Who is the woman wearing glasses, the one between [Madrigal] and Plei?

Isn't that Dana?

Okay, who (before you, Dana) had the really long hair and cut it, and showed us pictures?

libkitty, I'm pretty sure.

I went to the Highland Inn [link] this afternoon.

First, the bad news. It's not handicapped accessible.

This is the situation. You have to walk up the equivalent of a flight of stairs to get to the first floor. The hotel only has two floors of rooms, and the hospitality suite and lobby are on the first floor. Therefore, people who have rooms on the first floor would only have to tackle the steps when entering and leaving the hotel. They wouldn't have to run up and down steps all day. The ballroom, where the prom would be, is another half flight of steps down from the first floor. The ballroom can also be accessed directly from the parking lot without steps.

The date would be the weekend of April 13.

Most of the rooms are singles. Here are the prices we'd get with the ballroom rental:

Single (1 Full size bed) $62.95
Queen (1 Queen size bed) $77.35
Double (2 Full size beds) $86.35
Suite (1 Queen size bed with a sitting area) $95.35

The ballroom rental is $1,000 for all day Saturday. We would have to have our stuff out of the ballroom by about 1 a.m., but at that point, we could just move the liquor up a flight of stairs to the hospitality suite. There is a $175 cleaning fee, which I'd suggest we take unless someone wants be cleaning at 1 a.m.

The ballroom is large – 2,000 square feet plus a kitchenette and restrooms and access to a courtyard.

We can have an open bar, but we must have a licensed bartender. Brenda or I can scare up one.

We can also supply our own food. We could get trays from an exterior caterer, or just go with easy appetizers.

The hospitality suite is two small connected rooms. They can take out the beds from both rooms, but we will need to scrounge up some more chairs. There's a free continental breakfast in a small room next to the hospitality suite, and once that's over at 10, we can have that area too. It has coffee pots and a refrigerator. The hospitality suite has one television and a small refrigerator. These rooms are, however, adjacent to the living-room-like lobby and a "concierge room," which has a microwave and a lot of information about Atlanta. The reality is that we'd probably put food and booze in the hospitality suite and take over the rest of the common areas. Melissa, the assistant manager, didn't seem to have any problem with that.

There is free Wi-Fi in the common areas, including the hospitality suite. Melissa says that rooms towards the front on both floors also pick up the Wi-Fi.

The hotel was built in 1927, and that's obvious. The rooms are small, the heat is from radiators, and the rooms have window AC units. Everything seemed clean. The website has many pictures.

Other miscellaneous facts:

• There's a coffee shop next door.
• A number of restaurants are in easy walking distance.
• Half a block away is Manuel's, which is an old-school bar. I've misspent quite a few hours there.
• Across from Manuel's, there's a large minimart that has a rather amazing selection of beer and wine.
• The Plaza Theatre, which runs a Rocky Horror show every Friday at midnight, is about a block away. I e-mailed the management about the possibility of doing some kind of event there such as a "Once More with Feeling" sing-along. It's a long shot, and I don't know if people would be interested, but I thought I'd check.
• About half a block away, you can catch a bus that will take you to the Five Points MARTA station. From there, you can easily get to the High Museum and Atlanta's major high-end shopping. I'm pretty sure you can also get a shuttle from one of the MARTA stations to the aquarium.

I e-mailed the management about the possibility of doing some kind event there such as a "Once More with Feeling" sing-along.

YES.

Thanks so much Ginger, I'm starting to get excited.

The not being handicap accessible is not good, but the hotel is financially accessible which could result in more Buffistas attending.

I'm happy to help anyone who needs assistance. More opportunity to get my hands on yummy Buffistas! ;)

I'm not happy with the accessibility thing, Laura, but Melissa said that people could request first floor rooms and they'd move people around to accomodate that. The suites (except the hospitality suite) are on the second floor, though.

Brendon would happily pick up and carry people, gropes optional. (seriously, he has on more than one occasion grabbed one side of a wheelchair when friends needed a lift)

Yay Brendon's coming! (I might have to yell at him about the Christmas thing, but not a lot ;) )

hm ... how is Brendon at LOOMing?

Brendon is taller than looming.