Championship Event 2004 - Rate your hotels!!

[Mike M.]

Originally Posted by Nate Edwards

I am in search of a hotel with floor 13 to prove my team wrong

actually the omni cnn center had a 13th floor

[Tom Schindler]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Super8 -- Downtown Atlanta

Price per room: If known.

I paid $65 for three nights... (3 people in a double room)

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?

We had a two level hotel room, which consisted of a 10'x10' room with a small bathroom that had a 12" step up. The epitomy of "ghetto"

Suprise Charges: If any.

Beyond the fact that the front desk attendant jokingly told us the credit card declined, no... Oh, and, segways were apparently dis-allowed at a few hotels, as i was requested to walk mine by the management while in the omni, the management at the super8 simply said, "yo that sh#@&t is hot!"

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?
about a half mile walk-- no biggy

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
Close to the downtown "food" district, again about a half mile walk.

Any additional Comments?

I was bitten by a spider while in the hotel room-- must have happened while sleeping. The hotel refused to re-make our bed as a backpack was left on it.

Having a 12" step into the bathroom isn't a good idea for those early morning stumbles into the bathroom... i forgot to "step down" one time, even though there was a cheesy little sign.

The elevators were slow, and incredibly small. You'd be lucky to fit thee people in the elevator.

Ask anyone in this picture for comments about our hotel.

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?

No Way!


Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
No Way!

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
9th

[Lisa Rodriguez]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Embassy Suites-Downtown Atlanta
You know that hotel right next to Centennial Park, yea that was it, the really nice looking one

Price per room: If known.

um......don't know exact, but expensive

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?

Internet was $10 for 24 hours, free breakfast (good food too) but we had to make them open earlier (6AM) so we could get all the team out on time
They had some manager's cocktail hour one night, free drinks (both for adults and underage) they had little sitting areas on each floor, 2nd floor roof pool, microwave, minifridge, two beds in one room (size=double) and a pull out queen size couch

Suprise Charges: If any.
yea...money gone from some team member's wallets among other stuff moved and gone through

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?
walk, RIGHT there

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
about 45 second walk to CNN center, about 8 minutes to Hard Rock, Hooters, etc

Any additional Comments?
Hotel security was all over us at 12, when all we did was sit there and talk quietly, although there might have been others, but not sure. Service was good expect thier refusal to give us extra blankets, pillows and towels because "enough were supplied for 2 people, which the room is meant for, and they only have the inventory for"
No fan in the bathroom, so when you take a shower, it just lingers in the room, kinda wierd


Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?

Um... unsure, i'm pretty sure we're the only team with a bad experience, so yes, go ahead, its really nice


Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
nope

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
5th

[Joel J]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Super8 -- Downtown Atlanta

I'll not continue with the survey, heh. Don't ever stay at this place, unless you absolutely have to. Book early, and spend the extra $10 or $20 you need for a better hotel. From the experiences of walking to this place in the middle of the night, to trying to get into the building, to trying to get into my room, to trying to sleep, to trying to use the bathroom, this place gets a 1/10 (1 because its cheap). So, FIRST didn't have it on their list of suggested hotels and they were right. Steer clear, folks!

[Koko Ed]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)Hilton Atlanta, 5993 Peachtree International Blvd.

Price per room: If known.Not really sure but the travel pages state about $140 a night.

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?Drug store, a pair of high end restraunts, Outdoor pool, air conditioning, safe. No breakfast.

Suprise Charges: If any. Nasty teenage-hating guest who have security on speed dail with ultra-sensite hearing for the slightest noise nad the am,azing ability to assume that door knocking is the equivalent of rioting. Other even more rowdy hotel revelers who use FIRST givaways irresponsibly and get them caught in hte elevators and get FIRST in trouble with the hotel.

[b]Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?[/]b Our team bought MARTA passes.

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants? Ate at McDonalds twice and near to the Hard Rock Cafe. Kids wanted to go to Hooters.

Any additional Comments? Kids enjoyed elevators. particlarly the outdoor express to the rood resteraunt.

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year? Yes.

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year? Of course.

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on? Yes.

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
The Omni, Atlanta

Price per room: If known.
I am not sure.

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?
I am not sure about the internet access (it wasn't my biggest concern) but Breakfast had to be bought. There were alot of good places to eat downstairs. However, if you were like me and am used to staying at more "upscale" places, the hotel was disappointing. There was no indoor pool that I am aware of (though I heard a rumor there was and you had to be 21 to get to it) and it was too blasted cold to get into the other one. Cramming six guys and two girls into that small lil hot tub proved to be...interesting. The postion of the pool was horrible (who puts a pool on a roof!?) and the wind created problems. Unless you were of drinking age, there was not much you could do within the hotel itself. They split the team up over many floors (though we all stayed in the North Tower) and no one had a balcony (and even if we had one, our team said we weren't allowed to use them due to someone falling off one a couple years ago.)

Suprise Charges: If any.
None that I am aware of but I remembered seeing something about a tax.

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?
Walk...except to get to and from the airport, and then we took the Marta System.

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
Super Close

Any additional Comments?
Next year, they need to figure out something better to do in the hotels. Havn't these people heard of an arcade?

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?
Guess so. I enjoyed the hotel, even if it had its problems

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
Sure, why not. Least I wasn't bitten by a spider or anything

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
22nd floor baby!

[Gamer930]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta Georgia

Price per room: If known.
Not Sure

Ammenities: Pool was very salty Starbucks in the lobby Restraunt at top

Suprise Charges: If any.
None that I know of

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?
I tryed both taking the MARTA and walking. Depending on your luck with getting right on the trains it could be faster. I found out that walking was faster and more reliable (about 15 min walk)

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds, and Hooters were right across the street
Restaurant on top of hotel - expensive. Starbucks in the lobby

Any additional Comments?
Elevators were outragious at busy times with all the teams.
There was 4? elevators for the floors 1-45 then 4? others for floors 1-14 and 45-72
Very nice view from windows

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?
Yes, get the 5-day MARTA pass also. Very nice to get to/from the airport and also would be nice if it rained

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
Yes

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
The team had people on the 33, 52 53 54 57 59 floors
I was on the 52nd

[GregG]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta Georgia

Price per room: If known.
something like $225 per night, not entirely sure

Ammenities:
rooftop pool (really busy and salty, kinda yucky), starbucks in lobby, restuarant (expensive)

Suprise Charges: If any.
Not really suprise, but any phonecalls outside the hotel are expensive, internet access is really expensive

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk?
I just walked. It's a pretty short distance.

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
Hard Rock Cafe, Hooters, McDonalds, several sushi bars, a small mall, tons of other stuff within a short distance

Any additional Comments?
Really busy elevators in evening. Cool architecteral design (circular building, really cool first 9 floors (with couches and stuff everywhere and you could see the lobby from the 9th floor). Truly heavenly beds (just like they advertise).

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?
Yes, didn't have any major problems with them

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
Yes

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
We had rooms on floors 25, 27, 30, and 31

[Chris Fultz]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Homewood Suites, Suburbs, Northwest,

Price per room: If known. $110

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?
Free High Speed Internet, Free hot breakfast, evening reception that we were never back in time for.

Suprise Charges: If any. No bad surprises.
Good Surprises: How well we were treated. Desk people asked how we were doing at the competition. They were nice even when we checked in at 2 AM. Only negative - the hotel was overbooked, so some parents who had separate reservations from the team had to go to a different hotel - but then they got their rooms for free!

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk? We took our bus or a van. About a 25 minute drive, straight shot down Northeast (or was it Northwest) Drive.

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
Walk to two malls (Galleria / Cumberland), lots of food choices (fast and nice sit down). Team walked to eat.

Any additional Comments?
Very nice hotel. Rooms were huge (separate bedroom, living area, fireplace, full kitchen) room for 5 or 6 easily. Pool and hot tub. Large breakfast room in the lobby with tables and chairs, TV, etc. - great for gathering.

This was a great place. Only negative is no other FIRST teams were there.
Maybe FIRST could create some packages at places like this one so that teams could be together, even if not right downtown.

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?
Yes, unless you can stay downtown.

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?Yes, unless we stay downtown inthe middle of everything.

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
2 (the top floor!)

[~JeSsIcA~]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??)
Embsey sweets..Dunno
Price per room: If known. $85 with the discount they gave us

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast?
Free hot breakfast and at night they had an open bar and chips and cheese and popcorn but we werent there in time to get.

Suprise Charges: If any. none at all
Good Surprises: Well me adn the ppl i roomed with decided to decorate our friend room right next door with toilet paper. well they decide to do the same to us and out door was locked. they called the manager and said they locked there keys in THEIR room so she unlocks our room and lets them in so they can tepe our room.

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk? We took our bus and got there in about 10 min....wichi is alot les time then it took us in Chicago....2HOURS!

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants?
It was close to a strip mall!

Any additional Comments?
I liked the area down stair set up for a place to hang out. so we dicided to have a team party Friday night.


Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year?
I dont know cuz it depends if u wanna be closer to things or not

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year?
prolly not i would wanna be more in town

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?
3rd...same with everyone else on my team.

[Alex Pelan]

Name of Hotel: Hyatt Regency,Atlanta
Amenities: Free Wireless internet, HBO, Cable, Bar,Restaurant, 24 hour Convenience store.AM/FM Alarm Clock, Bar/Lounge, Business Center, Concierge, 24 Hour Front Desk, Handicapped Rooms/Facilities, Express Checkout, Golf, Hairdryer in Room, Mini Bar, Modem Lines in Room, Meeting/Banquet Facilities, No Smoking Rooms/Facilities, Pool, Parking, Restaurant, Room Service, Safe Deposit Box, Shops/Commercial Services, Fitness Center or Spa, Tennis, Television with Cable, Laundry/Valet Services, VIP Rooms/Services
No surprise charges.
Price not known(Orbitz claims starting from $ a night 150 If you are buying from hyatt it will be closer to 200.)
At first we took the marta (and bought 5 day pass), then we realized walking was quicker
A block away from Hooters, Hard Rock Cafe, and a mall that had things such as Subway, Chick Fil-A, etc.Actually the lobby was connected to said mall. Also, there were restaurants in lobby and a rotating one on the 25th floor.
Yes (Get a room high up,above the service floor(bombs away!)) Great for first teams, may be a little on the expensive side,knowing the prices of other Hyatts and how nice the facilities were.
12th, room 1206,which was a perfect location.
Additional info: Really awesome hotel,but for your team to stay in it, you'll probably have to be in 4s and threes. We were in a four, and I slept in the tub one night. I can't wait to go back.
Seacrest Out!

[RiceRobotica]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??) Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Baby!

Price per room: If known. Somewhere around $100. Was anybody else slipped a bill under their door??

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast? Free internet through the ethernet cable and port in the desk, pool, sauna, hot tub (Yay for me and MOE in the hottub! ) a walk across the street to Centennial Park, courteous consierge that didn't mind me walking around in pink pajamas and a bathing suit

Suprise Charges: If any. Not that I can remember

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk? Just a walk

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants? We didn't go out to eat, but the food court was great. Yay for the southwest place with the burritos the size of my head!

Any additional Comments? Elevators, hot tubs, some random people and bull***t. Can I touch your hair?? Actually, security seemed a bit... lax? Maybe odd. I had some friends actually walk from the Marriot and they found my floor and room number through the Courtesy Phone and came up and visited me and my roommate. But when I was playing cards, somebody called security on us. I took the refugees into my room to hide until the guard went away, though.

Would you reccomend this hotel for FIRST teams next year? Of course!

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year? YES!

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on? Floor 10, room 1082

[Vivelation]

Omni Hotel in ATL

Price not remembered... We were slipped a bill too! But then we got it cleared. It seems that it happened to everyone on our team.

free internet, pool, hot tub, Centennial Park across the street, a concierge dedicated to food outside the hotel, food right underneath (aka easy access to sweet iced tea)

no surprise charges to my room...

5-10 minute walk to pits/Dome

food court below the hotel... food outside was within walking distance (Durango's steak house, Hard Rock Cafe, Benihana all withing 10, 15 min)

Other random stuff: Elevators were fun (maybe not the wait to go up), since we explored Wednesday night and that's how we met MOE . Meeting random people running around was fun.

Recommending this hotel for FIRST teams next year... Actually, we're hoping to stay there again, so definitely. Oh wait, I just answered the next question... eh, 2 birds, 1 stone

Floor 27 (in the tower w/the shiny elevators), room 2762. I believe it was the same floor was Dave Lavery, which was cool, b/c we saw him going back to his room.

[KathieK]

I'll expand on the earlier posting about the Embassy Suites - Centennial Park.

The price was the same structure as the other top tier hotels including the Omni. A Quad room paid $310 per person for the 5 night package through the THS-FIRST reservations company. A Triple paid $380 per person and a Double occupancy paid $497 per person.

The package included 5 nights' stay in a suite that included a living room area with a queen-sized pull-out sofa bed and TV and desk/table. There was a mini frig, coffee maker, and microwave in each hallway. The bedrooms contained either a King-sized bed or two Doubles and another TV. The rooms were spacious. They did not have sufficient dresser space, but that was OK.

Upon our late arrival on Tuesday evening, we discovered that there was not enough bedding in each room to cover the bedroom and sofa bed and any students who wished to sleep on the floor. Some of the adults shared their bedding with the students so they had pillows and blankets.

The Housekeeping on the 5th floor was sporadic at best. Most of the rooms were not fully serviced each day. We were missing towels, toilet paper, kleenex. In addition, we did have an issue with some alleged money missing from wallets, as well as a digital watch that is still missing. Suitcases did appear as though they had been searched each day.

As we had a midnight curfew on our students anyway, the adults welcomed the presence of the hotel security patrols.

The common areas of the hotel were bright and spacious. The manager's reception was somewhat of a disappointment as I had expected more than a bowl of Chex Mix for the refreshments. We were allowed two drinks per person (alcoholic for adults) during the reception.

The hotel provides breakfast for all guests and the food was of good quality and variety and if you could manage to go through the long lines, it was all you could eat. But it advertises "full cooked-to-order" breakfast (which I expected for the two days we were there that were not FIRST Competition days) and the only thing you could get cooked to order were omelets in the buffet line. We did not receive the $8 Dining Dollar coupons from FIRST as a result and we also did not receive any discount in the package price. The restuarant also did not open until 7:00 am on Saturday, not earlier as we had been told by hotel management prior to arrival.

The location was great - we packed a whole suitcase of games and frisbees and balls, etc. so that we could take advantage of the beautiful park adjacent to the hotel. Unfortunately for some of us, the train the passed through all night long was located near our rooms and the train whistles kept many of us awake.

I loved having the suites but would have to consider long and hard before going back next year.

[Bridgette]

Name of your hotel and Location (Atlanta, Suburb??) Days Inn Downtown, Downtown Atlanta

Price per room: If known. I think it was about $20 a night (3-4 people to most rooms)

Ammenities: Details - Internet Access (charged for or free?), Breakfast? A pool that we didn't have time to go to, a decent restaurant open 24 hours on the bottom floor of the hotel, no breakfast, vending machines.

Suprise Charges: If any.

Transportation to and from the Georgia Dome - Bus route, MARTA system, walk? most people took the bus, but some alumni (and the drive team and pit crew one morning) walked, and it was about 10 minutes from our hotel to the Georgia dome.

Relative closeness to food, and restaurants? restaurant in the hotel, underground atlanta about 10-15 minutes away, other restaurants much closer

Any additional Comments? The hotel was reasonably priced, not too far away from the Georgia dome, relatively close to everything else. The only problem I had was when I needed extra towels. The person at the front desk was quite reluctant to give me another one. Other than that, no problems.

Would you recommend this hotel for FIRST teams next year? sure, if you don't have too much money and are looking for a decent hotel

Would you stay at the same hotel Next year? Yes

And just for fun, What floor did you stay on?9th floor, room 907