I realized, too, I can pimp all the great reasons to visit Philly in a heartbeat but I've never actually stayed in a hotel there, and have no idea where to start.

And then I look at everything I have to do this week, let alone this week, and I want to curl up and cry.

Okay, why don't we take it to email? I am happy to help. I will ask boyfriend to help me, too, since he firmly believes that Philly is second only to Paris in the list of World's Greatest Cities! (I roll my eyes forever at this)

Well, at least he puts Paris first, as is right and proper.

I'm not sure I'd rank Philly as high as second, but it's definitely underrated. Plenty to do in and around the city to make a weekend.

I'm kind of hoping that Philly gets chosen for the f2f, but I am admittably biased. I'm proud to be a Southerner, but Philly will always have a piece of my heart.

I've never been to Philly and it's easy to get to for me, so I'm leaning that way. But, other cities have a chance to steal my vote!

Yeah, Philly would increase my chances of attending this year what with the just barely driveable distance, but if there are affordable options to be found in NYC that'd be pretty hard to pass up too.

Okay, Juliana just emailed me a copy of the RFP and I'm trying to update it with the last few years (using this thread). I've got 6 hotels narrowed down, to which I will be sending the inquiry (this is for Philly). By the way, a contender is another Kimpton hotel, which I am excited about since it looked so lush in all of the Seattle photos!!

Depending on timing, I am going to have to cc someone else on these for the hotel to be able to negotiate with. I leave for London for ten days on Thursday the 11th and will not be able to go back and forth in email during my trip.

The one warning about the Kimpton hotels is that they really need to be aware that we are numerous and not silent; if they have a block of rooms on a lower floor (or maybe immediately over the restaurant) so we're not walking on someone else's ceiling that would be the absolute best. The hospitality suite got constant noise complaints from downstairs and across the hall, and IIRC the complaints continued even though everyone kept dialing down the noise further and further.

Good to know!

And whoa Philly gets cheaper in the Summer by far. I was doing searches with no date set and then started putting in Summer weekend dates and the prices fell by $100 in most cases.