@seancorfield I see, I didnt see the link on the clojure conj site for the group booking. It is this, on this page, http://2017.clojure-conj.org/location/ That is clearly the better way to go.

Yes, the Book now! link on that page -- and in any of the official emails you should have received -- will use the official conference block booking and contribute to the "room block" that is part of the contract that hotels usually require conferences to sign and pay for.

Perhaps I'm an outlier, I booked the conference, booked the flights, then booked the hotel - but I didnt actually read the confirmation emails until just now... When I went to lookup the hotel, I just looked at "https://ti.to/cognitect/clojure-conj-2017" and it just says "Venue Baltimore Hilton, 401 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201" ... I do see that the conference confirmation emails are clear.

I book conference then immediately book the hotel via the conference site, then I book flights about 6-8 weeks ahead of travel since that's usually when they're cheapest. So I'll be booking my flights this week (after Labor Day prices should drop).