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. A choice of two optional Gala Dinners is being offered for Wednesday night, bookable separately.

The basic accommodation package is for 5 nights – arrive Sunday, depart Friday. A limited number of rooms are available in Robinson College on the Saturday night before the meeting starts and on the Friday night after it ends. These can be booked in addition to the 5-night package. College accommodation is not available on any other dates. A small discount (10%) is available to people who book the basic package but wish to leave on Thursday. (As we have had to reserve all rooms for 5 nights, we are unable to make a larger reduction for 4 nights.)

The DPS has made a significant commitment to the booking of college accommodation, which we believe will make the Cambridge meeting a uniquely sociable and interesting experience. If, however, you need a different kind of accommodation (traveling as a larger family group, for example) visit the Tourist Information Office. Hotel accommodation will be in short supply at the date of the meeting, so early booking is advised. Expect to pay at least $200 per night, and perhaps as much as $350 per night, for a good double or family room in a major hotel. Guest houses and B+Bs start at about $100 for a double, but good rooms in a quality establishments are closer to $140 per night.

Note that the meeting venue is not within easy walking distance of most of the smaller hotels and bed-and-breakfast establishments, and is not directly served by public buses.

Booking College Accommodation
Accommodation will be bookable on-line in conjunction with the Registration Form, or by faxing the AAS Office in Washington. PLEASE READ THE DETAILED INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE BOOKING.

ACCOMMODATION BOOKING IS NOW CLOSED
Note: College accommodation is available ONLY if pre-booked and CANNOT be arranged on-site.

Room facilities – general remarks
The study-bedrooms are comfortably furnished with a desk and reading light, armchair or sofa, bookcases, wardrobe (closet) and drawers, and a single bed. The rooms we have reserved either have an en-suite bathroom or have a bathroom shared only with one other neighboring room (in a few cases, three residents will share the bathroom). Most rooms are smaller than would be usual in a US hotel but some of the older rooms in St John’s are far larger than is usual for student accommodation.

All rooms will be serviced and cleaned and beds made up, daily. Bed linen, clothes hangers, toiletries, towels and coffee/tea making facilities are provided, Ironing boards and hairdryers can be borrowed.

Some rooms form ‘sets’ of two single bedrooms (each separately lockable) opening onto a common area with access to a shared bathroom within the ‘set’ (that is to say, the bathroom is private to those two rooms). In Robinson College the sets are at the tops of staircases.

We have 10 en-suite rooms in Robinson College that have twin beds within a single bedroom.

For couples and students who agree to room-share (and reduce costs) we have reserved apartments (known as sets) in St John’s College. As noted above, these offer two single beds in two connecting rooms. The level of ‘privacy’ is similar to that in a suites hotel in the USA, with one bed in the bedroom and the other in the sitting room. These sets are eminently suitable for pairs of people who have agreed to share with each other. They are being charged at a lower rate than other rooms and offer the most economical accommodation option for students and couples. These sets are also suitable for couples, families or pairs of friends.

St John’s College
St John’s College is the older college by a margin of nearly five hundred years, founded in 1511. It is located in the historic center of the city in a semi-pedestrianized area with good shopping, including numerous excellent bookshops. The College is the largest in Cambridge with buildings of various ages. (One building, which is one of the oldest surviving residential buildings in England, dates from about 1200). Tourists are allowed into the courts and grounds during the day, but they are denied access to the buildings and staircases.

The timber-frame, brick and stone buildings straggle in the extensive lawn and woodland grounds, and it is about 300 meters from the most far-flung room to the Dining Hall. The College buildings are connected across the Bridge of Sighs over the River Cam, along which there are likely to be punts passing, poled (from the rear in Cambridge) by both practiced students and novice tourists.

On Monday and Tuesday, St John’s residents will dine in its splendid sixteenth century Dining Hall, overlooked by a portrait of John Couch Adams. This Hall will also be the scene of one of the conference’s celebration dinners on Wednesday. St John’s is near to the traditional image of Cambridge. On Thursday evening, residents at St John’s will be able to experience another college when they have dinner in nearby St Catharine’s College (St John’s Hall being in use for another function that evening).

Accessibility in St John’s is, however, an issue. We will be able to offer some ground floor rooms to delegates with minor physical disabilities. Since wheel-chair users would find it difficult to maneuver through the courts without help, e.g. to travel from the most accessible rooms 300 meters across cobbles and bridges to the dining hall, they will be assigned rooms in Robinson College. Wheel-chair users may however elect to take the St John’s conference dinner. The college is also a 1.5-km, 20-minute leisurely walk to the meeting venue. (Taxis are available but the driving route is circuitous due to one-way traffic restrictions.)

There are two walking routes between St John’s and the Music and Law faculty buildings. One route passes from the Porter’s Lodge at the front of the college along the main north-south street in Cambridge (a path originally trod by Roman legions), crossing the river between Trinity and King’s Colleges or at Queens’ College. The other leaves through a gate (which is subject to being locked late at night - we will need check opening times) at the rear, and follows a path through the Backs (i.e. the pretty, countrified ‘backs’ of the colleges) situated alongside the River Cam.

Delegates may gain internet access in St. John's bedrooms by purchasing a phone card from the St. John's College Porters' lodge.

Robinson College
Robinson College was founded in 1979 and the brick-built accommodation is therefore generally more modern and more convenient, some might think more comfortable, although of course less historic and perhaps smaller. It is located in Grange Road, appropriately positioned between Herschel Road (named for Sir John) and Adams Road (named for John Couch Adams). Many rooms have private balconies. The College has an elegant traditional dining hall, an intimate Garden Restaurant and a good kitchen. It has a particularly attractive large garden through which flows a lazy brook. The HAD meeting and some break-out meetings will be held in seminar rooms in the College. The college is just a few minutes walk from the faculty buildings where the DPS sessions take place, and 15 minutes walk from the conveniences and delights of the city center. Access to Robinson College by the disabled/handicapped is in general considerably easier than at St John’s, but even so accessibility varies from room to room. The college is willing to accommodate children (but see below).

You are free to choose but the following may help you make a selection to suit your individual needs.

Room pricing and allocation policy
All rooms are being charged at the same price, regardless of size, aspect, configuration, college, etc., apart from the rooms in the double sets in St John’s College mentioned above.

College accommodation may be booked for accompanying persons who are not themselves meeting participants or formally registered as a guest

All packages are "Modified American Plan" (some meals included). There is no option to select "room only". The price includes accommodation; breakfasts; dinners on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; taxes and gratuities.

"JUPITER" packages are 5 nights: arrive Sunday 4^th September, depart Friday 9^th September.

"SATURN" packages are 4 nights: arrive Sunday 4^th September, depart Thursday 8^th September. Note that these are the only dates available for the Saturn package. There is no other 4 night option.

For twin rooms in Robinson College, and two-room sets in St. John's College, the price is for two persons sharing and is the equivalent of $580 per person (5 nights) or $525 per person (4 nights). One person should make the booking and give the name of the person they are sharing with.

Room Selections SOLD OUT	Price
1. RC Single Room, private bathroom, JUPITER	$775
2. SJC Single Room, private bathroom, JUPITER	$775
3. RC Single Room, private bathroom, SATURN	$700
4. SJC Single Room, private bathroom, SATURN	$700
5. RC Single Room, shared bathroom, JUPITER	$695
6. SJC Single Room, shared bathroom, JUPITER	$695
7. RC Single Room, shared bathroom, SATURN	$625
8. SJC Single Room, shared bathroom, SATURN	$625
9. SJC Set of two single rooms and bathroom (2 persons), JUPITER	$1160
10. SJC Set of two single rooms and batroom (2 persons), SATURN	$1050
11. RC Twin-bedded room, private bathroom, JUPITER	$1160
12. RC Extra night bed and breakfast, Saturday 3^rdSeptember	$125
13. RC Extra night bed and breakfast, Saturday 10^thSeptember	$125

ACCOMMODATION BOOKING IS NOW CLOSED
Note: College accommodation is available ONLY if pre-booked and CANNOT be arranged on-site.

DPS 2005 has just reserved a block of rooms at a third College, St Catharine's. These rooms came 'on the market' because of a late cancellation at that College. We can offer single rooms, all with private bath, at the same price as the (sold out) en suite rooms at Robinson College and St John's College. Residents at St Catharine's will have their breakfast there. On Monday and Tuesday, their dinners will be with the rest of their DPS colleagues in St John's, which is a five minute walk from St Catharine's. On Thursday the dinner for St John's and St Catharine's residents is in St Catharine's College.

St Catharine's College
St Catharine's College is located on world famous King's Parade, right next to King's College. It was founded in 1473. The oldest extant buildings are from the 17th century. The DPS rooms are mostly in a new building. It is currently ranked as the top College in Cambridge in terms of undergraduate academic achievement.

The Jupiter and Saturn packages now available at St Catharine's College are equal in terms of value and quality to the accommodations at Robinson and St John's.

Note: The booking code for St Catharine's College on the AAS Registration form is KC and this option is listed on the last two lines of the accommodation form.

ACCOMMODATION BOOKING IS NOW CLOSED
Note: College accommodation is available ONLY if pre-booked and CANNOT be arranged on-site.

The Local Organizers and the Colleges will allocate rooms on a first-come-first served basis, taking into account as far as possible preferences expressed and any special requirements. Early-bird bookings can expect that the College will be able to fulfill all requirements. For bookings after July 1 we may not be able to satisfy all requirements. However, we are confident that everyone will be suitably accommodated and will enjoy the experience of College life.

If you have special needs of access, diet, room position or companionship, please make them all clear when reserving accommodation. Delegates are given the chance to express a preference for accommodation in St John’s or Robinson College. Because of the mix of rooms, etc., that are available and the various calls on them that may arise, we expect not to be able to satisfy all preferences, particularly with late bookings.

Where unrelated delegates are allocated rooms in sets with a shared bathroom even though they have not specifically chosen to share a set, the bedrooms will be individually lockable and same-sex delegates will be grouped together.

Children under 18 years may stay in Robinson College but NOT St John’s. There is no reduction in the accommodation charges for children. Infants under 1 year will be accommodated free (when making the reservation request a cot to be put in the room with the parents). There are no special arrangements in Robinson College for children and they must be accompanied at all times. Parents should bear in mind that the environment is not really suitable for unsupervised children under 12 because there are potential dangers (rivers, walls, stairs, low windows, balconies...)

On arrival
Go to the college where you are staying, as you would to a hotel. Keys will be issued from the Porters’ Lodge. DPS Meeting volunteers with local knowledge will be on hand to assist you during the main arrival period on Sunday (and to direct you to the meeting venue on Monday morning).

You will need separately to go to the Meeting Registration desk at the Music School to collect your badge, abstracts etc.