MIDLOTHIAN — When RavenCon, Virginia’s largest science fiction and fantasy convention, was held last month, much was the same as it ever was. It drew a colorful crowd of between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees to the event over the weekend, ranging from best-selling science fiction authors to cosplayers dressed as any number of characters, to genre fans looking to pick up a few rare books. Much was the same as it had been for the past decade.

There was one very critical new detail though - it was being held in Williamsburg, not Midlothian.

For the majority of the time it was based in Richmond, RavenCon had been held in Midlothian at the Holiday Inn Kroger Center, before the hotel was renamed the Hilton DoubleTree after it was purchased by Shamin Hotels in 2013. Not long after, the rates started going up, and events long held there started being driven out by the high prices, according to Michael Pederson, the RavenCon convention chair.

“2015 was the last year we had on our standing contracts, and when we tried negotiating for 2016, they asked for a 600 percent increase in what we were paying for function space,” said Pederson. “That 600 percent increase was the result of a couple of months of negotiations. Originally they’d told us they could get a wedding in the facilities for nine times what we were paying previously.”

The 237-room hotel, on Koger Center Boulevard off Midlothian Turnpike, has more than 26,000 square feet of meeting space, including ballrooms capable of serving a joint maximum capacity of 1,100 people. As of 2013, it was the region’s 10th largest hotel property and the largest in Chesterfield County, and was one of the area’s sought-after conference hotels, and was host for events ranging from RavenCon to the Richmond SPCA.

After it was bought out by Shamin hotels though, many of them got priced out, some within weeks of the hotel’s purchase in 2013. The Richmond Reptile Show, which had been held three times a year in the hotel since 1992, was the first to feel the squeeze, according to organizer Larry Kenton.

“We had a July event in 2013 just after the changeover, already had contracted dates through the next year, yet no sooner did I walk through the door then they try to triple the rates and slap on surcharges,” said Kenton. “A lot of the vendors at my events are small family businesses, they depend on shows like these, and it isn’t fair to threaten their profits because some sales guy thinks he can pull the wool over my eyes.”

The Richmond Reptile Show has since moved to the Richmond Raceway Complex, but he still regrets having to have moved locations at all.

“I’d come down from Pennsylvania for these events for so long it had almost become a second home at that point. We’d had no intent of leaving the location prior to that, knew most of the staff by name, some great memories, I’d still be there if they hadn’t pulled this stunt,” said Kenton. “For whatever reason, Hilton didn’t want the business or the clientele.”

They wouldn’t be the last event, with RavenCon being one of the more recent events driven out by the rate spikes, with the event named for one of the region’s most famous writers now having found a new roost in Williamsburg. Himself an area resident, Pederson likewise regrets having to find a new location elsewhere.

“We have such wonderful ties to the community and businesses here that it pains us to have to leave. We'd be back in a heartbeat if a good location at a good price became available,” Pederson said. “Not counting the Greater Richmond Convention Center, which is too large for our needs, the only other hotel in Richmond that has enough function space for our convention is the Short Pump Hilton, which is another hotel owned by Shamin, and charging similar rates.”

Shamin Hotels, based out of Chester, owns and manages more than 39 properties in three states, including 28 across Central Virginia, making them the largest hotel management chain in the region. The Hilton DoubleTree property sits at 1021 Koger Center Blvd., within 10 miles of three other Shamin properties: Hampton Inns on Research Road and Price Club Boulevard and a Holiday Inn Express on West Village Green Drive.

Shamin officials could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

• Sean CW Korsgaard may be reached at skorsgaard@progress-index.com, or at (804) 687-9579.