Rates, Dates, and How to Reserve a Room

NOTICE POSTED 2/22/07: Sunday night sleeping rooms close to sold out at Crowne Plaza.
We learned today that there are now very few rooms available at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the per diem rate on Sunday night, April 15. We are arranging some additional rooms at a nearby overflow hotel, and will post information here as soon as it's available. However, if you need a room for Sunday night still try the Crowne Plaza first.

Hotel room block. A block of over 350 sleeping rooms is being held at the Crowne Plaza. The rooms will be at the prevailing 2007 federal government per diem rate for lodging (same price for single/double occupancy), plus 13% occupancy taxes. Additional people are $10 each per night. The current (2006) lodging per diem rate for St. Paul is $113. (FYI, the 2006 meals/incidentals rate for St. Paul is $64.)

Making a reservation. Call the hotel directly at 1-651-292-1900 and ask for reservations. Be sure to identify yourself as a participant in the “GWS2007” conference to be held April 2007 (this is how the name of the event is shown in their reservations system). Have your arrival and departure dates and times ready, as well as a major credit card to guarantee your first night’s reservation. Also be sure to state any special preferences (e.g., non-smoking) when you make your call.

Cut-off date for guest rooms: the room block is being held until March 15, 2007, or until all the rooms in the block are taken, whichever comes first. After that, any additional rooms at the Crowne Plaza will be sold on a space-available basis and the federal per diem rate is not guaranteed. A word to the wise: the room block usually fills up well before the cut-off date, and latecomers have to find accommodations elsewhere. Get your reservations early!

Room tax exemption for federal employees. If you work for the federal government, you can save your park or office the $15/night room tax if you are able to pay for your lodging with the proper kind of federal credit card. The following information, taken from the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s Fact Sheet #141, “Hotels and Lodging Facilities,” explains how you determine what kind of federal credit card you have and whether it can be used to make tax-exempt purchases of lodging in Minnesota.

Sales to government agencies
Federal government: Lodging billed directly to and paid for by the federal government and its agencies is not taxable. However, lodging billed to an employee who is reimbursed by the federal government is taxable.

Federal employees sometimes make purchases using credit cards. There are four different types of cards issued by the federal government to employees.

Travel Cards: VISA, prefix 4486 or 4716; MasterCard, prefix 5568. Usually used for lodging, meals, and car rentals. The sixth digit of these cards determines whether or not to charge sales tax. If the sixth digit is 1, 2, 3, or 4, purchases using these cards are billed directly to the federal employee, who is reimbursed by the federal government. Purchases made using these cards are taxable. If the sixth digit is 0, 6, 7, 8, or 9, purchases using these cards are billed directly to and paid for directly by the federal government. Purchases made using these cards are not taxable.

Fleet Cards: Voyager (VISA), prefix 8699; MasterCard, prefix 5568. Usually used for fuel and maintenance of vehicles, planes, boats, and equipment. Purchases using these cards are billed directly to and paid for directly by the federal government. Purchases made using these cards are not taxable.

Purchase Cards: VISA, prefix 4486 or 4716; MasterCard, prefix 5568. Usually used for expenses such as computers, furniture, office supplies, services, etc. These cards are billed directly to and paid for directly by the federal government. Purchases made using these cards are not taxable.

Combined Cards (formerly called Integrated Cards): One card is used for all types of purchases. The prefixes and the guidelines are the same as listed above. In addition, cards with prefix 5568-16 and the agency’s ID# 14-0001849 are taxable. For the items listed under Travel Cards, taxability depends on the sixth digit. All purchases of items listed under Fleet Cards and Purchase Cards are exempt from sales tax.

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