Just popping in to say that I hated to miss this year's F2F, but my travel goal for next year was to make it to the West Coast anyway. Having never been there, I don't know that I'd have anything to offer for a vote, but I'm really going to try to put aside enough to make it there!

Oh, and a question, opinions please: I rather like the idea of hiring an entire small hotel or B&B for the doings. For one thing, the party would likely not be dependent on their catering, since the smaller boutique hotels are less likely to have that requirement.

So far, it's been straightforward hotels. If we could rent an entire small hotel or B&B, and everyone could choose their own rooms and who they shared a bath with, how would people feel about that? Because something like a thirty-room B&B would likely have shared baths.

And no, I'm not pushing it. Might not even be a possible. But should I check into it?

I'd say check into it, Deb. Then we can at least do the math and see how affordable it would be.

Kewl. And I think I'll take a run over to the Miyako today and have a talk with the concierge; it's not the old grand rock and roll hangout of the glory days, but it's still the Miyako and it's brilliantly located (heart of Japantown). I'll hit 'em up and see what I get, ballpark.

Oh, and Jacqueline beat me to the Hayes Valley. Nice place, and on my list.

I wouldn't mind sharing a bathroom with whoever (well, for a Buffista variant of whoever, anyhow). I like the possibilities taking over a small hotel would offer.

Oh, I love the idea of taking over a small hotel!

I can't say for sure if I'll be able to make it to the F2F this year, but I am damned sure going to try--and I've been hoping to have an excuse to visit SF again...

I'm with Lyra. Love the idea of having a whole place for just Buffistas. And, I don't mind sharing a bath with other Buffista-types.

I'll check the B&B and small hotel market, then. The big deal-breaker on that, as cool as it would be, is the probability of them having internet access in every room. That's not usually a feature of B&Bs, or at least it wasn't a couple of years back. But I'll absolutely see what's out there.

It sounds as if the ideal thing, should it exist, would be a small boutique hotel/B&B we could commandeer, a rate under $100 a night per room (or a negotiated flat fee for the solid booking, which might save us money, since it would guarantee them a full house) , internet access in every room, as many bathrooms as possible, and larger quarters in situ for both hospitality suite and prom. Correct?

Other thing is, prom on premises is a definite yes as well, correct?

The big deal-breaker on that, as cool as it would be, is the probability of them having internet access in every room.

Surely not everyone cares about having internet access in their room? For instance, I really don't.

Other thing is, prom on premises is a definite yes as well, correct?

I suppose if it were very very close to the hotel, like in LA*, that could work.

*(Yes, I realize that in LA the Prom was in one of the hotels; since I stayed in the non-Prom hotel, to me it felt like the Prom was being held at another facility. And so that's the viewpoint from which I offer that opinion.)

Hmmmm. OK, I have three places I want to check for starters, which I can do later today; I intend to get them to knock the rate down as low as possible, whatever any of the hotels offer, because of San Francisco's insane hotel tax. New York has one as well, and it's a damned good thing I remembered it; otherwise, the bill would have come as a shock.

Teppy, my thinking was basically either the hotel restaurant (hire the back room, have dinner there, have them clear it away and then party all night) or, if it's something, say South of Market, hire one of the local clubs for the evening; there are a lot of them. Being an old rock and roller, I also love the idea of hiring one of the local rehearsal rooms for the evening, so we could have live music for whoever wanted to play, plus they come with a built in PA system...