I have no idea what the original philosophy behind that hotel's design was, but it sure didn't suffer from cookie cutter identical rooms.

I regret only remembering after the fact that you could order massages there.

I seem to remember that we had a small (apartment-size) electric stove and a microwave in addition to the mini-fridge... and a full-size kitchen sink.

I particularly like how the corridor on my side of the building actually sloped down considerably, which necessitated some of the the doorframes being framed rather creatively. I gather that this was so two buildings could be connected -- you couldn't get to the back half of the second floor from the portion of the second floor you could go into from the lobby.

Also the corridor floor? Squishy, like there were three or four levels of carpeting underfoot.

It struck me as an appropriately Buffista hotel.

I'm still sorry no one got a picture of Vortex in front of The Vortex (also sad I didn't get a picture of it period - I do have pictures; I just haven't gotten them yet from the friend I borrowed the camera from).

My room could have been switched with the HS. It was very large with fridge. Right at the top of the stairs. It was a fun location with plenty of places close by for food. The staff was sweet. The breakfast was fine for me. Not a big hot breakfast person.

Having an outdoor area next to the HS makes a big difference. SF was great with the pool and roof deck. In LA we took over the parking lot and pool area.

Chicago is good because of the large number of localistas, but I would prefer to go someplace new. Not pimping any mid cities because I don't know any of them well enough.

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I would really love to have it in Chicago again. Not just because I adore Chicago, which I do, or because I know it well, though I do. For super personal selfish reasons, I would love to have it in Chicago because it would be around the time of Kalamazoo (a medieval studies conference I love) and I could take my vacation for a couple weeks in May, and hit both.

But that is very me me me, so.

Also, I am stuck in St Louis on a crummy layover and have all day tomorrow. Don't we have people in St Louis?

Don't we have people in St Louis?

Anne is the only one.

I would love to go to a F2F in Chicago, it's just that, aesthetically, I like the idea of it always being in a new place. Still, never having been to one (and being a wet-behind-the-ears buffista n00b myself) I'm not sure how much say I get. Today I heard someone waxing poetical about KC so now I'm leaning that way. But if it Chicago wins I am definitely coming.

My only suggestion would be to make sure it's someplace easy to get to by plane ... or, possibly, train, if the current flight delays continue. Frequent flights can mean prices coming down as the date gets near.

You can't get much more accessible by plane than Chicago. And St. Louis and Kansas City don't give up much ground to it in the way of railroad access - all three are major hubs.