3ma09 Update - Turin Accommodation decided

[Thotos]

Things are finally beginning to come together for 3ma09. We have now chosen our accommodation in Turin and Kevin has been very busy sorting accommodation for the overnight stay in France for those of us that won't be able to drive to Turin in a day; while Simon is looking into routes and ferry/train options.

We are still in conversation with Fiat Auto and hope to soon announce details of our factory tour on Friday 29th May.

One of our Italian members effe131 has been very busy communicating with the authorities in the City of Turin and we soon hope to be able to announce details and location of our public static display of 131s which we hope will take place on Saturday 30th May.

effe131? has also made a few suggestions for drives in the Turin Piedmont region but we are always open to further suggestions.

Our chosen Turin hotel is the Pacific Hotel Fortino. A modern four star hotel set within a peaceful area in the north section of Turin with easy and quick access to the motorway system. It is just a short walk away from the historic old town and just 10 minutes from Piazza Castello. We have negotiated an exclusive deal with the hotel which is not available on their website. Click here to see a virtual tour of the hotel but please wait for the announcement of our exclusive deal before booking your rooms.

[gerafiori]

great work theo, the hotel looks superb, 3ma looks set to be the event of the year, well done to all  for the work so far

[Thotos]

Our specially negotiated deal with the Pacific Hotel Fortino is now posted on the website. Please see the website's Travel & Accommodation section (trav & acc) for details of the offer and how to book your room(s).

The special rate rooms for 3ma09 have to be booked with the hotel directly and are not available for booking online. We have reserved several rooms and these will be held for us until the end of February 2009.? Please make make sure you quote "3ma Fiat 131 meeting in May" when booking your room(s). You must guarantee your reservation direct with the hotel. The hotel's cancellation policy allows for the cancellation of rooms provided at least 24 hours notice is given before the booked arrival so if still in doubt book your room(s) now while you can and if necessary cancel later.

For the UK, Irish and most probably Northern Europe participants we are also arranging an overnight stay for Tuesday 26th May. This is most likely to be at the Ibis hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse and we are awaiting details of a special deal which will be posted on the website as soon as we have them.? If you would like to join us for the overnight stay on Tuesday 26th May please post here or email us at travelacc@131mirafiori.com so we have a better idea of the numbers and therefore the rooms required.

An overnight stay for the return journey is also most likely to be arranged in Troyes and once again in the Ibis hotel. Please let us know if you would like to be included for the return journey overnight stay on Monday 1st June 2009.

Please remember once you have booked your room(s) for Turin with the Pacific Hotel Fortino to complete the 3ma09 Registration Form and let us know you'll be joining us.

[eugene]

I would like to suggest something.A awful lot of work goes into organising a event like this one and this event would not be possible only for 4 people,they are Theo,Simon,Kevin and most of all Effe131 in Turin.My point is that whoever travels to Turin,should contribute something to these 4 people.Remember,no one would be going to Turin only for them!!.I hope to be able to go and if i do,i will be contribiting something for the four organisers.
This is only my opinion and i would like to hear the views of the other forum members.Eugene

[kev131]

Fantastic idea Eugene!! 

I'm booked in with the Pacific hotel since last night.

Fantastic piece of work on presenting the accommadation Theo - very appealing.

[Thotos]

I'm booked in with the Pacific hotel since last night.

"Please remember once you have booked your room(s) for Turin with the Pacific Hotel Fortino to complete the 3ma09 Registration Form and let us know you'll be joining us."?

[kev131]

Just to update anyone else who is booking at this time.

I sent my booking email 1 week ago with no response. I rang tonight and my e-mail was in the inbox but unactioned. I spoke with Barbara who could not explain why it was not responded to. A simple oversight I think - However it might be wise to follow up the e-mail booking with a telphone call - I think this is necessary anyway as they say that they need a credit card number for the booking. 

[Thotos]

Our arrangement with the Pacific Hotel Fortino is that everyone will do their own booking and settle their own bill at our agreed price for the 3ma. The hotel will therefore need the individual reservations guaranteed with a credit card. I would strongly suggest that credit card information is not sent by email but you either call the hotel or send them a fax. I did consider setting up a secure booking page on our website but wasn't sure we want the responsibility of handling people's bookings and their credit card details. So by all means email the hotel for the reservation but as Kevin said follow that up with a phone call or a fax with credit card details.

[parrish]

Just phoned and spoke to Rui.
Have sent my e mail with requested dates.
Waiting for a reply before phoning with credit card details.
Steve
PS: Looks like the BMW! Fiat is still not legal in Spain

It took 20 minutes to reply, phone call made and room booked.

[Thotos]

... phone call made and room booked.

That's great news Steve.

PS: Looks like the BMW! Fiat is still not legal in Spain

There's still time to get the Fiat sorted! If you look at the homepage of the website, at the moment there's

105 Days, 13 Hours, 27 Minutes, 35 Seconds to go!

Just ship the Fiat back to the UK (or straight to Turin!) and don't worry about legality in Spain.
 
Now... "Please remember once you have booked your room(s) for Turin with the Pacific Hotel Fortino to complete the 3ma09 Registration Form and let us know you'll be joining us."?

[kev131]

PS: Looks like the BMW! Fiat is still not legal in Spain

Loads of time to get things sorted Steve - After all those photos you cant disappoint all the cars' admirers!!

I'm sure there will a BMW meet at some other time!!?

Why dont you hire that lovely brown Super from Seat1312000tc...??

[theredx19]

Parrish if you bring the Bemmer I promise to keep my mouth shut 

[jasonh131]

haz anyone toted up yet hotel in italy ,travrling hotel ,tunell, tolls and  fuel to see how much we need?
jason

[Thotos]

haz anyone toted up yet hotel in italy ,travrling hotel ,tunell, tolls and? fuel to see how much we need?
jason

We don't want to scare ourselves Jason? ? ?

Seriously though, it's difficult to give a complete cost as there are many varying factors.

• Mileage. This depends on starting point. I estimate total mileage for the event (getting there, driving around for 4 days and getting back home) will vary from just a few hundred miles for the Italians to up to 2000 miles for the longest travelled. From the UK it'll be about 1500 miles just getting there and back and we'll have another couple of hundred miles driving once we are there.
• Fuel Cost. Once again this depends on the total distance travelled and of course on the car used. Someone using a Series 3 1400 SOHC is bound to get more mpg than someone using a modified quad-carb 2 litre twin cam. I would say the difference could be between 30 mpg for the former and 20mpg for the latter so a big difference in overall cost.
• Ferry costs. These are for the UK and Irish participants and will depend on the route chosen and the time/date of the crossing. For UK participants the return cost will be between ?120 and ?160 while from Ireland the cost for car and two passengers should be between ?200 and ?448 as booked by Kevin or even more if not booked in advance.
• Tolls. I have no idea! I've driven to Italy several times and always used the motorways but never totalled up the cost of the tolls. But once again, the cost will vary for different participants depending on their starting place and whether they use motorways or the more scenic and cheaper but slower non-motorway roads.
• Hotels. We all know our negotiated rates for the Turin hotel but once again individual costs vary according to the number of people travelling. Single rooms work out more expensive and triple/family rooms give the best value per person. We have not yet finalised an overnight stay for the way there and the way back but if you will be using an overnight stay hotel for the way there and the way back, expect to have to pay about ?50 per night per room.
• Food. Our hotel deal does not include dinner so expect to have to pay about ?20-?25 per person for dinner and ?10-?20 per person for lunch.
• Additional costs. Having not finalised the itinerary (we are still waiting details of the proposed factory visit from Fiat Auto before we can finalise other details) we can't give an indication on additional costs or indeed if there will be any. We hope to arrange to visit some interesting places while in Turin and it may be that some places will have admission costs but we don't anticipate these as being a lot, if any. We could get a Turin+Piedmont Tourist Card? for as low as ?19 that will give us free admission to more than 160 cultural sites: museums, monuments, exhibitions, fortresses, castles and Royal Residences in Turin and Piemonte as well as free travel on the city's over-ground public, tourist transport (panoramic lift in the Antonelliana Size, Knows - Superga rack tramway) and GTT shuttle buses to Real Venaria - Park the Herd, Rivoli Castle - Contemporary Art Museum, Pralormo Castle - ?Messer Tulipano?. Don't forget that our classic cars will not be allowed in certain central parts of Turin during the week.

So any brave people out there with a calculator? 

[simon131]

I think there's a danger that people can get hung up on the cost. I realise only too well that money is a very important factor but I think we all need to bear in mind that it's quite unlikely that we'll be able to do this sort of trip to Italy very often, so view this 3MA as almost once in a lifetime.

As a certain advert says

"Trip to AutoItalia Brooklands 2009 - ?30, purchase of 1982 131 1400CL - ?750, trip with all your 131 mates to Turin to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the launch of your favourite car - PRICELESS!!!".

This is why, despite a gloomy financial outlook to the next few months for me, I'm trying desperately to be there - if only as a passenger in someone elses 131.