With over 800 large rooms, 300 non-smoking rooms, and 50 handicap rooms and suites, there’s plenty of room for us in the off season. The entire hotel was recently remodeled and the rooms are clean and nice. Rating services give the Sands Regency three stars. The Sands Regency has several restaurants in different price ranges, plus a jacuzzi and a small health club on the 17th floor. The main core of downtown, with scores more restaurants and entertainment options, is only a few blocks away. The Sands Regency is at 345 North Arlington Avenue in downtown Reno (see map below). Room rates and reservations New $29 WTBA room rate Rooms are $29.00/night throughout the conference and UTAP Workshop (even on Friday and Saturday nights), usually for large rooms with two queen-size beds. This is an $8 nightly savings from the Sands’ customary $37/night mid-week rate and a lot less than its Friday/Saturday night rates. Washoe County Room Tax adds 13.5% to your bill. You are responsible for your hotel bill. To make reservations, call the Sands directly at 800-648-3553 and mention that you’re with the Western Trailbuilders Assocation conference to get the $29 rate for the Trailbuilders Conference, UTAP, or both. While it’s possible to book online, telephone is faster and direct to the Sands. Visit www.sandsregency.com for more information. Conference facilities and conference registration The conference is in the Regency Ballroom on the Mezzanine Level of the newly remodeled Regency Tower. For your convenience, the hotel will attempt to lodge you in a room in the Regency Tower. Rooms have been blocked for the conference for Monday through Saturday nights. The Regency Ballroom is comprised of meeting rooms A, B, C, and D. Registration and most public indoor WTBA meetings are in Room AB. The Wednesday Trade Show will be across the hall. Trailbuilders Conference registration is in Room AB on Tuesday morning from 9:00 AM through 1:00 PM. Please register during these times and bring your checkbook because we don’t want business matters to interrupt the important sessions that follow. Sorry, but we cannot accept credit cards at onsite registration. If you’re arriving on Thursday for the UTAP Workshop only, please register in Room EF on Thurday evening between 6:15-8 PM or on Friday morning before 7:45 AM. Meals and restaurants in the Sands We encourage you to sign up for quick and convenient catered lunches on Wednesday and Thursday in the Palm Court Restaurant across the hall from both our main meeting rooms and the Trade Show. While you may choose to eat elsewhere (see below), we strongly encourage you to join us for a networking lunch and avoid the hassle of long lunch lines and separate checks elsewhere. The price is $9 each day, and the menu selection for each day is listed on the schedule. WTBA is subsidizing this lunch by $2.83 in order to create this networking opportunity at a more reasonable price. The lunch will be “worth it.” Because these lunches are catered, we need to tell the hotel 48 hours in advance how many people will be served. Therefore, we’ve included the lunches in preregistration. Please purchase these lunch tickets on your registration form. Only a very limited number of lunches will be available during onsite check-in, and no catered lunch tickets will be available after registration. We’re sorry to appear so heavy-handed about this, but the 48-hour advance notice makes it necessary to prearrange the lunches. The Sands Regency does have a few regular restaurants: Mel’s Diner — American-style diner with roller-skating waitresses, open 24 hours serving breakfast, lunch & dinner. A nostalgic 50's restaurant serving a complete menu for all appetites: Blue Plate Dinners, Burgers, and contemporary selections such as Vegetarian Quesadillas. Tony Roma’s — Tony Roma's world-famous restaurant features ribs that were voted “Best in America.” Tony Roma's also offers chicken, steaks, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. Open for dinner nightly from 4 p.m., 3 p.m. on Sunday. (NO LUNCH) Antonia’s Pasta Buffet — The Sands claims it is “the most delightful, affordable, and convenient Italian restaurant this side of Rome.” Hours vary by season. Up the escalator, right by Just For Laughs Comedy Club. Cabana Cafe — Fast meals or quick snacks. Specialty coffees are served latte, espresso, and cappuccino style. The Cabana Cafe also features donuts, muffins, bagels, deli sandwiches, plus a variety of snacks for breakfast, lunch, or for a snack anytime. Open daily from 6 a.m. Arbys — what can we say? Pizza Hut — again, what can we say? (The above descriptions are slightly abridged versions of the hotel’s own descriptions at www.sandsregency.com/html/dining.html.) For other meal choices, you can go to many other restaurants a few blocks away downtown (see below). You can get maps two ways: View a scalable MapQuest map to the hotel and to Reno (via Yahoo, offsite) Download the easy-to-read, letter-sized version of the downtown map below, showing area attractions (79K PDF file) This custom map with excellent print quality is much more informative than MapQuest for downtown Reno. Weather in Reno is usually pretty decent during the conference. Average days are partly cloudy with an averate high of about 52°F and lows in the 20s, although light rain, light snow, and/or warmer or cooler temperatures are possible. Summarized weather data for February 16 (Day Two of the UTAP Workshop) for the years 1994-2001. The Sierra Nevada range protects Reno from most rain and snow. The generally good weather makes the outdoor portions of the conference comfortable. Click here for current weather info and forecast for Reno. Reno/Tahoe International Airport The Reno area has two airports. UseReno/Tahoe International Airport (which is also the closest and largest). This airport is modest in size, modern, easy to use, and relatively close to downtown. Orbitz.com, a reputable web source for airfares, seems to have less expensive rates than Travelocity.com. Free Airport Shuttles from the Sands Regency and other hotels From 6:00 AM to 11:30 PM, a free Sands Regency airport shuttle leaves the airport for the Sands 15 minutes after each hour (6:15, 7:15, 8:15, etc.) At the airport, catch the shuttles outside the north doors of the baggage claim area. Since every large hotel in Reno has shuttles, look for the shuttle with the yellow “Sands Regency” sign. There's also a staffed booth in the center of the baggage claim area who knows all about the shuttles (at least they helped me). If you’re willing to walk three blocks, you can also take free shuttles to/from other nearby hotels with more frequent and direct (i.e., faster) shuttle service. The Silver Legacy and the Eldorado are the closest hotels offering more frequent and direct shuttle service than the Sands (perhaps every 20-30 minutes). On departure, free shuttles leave the Sands lobby for the airport every hour on the hour (6:00, 7:00, etc.) from 6 AM through 11 PM daily. Amtrak (train) The Sands is only five blocks from Reno’s Amtrak station. It’s easy to reach Reno via Amtrak from Oakland, CA, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Greyhound (bus) The Greyhound terminal is three blocks from the Sands. Municipal bus system In Reno, the main downtown municipal bus station is four blocks from the Sands. Buses frequently run throughout Reno and the neighboring city of Sparks.

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