warpstock
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Accomodation
Cologne
Tours, Trips, Tips
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The youth hostel
YH in Google maps
Great place
As mentioned on the starting page, the Cologne youth hostel will be
hosting the 2006 Warpstock Europe event. To give you a better impression
what this is like (and what it's not like), we have collected the most
important information on this page.
As mentioned on the starting page, the Cologne youth hostel will be
hosting the 2006 Warpstock Europe event. To give you a better impression
what this is like (and what it's not like), we have collected the most
important information on this page.
There are two youth hostels in Cologne. The Köln-Riehl facility that
has been chosen to host this years event is located a bit off the city centre
within a more natural surrounding. If it wasn't for the expected cold
climate in mid November, it would be a perfect place to enjoy the breaks
at Warpstock Europe by doing walks or sports just behind the hostel on
the river bank meadows. . .
Great service
Both the youth hostel itself as well as its reception desk are open
24 hours a day. So you won't have to worry about check-in times if ever
you should arrive in the middle of the night. Warpstock will have its
own registration desk in a reserved area. Note that the Warpstock desk
will only serve the event registration: In order to get your room or bed
at the hostel, you will need to sign up at the hostel's desk as well. We
are sorry for the possible inconvenience, but we cannot handle the things
involved in matters of booking, check-in, billing, etc. and provide
a fast event check-in at the same time. While being maybe inconvenient
to the "onsite sleeper," this will make it easier for everyone to check
in for the event itself and vastly reduce the amount of time and
people queuing up at the Warpstock desk.
Both the youth hostel itself as well as its reception desk are open
24 hours a day. So you won't have to worry about check-in times if ever
you should arrive in the middle of the night. Warpstock will have its
own registration desk in a reserved area. Note that the Warpstock desk
will only serve the event registration: In order to get your room or bed
at the hostel, you will need to sign up at the hostel's desk as well. We
are sorry for the possible inconvenience, but we cannot handle the things
involved in matters of booking, check-in, billing, etc. and provide
a fast event check-in at the same time. While being maybe inconvenient
to the "onsite sleeper," this will make it easier for everyone to check
in for the event itself and vastly reduce the amount of time and
people queuing up at the Warpstock desk.
A very nice fact about the youth hostel's professional level service is
the catering facilities they provide: Whether you are a vegetarian or
your religion requires special requirements regarding food—no problem
at all! Just tell them (in advance) what you need and they will take care of
it. Flexible meal times and plentiful buffets can be provided.Unfortunately, the Youth Hostel is not a restaurant. This means that if we have 2 warm meals per day, it'll be the same for one day. We didn't know this until today (November 8th) and have decided to have a warm lunch and a traditional bread'n'butter dinner buffet with cheese and cold meats and salads to choose from (instead of two time the same food...). In most cases, people will want to dine in town I guess.
Read more about the "dinner issue" on the accommodation subpage...
Great show
Amomg the 11 meeting rooms at the youth hostel, we have reserved four
rooms for Warpstock Europe. The largest two ones will host the user
groups and commercial exhibitors as well as the "preferred" presentations.
Two smaller ones (which still have enough space for the audience) will
serve as presentations / workshops rooms as well.
While in 2005, the youth hostel only had two ISDN lines available for internet access (of which only one could be reserved), they lately have upgraded to a DSL connection. Wow. ;-) Unfortunately, this is still only a small bandwith connection of around 1 Mbit—which causes us some little headaches regarding our usual requirements. But we are checking with their provider to see if they can handle a time-limited event upgrade for bandwidth. But at least, all rooms have a socket to plug a network switch (they are using DHCP on their router).
Amomg the 11 meeting rooms at the youth hostel, we have reserved four
rooms for Warpstock Europe. The largest two ones will host the user
groups and commercial exhibitors as well as the "preferred" presentations.
Two smaller ones (which still have enough space for the audience) will
serve as presentations / workshops rooms as well.While in 2005, the youth hostel only had two ISDN lines available for internet access (of which only one could be reserved), they lately have upgraded to a DSL connection. Wow. ;-) Unfortunately, this is still only a small bandwith connection of around 1 Mbit—which causes us some little headaches regarding our usual requirements. But we are checking with their provider to see if they can handle a time-limited event upgrade for bandwidth. But at least, all rooms have a socket to plug a network switch (they are using DHCP on their router).
A great time
One of the most important items at Warpstock Europe (besides the
presentation and the meals) is the after-show entertainment, of course.
At Cologne, the youth hostel has given us total control over their pub
which means that we could even be allowed to run the entire night shift
at the bar on our own. Despite of that tentative offer, we have agreed to
let the bar be run by the hostels staff to reduce the workload for the
onsite team. Would you like to work while others are having a party?
In addition, we won't have to mess with the billing for other guests
of the hostel who might also want to have a drink in the evening...
And just in case someone is asking: No, the "gals" on the photo are not included... :-)
One of the most important items at Warpstock Europe (besides the
presentation and the meals) is the after-show entertainment, of course.
At Cologne, the youth hostel has given us total control over their pub
which means that we could even be allowed to run the entire night shift
at the bar on our own. Despite of that tentative offer, we have agreed to
let the bar be run by the hostels staff to reduce the workload for the
onsite team. Would you like to work while others are having a party?
In addition, we won't have to mess with the billing for other guests
of the hostel who might also want to have a drink in the evening...And just in case someone is asking: No, the "gals" on the photo are not included... :-)
Facts at a glance
- 114 rooms with 369 beds
(Single and double beds, dormitories with 3, 4, or 6 beds - Among that: 35 rooms with 60 beds especially suited for handicapped people
- All rooms have their own bathroom (toilet, shower)
- 4 bathrooms for handicapped people
- Pub with TV/HiFi for about 80 people
- Disco / party room in the basement for about 80 people
- 11 fully equipped meeting rooms (1 video beamer available)
- Pinball, table soccer, table tennis, TV