Folks: 

FYI, Croatia has a long tradition of homestays in addition to hotels, e.g., 
there is a well-established network of folks in nearly every town renting 
rooms.  Some towns that are listed in the guidebooks as worth visiting 
hardly have formal hotels of B&Bs to speak of, but do have a centrally 
located agency that keeps track of who is renting out rooms.  This is 
apparently a pretty above board arrangement and not shady in the least.  In 
most cases. 

Rijeka allegedly has numerous such arrangements.  I got the Rough Guide to 
Croatia and and Lonely Planet Croatia (or for the Adriatic; I can't recall 
the titles exactly).  Both detail how you can find such living arrangements. 
Anyone who has their hackles up about the inability to make hotel 
reservations might consider this.  The downside: the arrangements cannot be 
made in advance, and transportation to the conference site would be of your 
own making, 

Also, it is possible to rent a car and drive with a U.S. license, according 
to both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet. 

Best,
 Alison Reiheld 


Anne Donchin writes: 

> Mary-- 
> 
> Did they actually bill your credit card?  Or just ask for approval?  Anne 
> 
> Anne Donchin, Professor of Philosophy (emerita)
> Indiana University, Indianapolis
>  
> 5 Riverpointe Road
> Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
> Phone: 914-674-0122
> Fax:      914-478-2885
> Cell:      914-320-9122
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> or [log in to unmask] 
> 
> 
> From: [log in to unmask] 
> Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 5:57 AM
> To: [log in to unmask] 
> Subject: Re: Croatia meeting 
> 
> 
> Dear Lisa, 
> You must, indeed, book your hotel through Top Kongress and pay in advance.                     
> I tried to make hotel reservations on my own. (I wanted to stay at the hotel in the center during FAB and then move to the one on the coast during IAB.) You cannot do so, as Top Kongress has blocked out all the rooms in all the hotels listed on the conference website. You must book through them, you can only book in one hotel, and you must pay in advance. 
> NOTE: Be sure that you also book your transport from Zagreb to Rijeka at the same time. It is VERY difficult to add anything after you have booked.  If you don't book transport through them, your only alternatives are a public bus or a taxi, the former taking forever and the latter costing a fortune. They have not yet given us a schedule for the transport, but it is supposed to be posted on the conference website.                  
> One more note: you may have trouble when Top Kongress tries to charge you credit card.  I was contacted by American Express' fraud unit, which flagged the charge initially. Then, AE held it up again, because I had authorized a payment to a conference management firm and Top Kongress registers as a retail store. I had to speak directly to the fraud unit and verbally authorize the charge. I sure hope there isn't someone in Croatia walking around in Jimmy Choos on my dime. 
> Let's hope we don't have this arrangement in the future. 
> Some of you may remember that I booked my own room in Beijing at the Crowne Plaza, where I had palatial accomodations at a cheaper rate than those of you who had booked at the conference hotel, where the accomodations were, to say the least, hardly palatial. It pays to have some flexibility. 
> Hope this helps. And, having paid in advance, I hope we find everything in order when we get there! 
> Warm regards, Mary 
> Professor Mary C. Rawlinson 
> Editor, International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics ( [log in to unmask] ) 
> Department of Philosophy 
> Stony Brook University 
> Stony Brook, New York 
> U.S.A 11794 
> TEL: 631-632-7570 
> FAX: 631-666-3726  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Feminist Approaches to Bioethics <[log in to unmask]> wrote: -----  
> 
> 
>   To: [log in to unmask] 
>   From: Lisa Eckenwiler <[log in to unmask]> 
>   Sent by: Feminist Approaches to Bioethics <[log in to unmask]> 
>   Date: 07/23/2008 04:53PM 
>   Subject: Croatia meeting  
> 
>   Dear colleagues,  
> 
>   I received a request to authorize the full payment of my hotel bill in Rijeka.  Have others had this experience?  It is so unusual and seems very unreasonable to me to be charged in advance for this.  So I am seeking some guidance.....  
> 
>   many thanks, 
>   Lisa  
> 
>   Lisa A. Eckenwiler, PhD 
>   Associate Professor 
>   Department of Philosophy 
>   Associate Professor 
>   Department of Health Administration and Policy 
>   Director of Health Care Ethics 
>   Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics 
>   George Mason University 
>   4400 University Drive, MS 2D7 
>   Fairfax, Virginia 22030 
>   703.993.1724 (phone) 
>   703.993.1555 (fax) 
>   http://philosophy.gmu.edu 
>   http://www.gmu.edu/departments/chpre  
> 
> 
 


Alison Reiheld
History, Philosophy, & Sociology of Science
Lyman Briggs College
Michigan State University
Co-editor, Questions: Philosophy for Young People
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