Hotel
In 2021 the Convention will be held in both the Hickory Metro Convention Center and the Crowne Plaza Hotel. They are located around a quarter mile apart and a shuttle will be running back and forth every few minutes. There is plenty of free parking at both locations. We did this as the hotel has larger meeting rooms for the clinics, and a large, more properly lit room for the Model Contest.
The Crowne Plaza also has the best in house restaurant and in house bar in the area. Many convention attendees enjoy the camaraderie of sitting down for a drink and a bite to eat after the trade show each night. We wanted to give them the best opportunity to safely and responsibly enjoy this very important part of a National Narrow Gauge Convention.
The Crowne Plaza has given us an excellent room rate for the entire week of the convention. Rooms are $119.00 per night plus tax. Included in this room rate is a buffet breakfast for two. We have a block of rooms set up for Convention Attendees, and reservations can be made after October 1, 2020.
As of January 26, 2021, the Convention Hotel is FULL. Several of you made reservations and did not say you were with the Narrow Gauge Convention. If you did not get our discount rate call back and make sure you are counted as part of our convention. As always, there will be cancellations as we approach the convention, so if you cannot get in now, call back every so often and check. We will also announce room openings here. You can call 1-866-513-7697 and request the National Narrow Gauge Convention discount. Be sure to use the group code NNG when talking to the call center.
There are other hotels in the immediate area and we have arranged special pricing with most of them. Each hotel offers different amenities and advantages. For those who are not familiar with the area, here is a primer on where each hotel is in relation to the Convention Hotel and the Convention Center. They are all on the same access road and all near to either the Convention Hotel or Center.
The Best Western is just down the street from the Convention hotel and would be a two minute walk up to the clinics and contest room. The Fairfield Inn & Suites and Courtyard by Mariott are a little further down the street, The Fairfield has one flight of steps that go up into the parking lot of the Convention Center. The Courtyard has an exit that goes out into the same parking lot. The Hampton Inn is literally in front of the Convention Center.
Information on each hotel, and our negotiated rates are below. You are free to choose which of our alternate hotels you want to make a reservation. Each one has different amenities and price points. Please remember that a shuttle will run back and forth between the Convention Center and the Convention Hotel throughout the convention.
Courtyard by Marriott
$134 Plus Tax – King with Sleeper Sofa or 2 Double Queens
Bistro Open for Breakfast & Dinner
Starbucks Coffee Bar
24-Hour Market
Evening Lobby Bar
Complimentary Wireless Internet
Refrigerator, Microwave & Keurig Coffee Maker in each Guest Room
50-inch LED HD Smart TV in each Guest Room
Family & Hospitality Suites
Indoor Pool & Whirlpool
Fitness Room
Outdoor Courtyard & Fire Pit
Fairfield by Marriott
$114 Plus Tax – King or 2 Doubles
Complimentary Breakfast
24-Hour Market
Complimentary Wireless Internet
Refrigerator & Microwave in each Guest Room
Indoor Pool
Fitness Room
Best Western
Rate:
$92.00 Plus tax King or Double Interior Entrance (Rooms you enter from a main hallway)
$87.00 Plus tax King or Double Exterior Entrance (Rooms you enter from the outside)
Breakfast—-at this time and it may change before September( I will keep you posted), we have breakfast options available in the lobby from 6am to 9am (this is included in the room rate)
The hotel is 2 floors with no elevator (staff on site to help with luggage to the the 2nd floor, if needed)
Smoking rooms available on our exterior building
Pet Rooms Available on the Exterior Building. King or Double $20.00 per pet fee (non-refundable)
When guests call for reservations, they could Ask for Chanel Owensby, Teressa Reynolds-Front Office Mgr. or Marie Martinez
Guests should call and make reservations here at the hotel. Online Reservations not available at this time.
Use Code when making reservations. Call 828 323-1150 during business hours.
Hampton Inn
$124 per night for their standard rooms (King or Double with 2 queen size beds) per night plus tax. The phone number to call for reservations is (828) 624-2000. When calling, be sure to provide the code NGC to get the discounted rate.
This rate does include a hot breakfast served every morning.
Due to COVID, our Hostess will take our guests orders and serve in the Lobby.
We do have overflow seating arranged to ensure social distancing.
The Hampton Inn of Hickory is proud to be a Lighthouse Award winning property nine years in a row and the Conrad Achievement Award winner the first year offered! These are customer satisfaction awards given to the hotels in the top 5% in the Hampton brand. That’s worldwide! We are very excited to share this with our guests as it’s because of the guest surveys that we are honored with this award. We have five floors and all of our rooms are interior, 100% non-smoking and pet free.
To make our guests more comfortable, we offer complimentary:
- continental hot breakfast every morning
- an indoor heated pool
- guest laundry
- wireless high speed internet
- a business center
- a fitness center.
This hotel is directly in front of the Convention Center, but does not have bar facilities. Very convenient for vendors where that is not a consideration.
