Comfort Inn and Cleveland Aradhana

suma · Post by **suma** » 21 Apr 2009, 21:34

I read reviews posted by others and felt I should put my cents in. These are more experiences rather than concert reviews. I think we rasikas should acknowledge and thank Comfort Inn Downtown Cleveland for all the support they offer. We cant imagine Cleveland Aradhana without the Comfort Inn. (Just a disclaimer - I was a regular guest and had nothing to do with the hotel or its management).

This hotel is so close by that artists and visitors just walk to the concert venues. Additionally, they allow the aradhana people to cook indian food and serve in their ball room. So artists get both lunch and dinner in indian style. I travel a lot for my job and never saw any other hotel offer so much hospitality. The above two things happen every year. In addition to this, I observed these this year.

I checked in and they were gracious enough to let me have my room my 11am itself although normally rooms are given only around 3-4pm. As I got off the elevator in the second floor, I saw Savitri Jaganatha Rao (Dancer) in a chair in a corridor surrounded by 4 dancers. They were reharsing in the corridor. Imagine if we did that in a different hotel - there would be a lot of complaints and guests will be asked to leave for creating the disturbance.

Then, the ball room. This has become the formal reharsal ground. Group program participants all lined by and were reharsing. As and when the artists came down for food (lunch) they would sit for 10-15 mts and watch the children while eating. Simulateneously on the other side of the ball room, dance reharsals were going on.

It was Saturday night and after all the day's activities we returned to comfort inn for dinner. Then we saw a star studded line up of Nandanar Charitram artists and the dancers. They were doing their final reharsals there. It was so good that no one left. This includes several artists and other indian guests like us. Finally, at 12:30am in the midnight, I felt sleepy and left. Later a friend told me that it went on till 1am.

Again in the morning the hussle bussle returned to the ball room. In other hotels, normally these are preserved or they would charge all kinds of fees for using this facility. While I am not the organizer and dont know if there were any fees involved, it certianly did not look that way and there were absolutely no restrictions at all.

Then, we returned on wednesday night for another program. Our program was early in the morning in the Main Class Auditorium. We are not from the eastern time zone, but quickly got ready as we needed to be at an event by 7:45am. After all the hussle bussle, we found out that the university had a scheduling conflict and the auditorium was allocated for some other event. Cleveland aradhana had a packed schedule of events, but now there was no venue! Again Comfort Inn comes to the rescue. All events for the day and the remaining days were going on in Comfort Inn lobby!

Just imagine what would have happened if there was no venue and we had events so early in the morning. Even if we had to talk and get a different venue, atleast 2-3 hrs would be lost in first finding the venue, then negotiating paper work, signatures and then, how would you transport these artists?

Last but not the least, an artist told me that he wanted to talk to his family in India and wanted to buy a calling card. Not knowing where to get, the staff of comfort inn sent a driver with their shuttle. According to the artist, they roamed around all of downtown and came back. Finally, someone suggested a CVS pharmacy close by and the artist walked there and got a card. Can we imagine having a shuttle to buy a card?

I think, we rasikas that enjoy the cleveland aradhana, must be highly appreciative of comfort inn downtown for serving as great host and helping out. They say, behind every successful man their is a hand, I think behind aradhana's success, there is comfort inn's support.

kedharam · Post by **kedharam** » 21 Apr 2009, 22:54

deleted

suma · Post by **suma** » 21 Apr 2009, 23:33

kedharam wrote:comfort inn reminds me of our family wedding scene - family, friends, artists, food, nice podavais, chaos - except for the sambandhi chandai.

Exactly!

Also, in all fairness to the hotel and other guests, if guests complained of noise, the front desk staff did make sure that the non-aradhana guests were also comfortable. I remember some one complaining about the mridangam noise at 11pm in the night and the staff going in and asking them not to play anything in the rooms at that time. So, I am sure that the other guests also were taken care off.

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 22 Apr 2009, 06:13

Agreed. We got better service here than at far ritzier hotels. The staff, especially at the front desk and the woman who was always in the lobby at breakfast (wish I could remember her name!) always treated everyone like family. My mother tells me they were even enjoying the thayir saadam

.

Oh, and a driver for the hotel- Edith... what a Godsend!

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 22 Apr 2009, 15:47

When I visited USA in 90s begining, and in most shopping mall, in most leading shops, there is a perfume section.
There is a salesperson at the perfume counter always promoting a particular companies product. Whenever I go near
that they never used to care about me. But when I went last year and even 3 years back, I received a different
treatment. They pull you and explain all sorts flavors, show you all samples. Americans know now where the money
lies or atleast who is spending money nowadays in USA.

And you cannot even imagine heating a precooked indian food in a microwave oven in their kitchen though I have seen
an Israeli kosher food (basically white skin) was heated.

Everything is about economics. Most americans didnot want to know what other culture is. Now they do.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 22 Apr 2009, 16:30

I have very pleasant memories of my stay at the Comfort Inn and Cleveland the aradhana which I attended back in 1995. At the time I wrote a short piece which is still available at http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/clevland.html

It was here I met fellow forumite mridhangam. If I recall correctly we even shared a room at the Comfort Inn!

suma · Post by **suma** » 22 Apr 2009, 19:39

http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/clevland.html

That was a nice article Mohan. Yes, Volenteers have to be thanked for all their commitment and hard work.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 22 Apr 2009, 21:19

rajaglan wrote:When I visited USA in 90s begining, and in most shopping mall, in most leading shops, there is a perfume section.
There is a salesperson at the perfume counter always promoting a particular companies product. Whenever I go near
that they never used to care about me. But when I went last year and even 3 years back, I received a different
treatment. They pull you and explain all sorts flavors, show you all samples. Americans know now where the money
lies or atleast who is spending money nowadays in USA.

And you cannot even imagine heating a precooked indian food in a microwave oven in their kitchen though I have seen
an Israeli kosher food (basically white skin) was heated.

Everything is about economics. Most americans didnot want to know what other culture is. Now they do.

Dear Sir,
After spending the first twenty five years in Chennai & the last 50 years in USA-visiting Chennai at least for 2 months each year- I find that statements you have made about Americans apply Equally to Indians.

In other words there is nothing special distinguishing one nationalty or country tho' its more comfortable to imagine it is so!....Regs, VKV

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Apr 2009, 01:24

VKV,
Well said. People are people, and there are 'such people' too-- here, there, everywhere! Thank heavens for the other kind who inhabit this earth and make it a pleasant place for us to live...

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 23 Apr 2009, 01:37

*Deleted*

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Apr 2009, 02:59

Keep going newyorker! you are yet another harimau in the making

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 23 Apr 2009, 03:02

Newyorker - that was well said - I am sorry you felt you had to delete the post.

CML: NYer did not single out a single person or call anyone names, so, I am a bit pressed to uncerstand your comparison.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Apr 2009, 03:42

newyorker

What I said is more a compliment and not a complaint! No need to delete your post. After all harimau is the king of sarcasm which is why I compared you with him. Shankar also seems to have misunderstood my thrust! I am SORRY!

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 23 Apr 2009, 03:56

CMLover, what seemed humorous to me when I wrote it, appeared very acerbic and inflammatory on a second read, so I deleted the post of my own volition. It was not in response to your reaction, so no worries! Basically I was just saying the same things as Arasi and VKV, albeit with a little more color

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 23 Apr 2009, 08:17

newyorker,
Unfortunately when we were all sleeping in india,all those in us/canada timezone read and then you deleted the post. If it is ok for you now ,you can repost it, ofcourse choice is yours!!!

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 23 Apr 2009, 08:50

Rajeshnat, although I am flattered by your curiosity, I don't even remember my post any more. It was mostly a rather long rant on how economic exploitation is not just restricted to the Americas and one can find examples everywhere whether or not one cares to admit it. It was hardly special and I assure you, the entire Indian timezone didn't really miss a whole lot!

If the admins want to recover it, all power to them, but honestly, it's totally not worth it!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 23 Apr 2009, 09:38

Rubbish, newyorker, your post was witty and funny. Bring it back!

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 23 Apr 2009, 10:22

Alright, alright ... here is a reconstruction of my post from this afternoon from memory, by popular demand!!

When I visited USA in 90s begining, and in most shopping mall, in most leading shops, there is a perfume section.
There is a salesperson at the perfume counter always promoting a particular companies product. Whenever I go near
that they never used to care about me. But when I went last year and even 3 years back, I received a different
treatment. They pull you and explain all sorts flavors, show you all samples. Americans know now where the money
lies or atleast who is spending money nowadays in USA.

And you cannot even imagine heating a precooked indian food in a microwave oven in their kitchen though I have seen
an Israeli kosher food (basically white skin) was heated.

Everything is about economics. Most americans didnot want to know what other culture is. Now they do.

This is so true! Indians are never motivated by self-interest or economics. For example ...

When the porter at the airport harasses you (even though you only have a stroller and can manage comfortably), he's not out to make a quick buck off the tired and jetlagged NRI, he's only exhibiting the hospitality that Indians are so famous for.

When the ingratiating concert ticket salesman at your friendly neighborhood Mylapore sabha quotes a sum that's three times the regular price, he's not exploiting your unfamiliarity with the pricing or the convenience of the exchange rate ... No sir, he's only feeding your ego and making you feel good about helping honest people in third world countries. ("Lalitha, you know what? I had to cough up $300 for season tickets this year. But the seats were fantastic, the canteen food delectable and the ambience so charmingly South Indian. Worth every penny, if you ask me!")

When the auto driver charges you a small fortune for a ride from Madras Central station to Dasaprakash hotel, a fare that would only be reasonable had the Indian economy experienced an overnight inflation of roughly 3000%, he's not exploiting the economics of the situation - rather he's only trying to make you proud of the fact that the city you grew up in, Madras, is as cosmopolitan and expensive as any city that you may now live in: New York, London or Los Angeles!

Alright ... Enough already with the sarcasm. NRIs and Americans can be insensitive, even downright asinine and greedy, but, as the famous Cranberries song goes: "Wake up, and smell the coffee"

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 23 Apr 2009, 14:56

Newyorker,

There is no personal attack on your post. So no need to remove the post.

My only point is that there is no surprise about someone like the comfort in giving all comforts to our
programs. It now happens all around USA as they realise that -Indians also spend and enjoy life-.
That is my topic.

About your point, I am sad to say that (hoping you are an NRI), the same topic any NRI will bring in,
autowala and coolies at airport in India. There is no connection to your example and the remarks
I raised. What you mentioned is all about how NRI or anyone is cheated and exploited in India.

I only want to compare a non cheating steady state scenerio. A more appropriate example is
when an indian enters an indian shop a shop to buy something or go to MA for a ticket, HDFC
for a loan, lifestyle showrrom, is there any donot care attitude ? I donot think so (leave the
cheating examples again).

It is a different scene when there is a white skin guy around...a racist discussions , I am avoiding.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 23 Apr 2009, 18:10

rajaglan wrote: It now happens all around USA as they realise that -Indians also spend and enjoy life-.

My niece recently got married in Dallas and while I couldn't attend, I did hear that the hotel they had it at hosted many Indian weddings because they realise that while American weddings might cater for 100 people, Indian weddings will cater for 500.

The hotel was very accommodative and allowed an outside caterer (this is usually not allowed in hotels in Australia or even India!) and they decorated the hall with an Indian theme.

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 23 Apr 2009, 22:28

Rajaglan, the simple point I was trying to get across was the universality of economic exploitation. Whether it's in the US, India or any other country, people and businesses organize themselves around those who have the money to spend - this motivation is purely economic and has less to do with racism than with common business sense. You may choose to use the term 'exploitation', 'cheating' or 'sound business sense' depending upon the context and the perspective, but the economic principle is the same. If you concur with me on this core issue, you probably don't need to read further!

This is how I would interpret the difference in your experiences in the perfume store at the mall: (of course, we will set aside the trivial possibility that you were just unfortunate enough to receive the services of a bad salesman on your first visit. While this is definitely plausible, even probable, it doesn't contribute to our discussion)

In the last decade or so, not only has the size of the Indian community exploded, but they also possess an increasingly number of white-collar jobs in the technology and health-care sectors and are therefore perceived to have greater spending power and market impact. The difference in your experiences is sort of similar to the local cable provider now including Indian channels in the lineup, or the local movie theatre running the odd Bollywood flick. However, it would be foolhardy to conclude that *all* Americans are inherently racist and that their business sense is only recently trumping their racism. It would be equally farcical to claim that Indians are somehow morally and culturally superior, and this sort of pandering to those with the deeper pockets would *never* happen in India.

About your point, I am sad to say that (hoping you are an NRI), the same topic any NRI will bring in,
autowala and coolies at airport in India. There is no connection to your example and the remarks
I raised. What you mentioned is all about how NRI or anyone is cheated and exploited in India.

I was only using the NRI as a metaphor to represent *any* tourist in India - could be American, European or Australian, doesn't matter. The point I was trying to make is that if you look 'touristy', be prepared to get charged like a tourist. I threw in the 'boorish-NRI-visiting-Madras-in-December' theme only for humor! As regards to the relevance of my examples, I beg to differ! The perfume salesman at the mall is doing exactly the same thing as the taxi driver or the concert ticket salesman - taking advantage of an economic opportunity. He may not be charging differentially, but he's hedging his chances for a sale by sizing up the clientele. (in the case of perfumes, think of the chic teenager versus the fat, balding middle aged man

)

I only want to compare a non cheating steady state scenerio. A more appropriate example is
when an indian enters an indian shop a shop to buy something or go to MA for a ticket, HDFC
for a loan, lifestyle showrrom, is there any donot care attitude ? I donot think so (leave the
cheating examples again).

It is a different scene when there is a white skin guy around...a racist discussions , I am avoiding.

I'm afraid I don't understand your references ... do you or do you not want to talk about race? You bring up the experiences of an Indian in a US mall and make sweeping conclusions about Americans in general, but later you want to compare this to an Indian in an Indian setting? Also, as a customer for a perfume product, what makes you so different from the customer taking a taxi ride or obtaining season tickets for a sabha?

Even in all your scenarios, the possibility for differential treatment is abound. For example, at the lifestyle showroom, a well-off person or a haute young lady is definitely going to be given the best possible service, is it not?

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 23 Apr 2009, 23:16

There ARE real racists, let us not bring them in to this discussion. Let us also set aside India vs U.S.

Stereotyped opinion based on external appearances is what this is all about( skin color, general appearance etc. ):

The mall perfume clerks, even those who work on comission, probably had a stereotypical opinion that those who look like Indians do not buy anything. So they decide to either not spend their 'sales' energy on such people or decide to spend in on someone else. It is an economic decision based on false generic impressions and ignorance. A vast majority of the population can be accused of this kind of 'impression forming' instead of treating individuals as individuals. Employees who come into contact with the public at large should be trained to shed such common stereotypes and treat each individual on a case by case basis. But it still exists and the intensity varies from one region to another. Whether we call this soft racism, hard racism or economic racism, it does not really matter.

To some extent, the auto rickshaw drivers are using similar stereotypes to try to exploit a tourist.

Though these two can be cast on such a basic foundation, the mall scenario is emotionally upsetting to a vast majority of people than the auto rickshaw scenario.

newyorker · Post by **newyorker** » 24 Apr 2009, 00:06

The mall perfume clerks, even those who work on comission, probably had a stereotypical opinion that those who look like Indians do not buy anything. So they decide to either not spend their 'sales' energy on such people or decide to spend in on someone else. It is an economic decision based on false generic impressions and ignorance.

This should be no more upsetting than to a fat person that the hip teenager is getting all the attention from the perfume salesperson. And, given by Rajaglan's recent experiences, it seems like Indians are being treated nicely. If, for example, Indians continue to be treated shabbily despite the fact that they are not an obscure minority and there are indications that they are buying these kinds of products, now that would be racism. The first scenario is economic discrimination, which is wrong but tolerable, the second, racial discrimination which is completely unacceptable. I wouldn't necessarily club these notions together.

Though these two can be cast on such a basic foundation, the mall scenario is emotionally upsetting to a vast majority of people than the auto rickshaw scenario.

Sure, but the mall scenario is equally likely to happen anywhere (in particular, in India). Aren't snap judgements based on being fair skinned versus dark skinned, being Brahmin versus non-Brahmin or being married versus divorced formed all the time in India?

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Apr 2009, 00:19

Let me narrate a sort of 'opposite' situation.

Last weekend, I got sucked into buying some shirts in an upscale department store in a mall because of some ridiculous sales ( we usually do not shop at such places ). As we were looking at stuff, we met one Indian lady known to us who now works there. We exchanged plesantries and moved on. When it was time to check out, I decided against going to her check-out counter. Why? I did not want to engage in further small-talk, I did not want any further discussion on these purchases if we happened to meet later in social situations outside of the store and a few other such 'anti-social' miscellaneous reasons. Nothing serious.

When we were at the other counter ( happened to be serviced by a very helpful white woman, not that it matters for this story ), we noticed that we will get another 20% off the entire purchase if we apply for a store credit card. As she was processing that application, I realized that with this further 20% off, a name brand shirt ( made in India ) is already cheaper than what one will pay in India and now it is even more of a steal. So I asked her continue with the credit card processing and went back to the shelves to pick up a couple of more shirts. As I was coming back, the Indian lady acquantance saw me and instantly realized what was going on and asked loudly from her counter 'You are applying for a card there?'. It took me a few seconds to realize that there is probably some commission involved in getting customers to sign up for the card. I still do not know how she figured all that out instantly, but she did.

Now, I was not quite pleased with her remark and at the same time I felt bad for depriving her of the commission. That whole purchase is now tainted

Considering what I wanted to avoid in the first place, I am right smack in the middle of it everytime I look at those clothes now! Ah.. this will teach me not to go upscale!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Apr 2009, 00:32

>This should be no more upsetting than to a fat person that the hip teenager is getting all the attention from the perfume salesperson

It should not be but in many cases it is. ( but I am on very shaky grounds there due to lack of any empirical data ).
And I am not sure about the equivalence. Not that I am condoning one over the other.
May be so in that limited mall context, but if you generalize that to other economic activities like loan approvals, renting houses etc.
such pre-conceived stereotyped impressions are stronger with respect to skin-color than other external factors.
( I am specifically picking those two examples because there have been a few court cases along those two lines )

>Sure, but the mall scenario is equally likely to happen anywhere (in particular, in India).

Absolutely! I did not write it but I was thinking of such specific situations in India.

Having said all that, outside of some U.S. vs India differences, newyorker and rajaglan seem to be in aggressive agreement

Ramaprasad · Post by **Ramaprasad** » 24 Apr 2009, 02:27

Please pardon my intrusion into this discussion. Suma started this thread with the good intension of bringing out the role of Comfort Inn in the context of the great Cleveland Aradhana. But here we are drifting into topics, however important, that have no relevance to the music fete at Cleveland. If we have no more experiences to relate in regard to our stay at Comfort Inn in Cleveland, let us close this thread. We can always open a new one on our shopping experience, or the music they play in malls.

Ramaprasad

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2009, 02:49

VK,
Your story brings chuckles. Let me add (hopefully not fuel) that it gets to be complicated when dealing with culturally similar fellow-humans in situations like this.
An acquaintance from another culture might not have expressed her response the way this woman did and might not have made your conscience work double speed. I say this because when I am in India, I feel like a stranger at times when I see that the cultural code of behavior is somewhat different in situations like this. This becomes obvious when I am in a shop with a local. Their exchanges make me feel like an onlooker rather than a participant. Do I make sense?

New yorker,
Funny stuff! (am I allowed to quote Johnny Carson?) Throw in a local know-all cousin in the scene and see how you find yourself pleading for the auto-rikshaw man when the seasoned cos takes over!

suma · Post by **suma** » 24 Apr 2009, 04:29

Ramaprasad wrote:Please pardon my intrusion into this discussion. Suma started this thread with the good intension of bringing out the role of Comfort Inn in the context of the great Cleveland Aradhana. But here we are drifting into topics, however important, that have no relevance to the music fete at Cleveland. If we have no more experiences to relate in regard to our stay at Comfort Inn in Cleveland, let us close this thread. We can always open a new one on our shopping experience, or the music they play in malls.

Ramaprasad

Thank you. Please write only your experiences at this hotel this year in relation to the aradhana. If there is nothing else to add, Mods, please close this thread.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Apr 2009, 05:39

Understood Ramaprasad and suma. OK, let us end the digression and get back to the main topic. ( but there is no need to close the thread ).

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Apr 2009, 06:04

Let us respect the thread-originator's request. We will close this thread if there are no more comments on the Cleveland Comfort Inn. Other issues can be discussed in a different thread!

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 24 Apr 2009, 18:09

vasanthakokilam wrote:Understood Ramaprasad and suma. OK, let us end the digression and get back to the main topic. ( but there is no need to close the thread ).

Yes, no digression. The topic I raised is my opinion and no inclination to raise any racism here.
I know running a aradhana at a remote location has its challenges and thanks to the inn guys.
And thanks for sharing such an experience here.

Hi, newyorker, thanks for your words. some of these discussions will never end in text msgs.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Apr 2009, 18:37

Is this the Comfort Inn ( Hilton garden inn )?

Were most of the out of town attendees staying here?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Apr 2009, 18:47

I thought the Comfort Inn is a separate national network of motels not connected with the Hiltons.
They provide concessional accommodation during the Festival (VKV can confirm the nature of the contract..) It will be nice if they can extend the courtesy for visiting CM artistes all over NA..

suma · Post by **suma** » 24 Apr 2009, 19:42

No, Hilton is not comfort inn. Go to www.choicehotels.com and choose comfort inn downtown cleveland. You will get it. The address is 1800 Euclid Avenue.

During the festival, they offer a package deal for aradhana invitees.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Apr 2009, 19:57

OK, thanks. Google misled me. When I typed in "comfort inn cleveland downtown" it gave me hilton garden. Since these chains buy each other I thought the name has changed. I got it now.

Is this the one?

suma · Post by **suma** » 24 Apr 2009, 20:00

http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-clevela ... &nchild5=0

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Apr 2009, 20:52

VK,
Your picture of the Hilton brought to mind Erode's blog where he describes the reaction of the musicians when they enter this fancy hotel which charges two times their fee for a day's stay!

suma · Post by **suma** » 24 Apr 2009, 22:13

Right on the point arasi ji. As much as we love to stay back for the whole week at cleveland, the hotel is expensive. Costs $100 a night plus tax. There are some cheap one's but you need to rent a car, park etc etc. Also this year Cleveland witnessed some vandalism and mugging. So, people had to either hang around in groups or not go to lonely parking lots etc. If the hotels can be obtained for half this price, I am sure a lot of people would stay back.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Apr 2009, 23:00

I saw the current price @ $79 per night (double occupancy). How much do they charge during the season? I know Cleveland is not considered a 'safe' city! What is the alternative?
But then has anybody answered 'Why Cleveland?'

suma · Post by **suma** » 24 Apr 2009, 23:08

The rate ranges from $89.99-149.99 plus tax. Every time there is a event (not just aradhana, but other events) at the cleveland state university, the prices go up. However, there are places like expedia.com that give specials once in a while for $89.99 for a double bed. If we constantly moniter that site, expedia.com and look for the specials we may be able to book it in advance for $89.99 plus tax.

appu · Post by **appu** » 25 Apr 2009, 03:22

I stayed at the holiday inn near the airport with 2 children and my husband. The room was excellent with 2 queens and so was the service. I payed $41.00 per night. Rental car per night was $11.00 at Thrifty car rental and parking was a $1:00 for 4 hrs. (Metered parking). It could have been $2:00 for 4 hours. I forget.

There are alternatives.

music_is_life · Post by **music_is_life** » 25 Apr 2009, 08:10

I agree, Appu. I have been visiting Cleveland for 10 years and never once stayed at Comfort Inn. Of course, I have enjoyed all the fun described here by hanging in with friends at the ball room including being a witness to the RTP described in another thread. If you use priceline.com, hotwire.com etc you can get very good deals in three stars hotels for less than half the price of Comfort Inn in the downtown area itself. But you need patience and plan at least a month in advance.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 25 Apr 2009, 09:40

cmlover wrote:I saw the current price @ $79 per night (double occupancy). How much do they charge during the season? I know Cleveland is not considered a 'safe' city! What is the alternative?
It is common for most hotels to charge whatever the traffic will bear like Flagstff in AZ
during the height of Grand Canyon Season? The moment you say City in USA its not obvious which is better than another?

But then has anybody answered 'Why Cleveland?'

The short answer is History followed by Economics! VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 25 Apr 2009, 20:58

Can't beat History!
But I thought New Jersey or Boston or even Toronto will be economically superior due to the 'population cluster' and other amenities.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 26 Apr 2009, 05:32

cmlover wrote:Can't beat History!
But I thought New Jersey or Boston or even Toronto will be economically superior due to the 'population cluster' and other amenities.

Unfortunately the NINE rooms needed for the student competitions+ at least 2 halls for the concerts themselves+ places for rehearsals all under ONE ROOF is not available. Also someone who has to co-ordinate all this LOCALLY is needed. The Cleveland Festival is unbelievably complicated as close to sixty artists from India have to be taken care of by the organisers. Any one who reads thru' the Schedule on aradhana.org can easily see the complications. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Economics is even more cpmplex.

In short The Cleveland Festival is one which logically cannot take place but does because of the dedicated work of countless volunteers & supporters. Canadian locations are not exactly suitable as visa problems for artists to perform in USA- THE MAIN BASE FOR CONCERT TOURS- WILL BECOME INCREDITABLY COMPLICATED.

I had arranged for a get together of Forumites to clarify & discuss EVERYTHING WITH CLEVELAND V.V.Sundaram ready to discuss these in great detail but hardly nine persons showed up & the nine were already known persons who knew the story! VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 26 Apr 2009, 06:48

Understood

sudhakarks · Post by **sudhakarks** » 26 Apr 2009, 08:28

When the ingratiating concert ticket salesman at your friendly neighborhood Mylapore sabha quotes a sum that's three times the regular price, he's not exploiting your unfamiliarity with the pricing or the convenience of the exchange rate ... No sir, he's only feeding your ego and making you feel good about helping honest people in third world countries. ("Lalitha, you know what? I had to cough up $300 for season tickets this year. But the seats were fantastic, the canteen food delectable and the ambience so charmingly South Indian. Worth every penny, if you ask me!")

Hi Newyorker, I know how it feels. I used to live in US till 1997, before returning to Indian and starting off my own. It was not long after that when I started Swathi Soft Solutions and immediately started creating DVDs/CDROMs and Audio CDs on Indian art and Music. The thought was to use professionalism to take our music to main stream.

One of my first decisions was to have a single pricing for these products. Having experienced special $ pricing when an NRI while I could get it lot cheaper as an Indian, I felt all our products should be priced same. Unlike the Eastern Economical Edition of various engineering books I read. I felt by pricing it differently I am degrading myself and in turn the art. As I am operating from India, and subject to Indian costs, Indian legal systems it was only natural to having Indian pricing.

At Cleveland, we showcase our Sanskriti Series products and many have said why do you price yourself so low, and for the past 5 years have heard this several times, but still could not convince myself that we need to price differently for NRIs, to me they are fellow human beings no different from my customers in India, they are not getting anything more than my customer at AVM Sound Zone or Landmark in India, except they are technologically bit more advanced, and hope they will never use it to copy these products

Hopefully time will not prove my judgment wrong and we will continue to get the support and encouragement we have got in the past from Cleveland rasikas and world over.

Regards,
Sudhakar