[Jewelry making - Article 00551] - Re: [Orchid][Tucson 2004] - Hotels for Tuscon

[Robert]

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>     I'm planning to go this year and thus need to try and get a hotel
>     room reservation ASAP. Anyone have any good ideas / suggestions
>     besides the obvious-- 

    It is probably a bit late to get a confirmed reservation for the
    downtown hotels for the February 2004 Tucson Shows. Though one year
    I showed up at the airport in Tucson - called the ex-Holiday Inn
    Downtown from the airport (now it is the Radisson) and got a room
    for the whole period of the show. 

    One year I stayed in Casa Grande at the (then) new Motel 6. I didn't
    have a reservation - just stopped there on the way into Tucson. It
    was about a 45 minute ride to the downtown shows - 60+ miles North
    on I-10 at 75 miles an hour - but when you get to close to downtown
    Tucson the traffic slowed considerably. The price was about 1/4 of
    the price of the hotels in Tucson - even at the Motel 6s in Tucson
    the price goes up to double for the show period. There is a Super 8
    motel at the same highway intersection and not much else but a
    Burger King and McDonalds and a few gas stations. Since I was an
    exhibitor and had to be at the Show at 8 a.m. it was not a good
    solution - but if you are not an exhibitor - it might be a solution. 

    You might try Benson, Arizona which is just east of Tucson on I-10
    about 43 miles and has Motel 6, Super 8, Holiday Inn, Best Western
    and Days Inn motels
    http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g31170-Benson_Arizona-Hotels.html 

>     Finally, I'd be interested to hear informed opinions about whether
>     you think it's better to buy at Tucson during the first few days
>     (best cherry picking?) or the last few days (better prices, more
>     room to negotiate?). 

    There is absolutely the largest selection in the world of Gem
    Materials and Gemstones at the Tucson Shows and dealers from all
    over the world competing with each other - so if you work at it a
    bit, you can definitely buy gemstones at prices lower than if you
    went to the dealer's home country and tried to buy them. 

    As far as I am concerned the 2002 and 2003 shows have been buyers
    shows where the buyers ruled and pretty much set their own prices or
    at least got things far cheaper than in other years. After the 2003
    show I talked to quite a few high end stone dealers who said the
    they had basically sold at unheard of low prices to just get some
    working capital back into their companies, and these were dealers at
    the AGTA show where you usually don't get low prices, as a norm. 

    This will be the last year for the show at the ex-Holiday Inn
    downtown. It is apparently moving about 10 miles to the north of
    town to a resort hotel for the 2005 show. 

>     Also, I've heard about the pre-Tucson show in Quartzite Arizona in
>     late January; are they worthwhile? What's it like, what (primarily)
>     is being sold there, and where does one stay if you're not RVing
>     it? 

    Quartzite is more rough stone materials. It is basically an open air
    show on tables and tailgates etc., so if it is a windy day you get
    sand blasted or cold. Here's the show and hotel information.
    http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/az/quartzite.html#anchor832645 

    You might try the Cloud's Jamboree Show which moved from Quartzite
    to Laughlin, Nevada. January 9 - 25, 2004
    http://www.cloudsjamboree.com The dates on the site differ from those
    in their ad in Colored Stone Magazine. 

Best regards,
Robert Lowe
Lowe Associates - Brasil
Gemstones, Rough, Specimens
Tucson - February 5 - 10, 2004 - GJX # 205
e-mail: USA    <robertplowejr AT juno.com> February 2004
e-mail: Brasil <robertplowejr AT uol.com.br>


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