Accommodation
This is possibly the most important page of the conference website. Please read this carefully, if you plan to participate in EASA2012.
First, a warning
Accommodation in Paris during the conference will be problematic if you do not book as soon as possible. The conference takes place at the end of the corporate high season, the middle of the tourist high season, just before the Olympic Games in London (where accommodation is overbooked already), and just before Bastille Day. Accommodation in Paris is anyway insufficient for demand during the middle of the tourism season. Prices quoted this month will be out-of-date next. So please book NOW - now made easier by the fact that workshop times are now online. .
Now, the good news
The conference venue is well connected by RER to the whole of Paris, which has an excellent public transport system. This means that while the La Défense area is probably the closest area of accommodation to the Nanterre venue, delegates will be able to stay all over the city - vastly increasing the range and possibilities. While you may wish to visit your favourite travel agency sites or start googling, our local team has already done some extensive research on possibilities to perhaps make this a little easier. We have prepared a spreadsheet which lists over 200 possibilities, with detail on pricing, address, type of accommodation, booking methods, etc. By providing it in that format, it may not look pretty, but it makes it easy to search, order, filter and adapt to your needs. As the months go by we will update the file, as best we can. Inclusion on the list does NOT mean that we have visited these establishments and checked the sheets - we make no guarantees for quality, etc - we are simply gathering relevant info all in one place.
We have included apartments as well as hotels, as many may wish to stay a while longer or share with friends or colleagues; we have also included some reservation centres in the list. While these businesses will need to take their commission, they may well end up being the best bet as time passes, as they will have live connections with the accommodation they make bookings for, and so be able to help as rooms become scarce.
A small number of the accommodation options listed have agreed to give EASA delegates a discount. The code you need to quote to avail of the discount is in the spreadsheet. A couple have specific booking forms which are linked to in the sheet.
The spreadsheet can be downloaded here.
We have not indicated distance/time from the venue. This is partly due to it being a long list; and partly due to the fact that while there is not much accommodation immediate to the campus, it is accessible very easily and quickly by metro and RER from other parts of Paris. You may find the following Paris Public Transport journey planner useful in assessing how long your commute will take you.
Discount at the Campanile hotels
We have negotiated a good discount rate with the Louvre Hotels group who own the Campanile, Kyriad and Premiere Classe hotels around Nanterre. These are indicated on the second sheeet of the spreadsheet above. Please note the terms and conditions of this deal, downloadable here in French (PDF). Essentially these are that bookings must be made by 9/5, full payment on booking or by 10/6; payments are non-refundable from 26/6; alterations between those dates will incur some charges due to tax. We are grateful to the Louvre Hotels Group for their sponsorship in kind.
Another route: using a reservation centre
If sorting all of this out seems like too much work, then you might consider using the help of a reservation centre. There are some listed within the accommodation list. Although this might make your booking a little more expensive, it might save time and money in the long-run. For example, Abotel, have their own accomodation list of hostels and apartments, which is different from ours - so all you need to is complete their booking form and they will then do the leg-work to try and find a suitable apartment for you to rent for a minimum of 4 nights, or a hostel.