The Hyatt Regency Rochester (http://rochester.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html) is our home away from home this year during Synod Assembly.  The Hyatt is conveniently located in downtown Rochester and easily accessible to the adjacent Joseph Floreano Riverside Convention Center via a sky bridge.  With more than 20,000 square feet of functioning space for weddings, business meetings and university functions, our hotel offers relaxation and efficiency in one.  Assembly Planning Team members have been working closely with the Hyatt staff to insure that your stay is enjoyable.  Our pass-key check-in reservation link is available now to make your reservations at https://aws.passkey.com/event/11716031/owner/9989/home

This site has been built specifically for our Assembly attendees to book their rooms at our negotiated rate of $109/night.   

We will have a designated table staffed by volunteers in the registration area at the Hyatt Hotel during busy check-in times to help answer your questions and facilitate the check-in process.  Please look for our Upstate New York Synod sign and stop by to say hello.

Here are some important things to know about reserving your room at the Hyatt:

• Check-In time is 3:00pm.  The Check-out time is 12:00pm.  Requests for late checkout at no additional chrage for individual rooms are evaluated based on length of additional night's charge.  On the date of arrival, guests can call 1-800-CHECKIN (1-800-243-2546) to pre-register at the Hotel.  Video check-out is available in all guests rooms for your convenience.
• Guarantee Policy - the Hyatt requires that all reservations be guaranteed either by a credit card or by a cash/check deposit for one night's room and tax.  Guarantee/Deposit will not be refunded unless the reservation is canceled more than 24 hours in advance.
• Parking is at the South Avenue Parking Garage which is managed and operated by Riverside Parking.  Overnight guests receive a discounted rate of $4.00 per night with in/out privileges.  The South Avenue Garage address is 39 Stone Street, Rochester, NY 14604.
• Reservation Information - The Hyatt currently utilizes Passkey web based reservations.  This complimentary service is offered by the hotel to provide attendees with an electronic reservations interface that is customized for our event.  Reservations may be made, modified or canceled by individuals on-line at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/SYNOD2015.  Individuals are also able to make reservations by calling central Reservations at 1-888-421-1442 and referring to the Upstate New York Synod Assembly 2015.  Reservations must be made no later than May 15 to guarantee the event rate of $109.
• Taxes and Tax Exempt - to be tax exempt the organization must provide the Hyatt with a valid New York State (ST-119) Sales Tax Exemption Certificate.  Organizations that are exempt from sales tax including occupancy and food and beverage taxes include:  certain religious, charitable or educational organizations which have received exempt organizations certificates from the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.  Individuals from exempt organizations are not tax-exempt when paying for their own charges.  New York State requires the payer of record to be the organization itself and does not accept third party payments.  Even if the individual is being reimbursed by an exempt organization, or is attending a function of an exempt organization but is paying on their own, New York state requires that taxes be collected. This means that if your reservations are made by your church the bill must also be paid with a church check or church credit card and a church tax exempt certificate must be provided to the Hyatt in order to receive the tax exemption.

Youth in grades 9 - 12 have a place to call their own at Synod Assembly.  There will be a hospitality room near the assembly hall in Cascade A & B, where we can grab a snack, play a game, or just hang out.  This is also where the Youth Orientation session and Youth Ministry workshops will take place.  We'll have our own table in the assembly hall, an orientation session specifically for youth and a supervised block of sleeping rooms.

 Any high school youth who is staying overnight must room with the other high school aged youth, no matter what their age.  This is in keeping with our synod's Safe Church Policy. 

 Teens will be under the direct supervision of Youth @ Synod Assembly staff throughout the assembly.  They may sit with their congregation or at the youth table as they choose, but they will be required to check in with Youth @ Synod Assembly staff at certain times.  Youth may participate as pages, sing in the choir, or do any other scheduled activity, as long as we know where they are.

Youth will gather in the sleeping area at the end of each day for food, fellowship and evening devotions.  Any teen or young adult attending Synod Assembly is welcome to join us at the Assembly table or for the evening gatherings - whether you are a full time voting member or visiting for a few hours.  We just have to know who you are and how to contact you.  

Teens will arrive and leave Synod Assembly at the same time as voting members and other visitors. There is no separate registration form for you.  BUT rooms are handled differently.

 When registering High School youth for Synod Assembly:

• Register youth at the same time you register other members of your congregation
• Use the same registration form
• Sign teens up for the same meals your congregation is taking
• Use the same rates (except for rooms - see below)
• As with all participants, mark whether the teen is a voting member or visitor
• Check the box and add $27.25 per night to the registration cost to cover room expense.
• Please be sure to choose 'yes' on the registration form to the question, "Is this person in High School?"  This is important so we can arrange rooms and contact youth prior to Synod Assembly.

Regarding rooms:

• DO NOT reserve a room for the youth; we will do that as registrations come in.
• DO add $27.25 to the cost of registration for each night the youth will stay in the hotel.

If you have questions, please contact Pastor Laurie Carson, 716.799.4017 or pastorlcn@gmail.com or ask to join the Youth @ Synod Assembly Facebook Group at http://bit.ly/youthatassembly.