Here’s the skinny,
I just got off the phone with the Penticton Ramada (www.pentictonramada.com), and was told they have had some rooms recently released around this years race dates.
Ironically, it is because I called to inquire about their reservation procedure for next years race, I was told that the hotel is fully booked for 2008, but since they are all block bookings, a lot of the rooms get released much closer to race date - I managed to get my name first on the waiting list - on the upside, I’m virtually guaranteed a room, and I won’t have to pay any deposit until I actually book.