Things to know about the hotel

FALSE. We will not have more programming at the new hotel. What we will have is better programming space. Let me explain. Each programming room will be about the size of the Lafayette in the old hotel. That was the one across from hotel check-in. So there will be no more cramped into a small hotel room that we took the beds out of, or the small boardroom near the restaurant, or programming in a dark bar. The rooms will all be well lit with higher ceilings. We will not have more programming, just a better programming environment.

Yes they will be. The Dealer’s Room will increase by about 10 tables, depending on the layout that Bob Snare decides to use. There may not be that many more dealers if he decides to make it less cramp for his existing dealers. He is still in the design process so this will become better known as time goes along. The same can also be said about the Artroom. It will be larger. Once again, the design phase is still in process but the overall room is about the size of last year’s dealer’s room. Once again, the ceilings are higher so we will have better airflow in each room.

These rooms will make for a better MarsCon experience.

There is more parking. Over 400 parking spots. Unfortunately, we discovered that was not enough parking. We are looking at ways to alleviate this. There is parking in front of the main entrance, then there is parking along one side of the hotel that goes all the way around the tennis court at the back of the hotel. Plus – The Zombies will like this one – if there isn’t a funeral that weekend, we can park in the funeral home parking lot.

The gaming room is larger. At the old hotel it was 2400 square feet. At the new hotel it will have 3060 Square Feet. The rooms will not have stairwells in the way so it will be easier to lay them out. The space can also be divided into 3 rooms to cut down on noise, plus it is off by it’s self. No band next door. On top of that the hallways are very wide so some games may be there. Finally there will be another room Gamers can use. It is call Kearnys. We plan to use it as a gaming break room (will explain why in another post) that can be used for gaming at different times. Gamers will lose the 2nd floor suites from the other hotel – they were costing the con $450 by the way – but I think the added space will make for a good game room area.

The Con Suite will change. The new Hospitality Room is larger. Take last year’s main Con Suite room and double it. The new Con Suite is slightly larger than that. It is hard to explain the actual layout of the hotel, but very near the Hospitality Room is another room which the hotel will remove the bed from. This room connects to a 2 room suite. We will take the beds out of one room and use the other room as the Anime Cafe. That is where our Anime will be shown. So that gives us 3 more rooms for people to lounge in and have a snack. It will be a huge improvement.

There will be a slight change in how we do things in the Con Suite. In an effort to continue giving you a great Con Suite, we have to get control of things. If not, trying to finance the Con Suite will kill the Convention. The Con Suite is our biggest expense. You will not see a huge cutback, just some simple changes.

Another thing to know: No outside food allowed in the Hotel Ballrooms!

Since Ame Morris mentioned it in the Con Suite post, let me explain. It is a hotel policy that we can not bring in outside food to the hotel ballrooms. This means the programming rooms, dealers room, art show and gaming. This does not apply to the Con Suite or the overflow con suite rooms. This does not apply to Kearney’s down in the gaming area.

What this means is we want to limit people taking food from the con suite into a program. We are requesting you take your food to the overflow rooms or to your own room to eat. As for sodas, I think if you are responsible, throwing your empty can into a trash when you through, they won’t care as much.

That is why we want to use Kearney’s as a gaming break room. The con suite will provide them drinks and on Saturday a Sandwich tray but we are requesting the gamers stay in that room while they eat.

The Con Staff so far have eaten a Breakfast Buffet there and food off the Bar Menu. I haven’t heard anyone complain about their food. The Buffet was your typical one with eggs, fruit, hashbrowns, cereal, etc. but it did have Bacon. I thought it was good. I’m not sure what the cost of the buffet will be, but I would suspect somewhere around $10.00.

The bar menu is large, including Salads etc. I had a crab cake sandwich which was really good. Most everything was reasonably priced and you got plenty. They also make a good Pizza. Erika got the small, which was $7.00. She took half of it home. Overall, I would say that the food at the Crowne Plaza is an improvement over the previous hotel.

Registration will be easy to find; In the Clara Barton Room. The Clara Barton Room is located directly across from the Bar & Restaurant. If you enter the hotel from the Main Entrance turn left for Hotel Registration or turn right for MarsCon Registration.