Hotel arrangement
Important
The information on this page concerns only the festival hotel arrangement. It does NOT include festival tickets that you need to order separately using our online ticket booth.
Theaterhotel Almelo reservation and booking - When and how
During the festival the demands for rooms at the Theaterhotel is always greater than the supply. Letting out these rooms on a first come, first serve basis does not work as the hotel would be booked solid the moment we announce the new festival date while we, the organization, do not know immediately how many rooms we need for e.g. the special guests. Thus the booking of rooms during the festival weekend is blocked as soon as we know the new festival date. As the weekend shows up fully booked in the hotel reservation system, some hotel staff may tell you it has been sold out already.
This year we release the hotel rooms we do not need on December the 1st 2011. Up to that date you can request a reservation for the Anime 2012 arrangement at the Theaterhotel. You can request your reservation today, tomorrow or next week! Either will make no difference in your chances of getting a room, as long as you request a reservation before the 1st of December. You will receive a confirmation of your request. Mind you, a confirmation is all you will get. Booking a room is simply not possible before the 1st of December.
During the first week of December the Theaterhotel will hold a lottery to hand out the free rooms among the people who requested a reservation. (As some people find out they do not want a room after all, this does take about a week.)
Theaterhotel Almelo has 186 rooms. As usual, the hotel has a special arrangement for Anime 2012, with reasonable rates for the festival weekend with breakfast and dinner included. The Theaterhotel has put up this web page showing all the price classes (Dutch language only). The per-person rates are based on a two-person per room occupancy. There will be a surcharge of € 32,50 in case you want to have a single room.
Though the lower rated rooms are usually quickly taken, some of the more expensive rooms tend to remain available for a longer period of time, sometimes up until the festival itself. Two years ago, the last available room was rented out on the opening day of the festival. So the lottery is the first but not the only chance of getting a room in Theaterhotel Almelo. Despite that, we still advise you not to wing it if you are adamant on sleeping directly above the festival grounds.
To request a reservation send an e-mail to info@theaterhotel.nl with the subject line "Anime 2012 hotelarrangement". State your full name, address, telephone number(s), how many rooms you want and how many people will stay in each room (1, 2 or in some cases 3; the hotel has some extra beds for 3 person rooms, though usually none are left after the booking has started) and the type/class of room you want to stay in.
If you are not so lucky...
If you luck out on a room, you will be put on a waiting list by the hotel. Usually some people cancel their reservations so you might still get a room later on. In the meantime we advise you to book elsewhere, e.g. you can book a room in Hotel Hengelo, the overflow hotel (see below), where you can book a room with breakfast in Hengelo and dinner in Almelo included. Do not forget to cancel Hotel Hengelo if a room becomes available in the Theaterhotel.
Overflow Hotel Hengelo reservation and booking
When Theaterhotel Almelo is booked solid Hotel Hengelo may still have rooms. Room rates are reasonable for the festival weekend with breakfast and dinner included and will be announced at a later date. The per-person rates are based on a two-person per room occupancy. Single rooms are available on request, at a higher rate.
Like last year we will have a taxi service in operation between the two hotels. Taxi vouchers for this service can be obtained for a small fee from Hengelo's front desk or the Main Desk at Almelo. Hotel Hengelo prefers the use of e-mail for booking the Anime 2012 arrangement: hengelo@valk.com. Please use the subject line "Anime Festival Hotel Arrangement".
Other alternatives
The VVV Almelo has lists with a wide variety of sleeping alternatives: www.vvvalmelo.nl/nl/site/slapen. Those pages include many options cheaper than the Theaterhotel.
And finally...
Do not contact us about your room. Your reservation is an agreement between you and Theaterhotel Almelo (or Hotel Hengelo) and changes, cancellations and whatnot regarding your reservation needs to be processed by the hotel. The hotel staff are very nice people. They won't bite your head off if you decide to cancel but remember they will send you an invoice if you cancel later than two weeks before the festival! So make sure you do not run into that problem.
Restrictions
- The hotel staff will have final judgement in which they preserve the right to not accept a booking for whatever reason without stating one.
- Bookings will fall under the terms and conditions of Theaterhotel Almelo or Hotel Hengelo, which can be found (in Dutch) on their web sites.
- Stichting Promotie Japanse Popcultuur is not liable in any way for correct, wrongful or declined bookings, whatever the reason may be.
- Separate dinner vouchers (for visitors without a Anime 2012 Hotel Arrangement) will be available for dinner on Friday and Saturday. Remember these vouchers are one-time-use only, you can't use the same voucher the next day! Vouchers mentioned can only be purchased at the Theaterhotel Almelo desk.
- Visitors staying at Hotel Hengelo have to eat breakfast there, but dinner can be had in Theaterhotel Almelo.
- Prices mentioned above do not include tourist tax.