Astro Hale: Policies and Guidelines

1) General information

The IfA maintains an apartment in the nearby faculty housing complex for use by visitors. The apartment is funded 75% by the IfA Visitors Program and 25% by the National Astrobiology Institute (NAI), and visitors sponsored by these programs are given priority.

The apartment, Astro Hale, is located at 3029 Lowrey Avenue. It is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit with 2 parking stalls. It is fully furnished, including high-speed wireless Internet access. There are separate keys to each of the bedrooms so that two independent visitors can stay there simultaneously. One bedroom has a queen-size bed and the other has two twin beds. Professional cleaning services are scheduled at the end of each guest's stay.

Visitors who are not sponsored by either the Visitors Program or the NAI are charged rent. The rent for these "paying guests" is $70 per night, or $35 per night per room if two guests are sharing the apartment. If the rent is not being paid by an IfA account, it must be paid by U.S. funds check (made payable to RCUH) or cash prior to checkout. Credit cards are not accepted.

Requests for accommodation in Astro Hale are made by the host using the Astro Hale Accommodation Request Form below. These requests are reviewed by the Visitors Program Committee (VPC).

The nominal length of stay in Astro Hale is two weeks to two months. Shorter or longer stays may be considered on an exceptional basis.

Guests who are sponsored by the Visitors Program or by the NAI are given priority over paying guests and are handled on a case-by-case basis. Requests for paying guests can be made at any time but confirmation of these reservations is subject to the restrictions described below, in order to maintain flexibility to accommodate high-priority guests.

For paying guests, Astro Hale can be reserved for periods of no more than ONE MONTH at a time. Such reservations will not be confirmed any earlier than TWO MONTHS in advance of the arrival date, and the intitial confirmation will be for either one month or for the duration of the requested stay, whichever is less. Extensions beyond one month will be approved in increments of either one month or the length of the extension, whichever is less, and such extensions will not be confirmed any earlier than two months in advance.

A calendar showing the visitors and dates for confirmed accommodation in Astro Hale, and also requests for accommodation which have not yet been confirmed, is available at:

• Astro Hale Calendar

The notation in front of the guest's name denotes the following:

S = Shared. This reservation/request is shared or willing to share
N/S = Not Shared. This reservation/request is for both bedrooms
Q/S = Shared or Willing to Share. This guest using Queen bedroom
T/S = Shared or Willing to Share. This guest using Twin bedroom

2) Day-to-day management of the Astro Hale program

Mr. Bill Unruh is the Administrative Assistant responsible for day-to-day management of Astro Hale. His office at the IfA is Room B-126D. He is responsible for:

• Check-in and check-out from the apartment.
• Coordination of the cleaning schedule with visitor arrival and departure.
• Registering each new visitor with the Resident Manager, Mr. Ted Awana.
• Liaison between visitors and the Resident Manager, the phone or electric company, or IfA computer staff to work out problems which may arise in these areas.
• Handling lockout during normal business hours if the Resident Manager cannot be reached.
• Collecting rent for visitors not covered by an IfA account

3) Check-In procedure

The IfA/NAI host will be responsible for these duties and will report back to Mr Unruh during normal business hours.

4) Accommodation requests

Requests for accommodation at Astro Hale are submitted by the IfA or NAI host using the form below:

• Astro Hale Accommodation Request