Well... as expected prices are a bit inflated in the restaurants. $55 for a couple beer, nachos and some wings.

There are a few restaurants in the little resort area I have to check out still. I don't get the feeling any will be nicer to the wallet (or my credit card in this case!).

There is no little grocery shop to grab some beers so I can have a drink in my room and maybe get some work done. Well there are 2 "news stands" but they sell overpriced chips and junk food only, no beers or real food. The closet 7-11 etc I can find is over 20 mins away!

It looks like the resort area is really isolated. So if you want to get out and see something that isn't in this little area, you are looking at a long cab ride.

Other then that, hotel is great! Area is beautiful.

Let's hope I can find a coffee for under $5 this morning...

Registration seems to be moving along well, not sure how it was earlier if you were trying to get to the early sessions but currently no lines. Food is excellent though pricey for sure.

Frank

I think the hotel rooms themselves are disappointing while the hotel as a venue is quite cool. Can't help but think the price of the room is funding that posh atrium rather than the room itself... wish I was in the Westin or Aloft!

there is a sandwich place (PotBelly) right at the waterfront where you can get a cheap sandwich.

I ventured out to a liquor store yesterday about 10 mins away.

Well... as expected prices are a bit inflated in the restaurants. $55 for a couple beer, nachos and some wings.

There are a few restaurants in the little resort area I have to check out still. I don't get the feeling any will be nicer to the wallet (or my credit card in this case!).

There is no little grocery shop to grab some beers so I can have a drink in my room and maybe get some work done. Well there are 2 "news stands" but they sell overpriced chips and junk food only, no beers or real food. The closet 7-11 etc I can find is over 20 mins away!

It looks like the resort area is really isolated. So if you want to get out and see something that isn't in this little area, you are looking at a long cab ride.

Other then that, hotel is great! Area is beautiful.

Let's hope I can find a coffee for under $5 this morning...

Which hotel are you staying at...Gaylord?

Let's hope I can find a coffee for under $5 this morning...

Coffee is free at the morning refreshments... Fruit only for food? Come on get some pastries out at least!

I think the hotel rooms themselves are disappointing while the hotel as a venue is quite cool. Can't help but think the price of the room is funding that posh atrium rather than the room itself... wish I was in the Westin or Aloft!

I agree to be honest. The rooms aren't bad but at the price point I would prefer a westin heavenly bed at this cost :)

there is a sandwich place (PotBelly) right at the waterfront where you can get a cheap sandwich.

I ventured out to a liquor store yesterday about 10 mins away.

Where did you find it? Let me know! I went walking around here and I couldn't find anything but a couple newstand type shops that do not sell beer. How can a man function at a conference without beer?

Which hotel are you staying at...Gaylord?

Yup, at the gaylord... I think I am going to try the mexican restaurant tonight. Hope it isn't too pricey. Or at least, that it tastes good.

Where did you find it? Let me know! I went walking around here and I couldn't find anything but a couple newstand type shops that do not sell beer. How can a man function at a conference without beer?

lol its like 10 mins away by car. if you can find me ill give you a ride. livingston rd in oxon hill.

Go to say I'm pretty glad I'm at aloft ($84/night inc taxes - yay hotwire). Downtown WDC is only about 15 minutes from here, so I'd have to imagine that there's some sort of convenience store closer than 20 minutes away.

Sunday night I went into Bethesda (which was quite a drive), but had all you can eat blue crab for $35. Absolutely splendid. If anyone is interested, I'd be more than happy to go out there again ...

Also, there's a water taxi that goes to quite a few places from here: http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/directions-transportation/water-taxis/

Sunday night I went into Bethesda (which was quite a drive), but had all you can eat blue crab for $35. Absolutely splendid. If anyone is interested, I'd be more than happy to go out there again ...


Yo Jay.. I would be interested to go out there.. ;)

Yup, at the gaylord... I think I am going to try the mexican restaurant tonight. Hope it isn't too pricey. Or at least, that it tastes good.

We tried that last night.. not so bad..

Yo Jay.. I would be interested to go out there.. ;)

Consider it done then, just let me know which night ;) It's a solid 45 minute drive so we'll have to place accordingly. Interestingly enough, there is also a Malaysian restaurant across the street.

Malaysian??? Hmmm you guys eat the crab (khatum!) I will eat the malay food. :)

wish I was in the Westin

The Westin is nice, but it feels 'unfinished' and a bit cheap. There's a lot of quirks with the room (including the room door not closing properly, blind control broken, and the shower tub draining slower than the water is going into it which means it fills up as you shower).

There's also no mini bar or bottled water in the room. It's not up to the usual Westin standard IMHO.

I do however have an awesome view of the river.

Gaylord looks nice, but I haven't seen in any of the rooms.

HostingCon moving to Austin TX next year will likely show that true "Texas Hospitality" I know personally I have had some questionable service during the time here.

Venue is great, but the service of the surrounding places is really in need of some improvement or is it just that our industry has high expectations?

I think the service here is indeed lacking a bit Mario.

Nice venue.

I have had some questionable service during the time here... the service of the surrounding places is really in need of some improvement I am fully agree with that. I even feel that people is rude over here or at least they do not value their customers. For example, last night I was at GayLord's main entrance, waiting for a partner, I was in front of the door and a man came to me and told me to go elsewhere... wtf???!!!! I feel I am dissapointed with the place, the show is cool but I don't know why, I did love Chicago...

Gaylord was very cool looking, but out in the middle of nowhere. That's why we stayed downtown. Long cab/metro ride though.

-Chris

In austin next year? AWESOME!

Austin however is a traffic nightmare ;)

In austin next year? AWESOME!

Austin however is a traffic nightmare ;)

D.C. is much worse :D


Great show though, I really did enjoy it this year. I did notice that the hotel staff didn't seem too friendly; however, I didn't have any issues with them. The people doing security/checking your badges were actually very nice and helpful I must say (I think it was the 3 people in bright red).

My opinion just got a whole lot worse of this place.

Maid banging on the door at 8am in the morning to ask me what time I am leaving today! Was fast asleep!!

D.C. is much worse :D


Great show though, I really did enjoy it this year. I did notice that the hotel staff didn't seem too friendly; however, I didn't have any issues with them. The people doing security/checking your badges were actually very nice and helpful I must say (I think it was the 3 people in bright red).

Really DC traffic is not as bad as traffic in downtown Austin, not even close. Austin has no real mass transit options so EVERYONE is driving.

No complaints really, wasn't thrilled about the 8 am house keepers, but other than that it was good.


HostingCon moving to Austin TX next year will likely show that true "Texas Hospitality" I know personally I have had some questionable service during the time here.

Venue is great, but the service of the surrounding places is really in need of some improvement or is it just that our industry has high expectations?

We will be there, and it was great meeting you. Look forward to talking with you real soon.

My opinion just got a whole lot worse of this place.

Maid banging on the door at 8am in the morning to ask me what time I am leaving today! Was fast asleep!!

Oh SH!T I thought this only happened to me. That was terrible.

Oh SH!T I thought this only happened to me. That was terrible.

Happened to me as well.. Somewhat glad to hear others were suffering along with me. :-) Put out the "do not disturb" sign every time I was in the room after that.

Other than that though, I found all the staff at the Gaylord to be extremely friendly and helpful.

Happened to me as well.. Somewhat glad to hear others were suffering along with me. :-) Put out the "do not disturb" sign every time I was in the room after that.

Other than that though, I found all the staff at the Gaylord to be extremely friendly and helpful.

Did it take you the better part of the hour to walk from the elevator to your room? .. or what about the $25.00 charge to send a bell hop to the exhibit hall (who of course also expects a tip)

Did it take you the better part of the hour to walk from the elevator to your room? .. or what about the $25.00 charge to send a bell hop to the exhibit hall (who of course also expects a tip)

Our room was right off the elevator and no charges from bell hops, the two times we used them. I guess we were just more special than you. :-)

Our room was right off the elevator and no charges from bell hops, the two times we used them. I guess we were just more special than you. :-)

Maybe you gave them a t-shirt? I forgot to mention, my bell hop lost my 20' x 8' banner. Not sure how you lose that but at least he found it.

the service of the surrounding places is really in need of some improvement or is it just that our industry has high expectations?

Sadly, the whole estate knows you can't (easily) go anywhere else for things, so price-gouging and pathetic levels of service were par for the course.

The sessions were good, networking with suppliers & clients & peers is always worthwhile, the exhibit hall *seemed* missing a few key players this time and was heavily focussed on outsourced support and hairy-fairy-cloud nonsense.

I think iNet did a good job with the takeover, it ran smooth, but the "out of the way" location let it down.

Request iNet people to arrange some smoking rooms and lounge area in next exhibition.It was bit hard to digest that paying $248 per day and still you cant have a fag in your own room you are staying.Everytime had to run outside the hotel to smoke.

Hope they take a note of this for sure.

Request iNet people to arrange some smoking rooms and lounge area in next exhibition.It was bit hard to digest that paying $248 per day and still you cant have a fag in your own room you are staying.Everytime had to run outside the hotel to smoke.

Hope they take a note of this for sure.

Less and less hotels in the United States are allowing smoking, so that is going to become much harder every year.

I understand your point, but that is just how the United States is developing and you've got to look at it from the prospective of a non-smoker. Even if you are in a smoking only room, the smoke is going to go to non-smokers' rooms and out into the hallway even if the room is airtight (when you open your door). For many people, tobacco smoke can cause them to have serious allergic reactions, and many people also don't like the smell.

Personally, I would rather that they prohibit smoking on the entire property, but I understand that is irrational :P

liked the location tbh, not too many distractions from the program around, maybe somewhat a lack of decent clubbing opportunities but then again, can't say I missed out on that .... my liver is still recovering...

we generally enjoyed the area - but the distance from DC center was a pain - prices were sky high and service did not exactly match up to the high prices.

We stayed in the Westin and were glad we did (we also had a river view room) - the prices in the Gaylord were massive, and we could not justify them once we learned that a Westin was 1-2 blocks away and barely over 1/2 the price, AND no "resort fees".

My initial thoughts after hearing that HostingCon is moving to Austin next year is that I would have thought that there were benefits to staying at the same resort 2 years running, like getting the kinks out and making the 2nd year better than the first... now I think I will enjoy the new location. I think the job that the Navy pier team did was to make the conference better and better - I know some of that is experience of the venue - my fear is that hopping to a different venue each year will lead to something being hit or miss year after year.

My thoughts about moving year after year is that it shows a lack of confidence in the show and using the area as the draw. In one respect this is exactly how I felt about Las Vegas - which was an awesome venue - I find that Vegas means little "work" gets done though - there is too much distraction, many people play and you can never find someone because they're off gambling or drinking in the day... at least the Gaylord did not have that.

We also noticed as UH-Matt did, that there were no pastries available with the refreshments - and the peach I grabbed was dry and stringy inside - I never tried the fruit again... because carbs and grease are required to get past the previous nights libations! ;) I made sure I went an got breakfast taken care of before turning up to the conference after that day.

One thing I would like to see (which was a common issue we had with previous hostingcons) - is that the lunch option be a little less expensive - I forget the amount but I think it was $30+ a day (was it $50 after the discounts dropped) - anyway, with two of us (and many companies have more), I found it hard to justify $60 a day for lunch - who pays that for a buffet at a convention?!?

We both thought that hostingcon itself could stretch to another day... finding many sessions back to back that we wanted to attend - as usual we found a couple of sessions we had nothing in any of the 4 tracks we wanted to listen to, then in another session there were three of the 4 tracks with interesting sessions... I know scheduling those must be a REAL pain!

This is the first time I have seen so many keynotes and perhaps that was part of why I left having felt that I gained very little from most of them. The SEO keynote was excellent though! Sergei's keynote was prefaced several times saying how it would be focused on the ||'s vision... and it was - so much so that I almost walked out... sorry, that's what ||'s summit is for - I want to hear a lot more general industry stuff at the industry event, I can (and probably will) attend ||'s summit for the ||'s vision.

All in all, I think it was a successful first show for the iNet interactive team - we enjoyed ourselves, and there were minor niggles, there always are - some were venue specific, some are part of the learning process. I would like to congratulate the iNet team on a job well done though - I'll raise a glass to next year being bigger and better!

I will say, for my first hostingcon I was pretty happy with it. wyb make a LOT of points I agree with though.

I had a great time at this conference. Is everyone attending next year in Austin?

Bryan Gregory
The Aldridge Company

One thing I would like to see (which was a common issue we had with previous hostingcons) - is that the lunch option be a little less expensive - I forget the amount but I think it was $30+ a day (was it $50 after the discounts dropped) - anyway, with two of us (and many companies have more), I found it hard to justify $60 a day for lunch - who pays that for a buffet at a convention?!?


Agreed. We couldn't justify it so we simply chose not to attend, even though we would have liked to.