DellCon Games Weekends
"Dellcon is the most welcoming and embracing games weekend imaginable. It's a bit like visiting your favourite aunt or uncle whom you haven't seen for ages but you know will spoil you as soon as you go through the door."
- JW on Facebook
Boardgame Conventions take many forms and are of hugely varying sizes. DellCon is distinctive in being small; residential in a wonderful setting, and with meals and refreshments included in the price.
- The total number of places is limited to 16
- Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon
- All food is included in the price
- Free tea, coffee, soft drinks, and cake!
- The Dell House games collection is available
- Mainly 'Eurogame' in nature, with some light fillers and a few longer economic games
- Plenty of books, space, garden and hills to chill out with
The dates for the 2023 Autumn Season are:
| Dates | Residential | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| 6th-8th October | FULL | - |
| 27th-29th October | FULL | FULL |
| 17th-19th November | 1 room left | - |
| 24th-26th November - Decloaked† | 1 room left | - |
| 1st-3rd December | 1 room left | - |
† The later November DellCon was a 'backup' date quietly put in the diary for those who couldn't make any of the original dates. Now that situation has stabilised we can open it to everyone.
Missed out? There is an email circulation list that you can sign up to to get advance notice of DellCon dates before we announce them publicly. Go to mailing list sign-up page.
How to Book
Residential places
Residential places can be booked at any time. All places are for a minimum of 2 nights.
To accommodate this number of people we use rooms from the Nursery, and sometimes the Butler's, apartments. Most rooms are en-suite but not all. In the week before the DellCon we allocate appropriate rooms to people with double rooms going to couples first, and the best rooms going to those who booked first.
If, at any time, you book extra nights either side of DellCon you can override this allocation process and explicitly choose a B&B room for the weekend, subject to availability.
Non-resident places
Non-resident places are for those who live in and around Malvern, for whom an overnight stay is nonsensical.
If you want a non-resident place ask to go on the waiting list now. When the rooms are full, or 4 weeks before the DellCon, those on the waiting list fill any gaps.
Ticket Price and What's Included
A ticket is £50. This covers everything except accommodation and breakfast.
| Friday 7pm to 11pm |
4 hours gaming. Tea, coffee, etc. |
| Saturday | 8:30am. Breakfast - cereal, juice, toast, fruit. Residents only. |
| 9:30am to 11pm(ish) | 11+ hours gaming
Tea, coffee, etc. Home-made cake |
| Lunch - fresh warm home-made bread & cheeses, salad, etc. | |
| Evening meal - pizza, side salad, pudding | |
| Sunday | 8:30am. Breakfast as above. Residents only. |
| 9:30am to 4pm(ish) | 6+ hours gaming.
Tea, coffee, etc. Home-made cake |
| Lunch - fresh bread, flans, cheeses, salad, etc. |
Room Prices
Accommodation (which includes breakfast) prices are per-room not per-person. These prices are discounted because it's not a cooked breakfast and we are asking you to bring your own towels.
BYOT! - Bring Your Own Towels
These prices include a discount for you bringing your own towels. This policy is partly helping to keep the prices down in the face of rising costs, but primarily an environmental statement that the energy cost of washing and drying around 40 towels for just two days usage is easily avoided.
- We will provide a bath/shower mat in each bathroom.
- If you are travelling by train, we will provide towels free of charge.
- This replaces our usual train-traveller discount
- If you are travelling by car, and forget, we can provide towels at £5/person.
Prices
| Room | Per night (2 nights) |
Per extra night with cooked breakfast. |
|---|---|---|
| Single One single bed |
£65 | £75 (Yellow & Burgundy rooms) |
| Double One double bed |
£90 | £115 (Red room) £100 (Blue room) |
| Twin Two Single beds |
£90 | £100 (Green room) |
| Butlers Apartment † One double or Two Single beds, Single sofa bed option for a child. Dog friendly. |
£140 | £80 (£95 if 3 people) |
† The Butler's Apartment
The Butler's apartment is a slight anomaly. Unlike the other accommodation, where we decide which room you have, you can specifically book the apartment for a DellCon weekend. The price includes the DellCon breakfasts.
Additional days as purely self-catering are £50/night.
This is the only means by which you can attend a DellCon with a dog. Just to be clear, the dog is not allowed in the B&B area at all, which includes all the gaming and eating areas.
If the apartment has not been booked and we need more rooms we may decide to treat it as a DellCon Double or Twin room, with the lounge as a DellCon Single if demand requires it.
Booking
How do I book a residential weekend?
Email or phone us to check availability. To confirm a booking we require a non-refundable deposit of £100 per room please. The remainder can be paid during the event. We can take cash, credit/debit card or bank transfer.
How do I get on the non-residential waiting list?
It's simplest if you just email us. Full payment will be due when we've confirmed your place.
Is there a Reserve List?
Yes, for both residential and non-residential places, and it's worth being on it.
Terms and Cancellations
Our 'B&B' Terms and conditions apply to all attendees.
Strictly speaking, the full cancellation terms apply and in particular the deposit is non-refundable. However, informally, we tend to use the following approach:
- Anyone who simply changes their plans, simply loses their deposit.
- When anyone is forced to cancel through illness etc. and if we would end up gaining by retaining deposits, we would offer a credit against future DellCon bookings.
Other Info
What to Expect / Code of Conduct
If you want to know more about 'the DellCon way' the document we send out to everyone is available here. It includes the essence of our 'Code of Conduct' (and the infamous Mugs Rules).
Covid
It's safe to assume that Covid will remain an issue for the foreseeable future. The environment is spacious and ventilated, and there will be at most 18 people present. However, we will be playing games over a 2-day period. Given this:
- Masks are welcome.
- We will eat together as is usual at DellCons, as this represents minimal additional risk.
- We won't be servicing rooms. (The new normal for B&Bs anyway)
- Hand sanitizer supplies will be around.
Energy Crisis: Heating, EV Charging, etc.
In 2022 we won an award for our environmental policies. As a business we don't qualify for capped or discounted energy bills. Bearing both these things in mind, we will not be heating the house up to 'T-shirt' temperatures - please bring a jumper.
It is possible to charge one Electric Vehicle. We have a standard 3-pin socket fitted with a meter to record usage. We price this at cost but bear in mind 'at cost' means uncapped electricity rates, income tax and VAT, thus, around £1/kWh.
Disabled Access
The early 19th Century wasn't a time when designing houses for less able people was particularly prevalent. As a result the Dell House has a number of limitations. For details, see the Access Statement but, in summary:
- There is potential for one less able gamer to attend.
- The main gaming and eating rooms are all on a level with wide, held-open, doors. There is a good amount of space around and between tables (more than at most cons).
- There are two steps into the house, for which we will provide a ramp.
- There is only one downstairs bedroom (the 1-bedroom Butler's Apartment) whose internal and external entrances have three steps. (Same ramp).
- We feel it is necessary for an able-bodied person to accompany a less able one. If this person is not here for gaming we will consider charging accordingly.
- If requesting the Butler's Apartment because of physical disability, the apartment is charged the same as any other double / twin (it can be either) room.
Children
Historically, DellCons have been 18+ affairs. This isn't because of any 'adult' content but primarily a simpler way to run these weekends. Recognising that some families would like to come we've settled on allowing a total of one or two older children along each time.
We'd expect children to be capable of playing moderately weighty games, by themselves, against adults - thus, we'd be surprised if they were under, say, 12 years old. In particular, the Code of Conduct applies to all players regardless of age.
Pets
Pets are not allowed in the B&B (except assistance dogs), however, it may be possible to attend a DellCon with a dog. You would need to book the Butler's apartment. See notes above
Loose Ends
Please feel free to phone or email us if you've any questions.
We reserve the right to bend rules where it seems right to do so.
What diets can you provide for?
Elizabeth is vegetarian and veggie/vegan breakfasts is one of our specialities. We're happy to prepare something gluten-free when others are having pizza for example. With advance notice we are happy to provide soya products for dairy-free diets, etc. If your needs are a bit more specialist, just ask.
Diets we cannot provide for are specialities such as Halal and Kosher.
I'm new to all this (be that conventions or these games). Is that OK?
Absolutely. Something this small can seem a bit daunting if you're a bit wary, but you'll not be left out and will be gently guided into suitable games. We have a few 'regulars' but there's no clique here. We (and they) pride ourselves on the welcoming, relaxed and friendly nature of these weekends.
To borrow a quote from a first-timer and relative newcomer to the hobby: "I enjoyed jumping in the deep end last weekend, and it was great to meet folk who could patiently teach me lots of games. Looking forward to the next time."
After 50 DellCons we are really pleased that almost every single DellCon has included new people.
Is there parking?
Yes, we have a sizeable car park. You will need to park neatly to fit everyone in but that's always worked so far. See above for EV charging.