"Top 10 things the Host could fix for HMGS cons..." Topic

In no particular order, and keeping reasonable requests in mind:

1. Turn "all" the lights on – all the valence lights were not on in the Distlefink this past weekend

2. Put brighter bulbs in all the meeting rooms

3. Buy new shower heads. With 300 some rooms at less than $4 USD a pop, not talking about major capital improvements

4. Put water and cups out in the rooms, and remember to empty the trash

5. Put more tables in the bar area

6. Boost your wifi – it stinks

7. Have more staff on hand in Legends Saturday night since your "restaurant" is really only for breakfast now

8. Bring back pizza

9. If it snows, finish removing the snow from your parking lot, especially in heavily traveled foot areas

10. Remember to put towels back in the room after servicing. I've had to go to the desk a couple of cons now as apparently towels are optional once taken

They had wifi?

No wifi in the Marietta – so it was pretty sporadic

I wouldn't hold my breath too much. Unfortunately, the place has seen better days. It's a great location, but past it's prime. :(

I remember seeing extra lights mounted on free standing poles around some games hosted in the hotel lobby in years past. I'm not sure if they are from the hotel, of if HMGS paid for them separately. In any case, extra lighting like that could be very useful in the Marietta room, which is very dark, and always has great looking games that need the light to be appreciated.

The lack of water containers through the hotel and in the dealer hall in the early hours (or staff in the DH with coffee in the early am) was a total miss.

Thumbs up to everything Historygamer said. See? It can happen.

I've become pretty fed up with the Host. I realize it's a marriage of convenience but NONE of those suggestions would break the bank. Yet they don't bother, year after year.

Walt

But wait…WAIT!!!!

It's gotta be better than the FCC right???….RIGHT?!?!….

FCC had a lot of problems also. Let's just face the facts that where ever you go there will be problems.

But wait…WAIT!!!!

It's gotta be better than the FCC right???….RIGHT?!?!…

Depends who you ask. FCC seems to be plagued by concrete floors – which are tough on the joints. Forget about having a normal conversation – that's out of the question. And what about the bathrooms at the FCC?? Heard they're a real sweet spot.

AND… I'm sure the dealers are thrilled about the price of the tables there. Ask any of them.

Long story short – nothing is perfect.

The Host is such a dump I just stay home….

All of the suggestions are good there.
I do like the Host for location etc
I think of a gaming Con as 'on campaighn' so don't require much just friends games a bed and shower. That said the improvements do need to come or we lose members coming.
Clif

Funny, when I recall the host back when HCon was there, and even 3 years ago for Cold wars, the water tanks we full, plenty of cups, trash emptied. Of course that could have just been the owners of the hotel at that time.

>Top 10 things the Host could fix for HMGS cons

The number one thing the Host could do to fix the event venue:

Tear the entire place down and rebuilt it from the ground up. The place is an unmitigated dump. One of the worst venues I've ever seen a convention held at. Darn good thing the HMGS events are so wonderful or the experience would be just awful.

Jpipes beat me to it.

I would like to see the Host return to offering food suitable for human consumption on its restaurant menu. The dinner restaurant ("Legends?") is like McDonald's with table service.

B

What a bunch of whiny girls… For God's sake this is war man!

That being said who the heck crapped in my fox hole?

If you ever wondered what the Host was valued at, here is a glimpse:

link

The things I listed are not rocket science, but I can't help but wonder why on earth the HMGS BOD or even the CON OPS hasn't demanded them already if they want us back? The ones I listed are just basic things they should already have.

I spent the weekend at the Hist and have absolutely no complaints about it.
But then I am a peasant.

I won't complain a whole lot about The Host even though it is a rather horrible dump. But I will say I'm not terribly happy that the prices have risen considerably on both the rooms and the food in the last few years and there have been virtually no improvements to speak of in return for the extra dosh to stay there.

When I first started going to Historicon at the Host back in the late 1990's, the Host wasn't bad.

Not great, but not bad. It went downhill in the early to mid 2,000's, then rebounded a bit.

Over the past half dozen years or so, it's gone completely down the crapper. My tables are at the back of the dealer hall; at Cold Wars last weekend, it was freezing back there, there are all sorts of holes in the back wall. Not sure if there is heat in the tennis barn, but it didn't feel like it was on.

The load in and out is a disaster, two spots trying to be used by twenty times that number of dealers is a mess, plus the lot was barely plowed and shoveled this past weekend. Dealers trying to get up and down the hill behind the tennis barn was a sight to see.

The bathroom in the dealer hall is a disaster, as is the food they offer in the dealer hall. Silent era movie hot dogs and horrible sandwiches just don't cut it, plus the coffee they serve is God awful.

The service at the bar at night is pitiful. I also had the pleasure of seeing two of the guest rooms up close and personal; a wall mounted on/off switch controlled the heat, someone wrote "Heat; on/off" on the plate with a sharpie.

Wow.

They had nobody at the tennis barn shoveling; as a matter of fact, I didn't see anyone shoveling the entire weekend from the Host. Someone there told me they don't get much snow there, they are not used to it or well prepared for it.

Not much snow in Southeastern PA? That's a new one.

I've been a fan of the Host, but enough is enough, they need to pull the plug before the whole place implodes and comes crashing down on top of everyone at one of these conventions.

I am pretty sure it is not many people staying at the Host during the winter. It was pretty much a dump the last time I was there about 12 years ago, and I don't think they would have put any money into the place. They only seem to care about the Golf course and the players are not staying in the hotel.

Though I have no trouble playing at the host I would never stay there. For a little more cash I stay at the Marriott a few miles away, get a clean comfortable room where everything works, and free breakfast.

Ya sure, the Host sucks. We've heard that before……..

But the membership of HMGS will not spend the $$ to move to a nicer facility. Would the vendors want to underwrite such a move?

In contrast, next year Little Wars moves to the Lombard Westin ( the former home of Adepticon). With that, Little Wars leap frogs the HMGS conventions with the classiest venue in historical miniature gaming……….at least in this part of the US.

Have not used the Host in many, many years.poor quality and they usually messed up part of our reservations (I used to get 3-4 rooms for our group).

So have not been into a room in along time. But they were barely acceptable twenty years ago.
this year I traveled down the corridor of the 100 room number hall to the Host room to observe a game….

Oh MY God!….. The hallway reminded me of an urban flop house/motel…

Great Googly Moogly! People stay there? Wilingly and pay how much?

Please tell me the cost for that is below $39.99 USD/night? Maybe even $29.99 USD/night?

As for 1, 2, & 3 remember thanks to the new Green Government Regulations typical High Wattage light bulbs are no longer allowed to be manufactured or sold in the U. S. The "new" fluorescent type bulbs don't fit in older Can Style receptacles! When it comes to the incandescent type bulbs the largest wattage available now is 60 watts or less. With a high ceiling 60 watts get dispersed down to about 20 watts! Hotels/Motels are also now required to have Low Flow Shower Heads! The newer more (very) expensive style heads that can shoot out the water are most likely too expensive for older places like The Host to install! Government regulation does have it's price!!

Funny, I know a LOT of hotels/motels/convention centers that have done just fine with the new regs… And saved money in the long run. So, basically, your anti-govt scree is a crock…

On the other hand, having a clean room with working fixtures is kinda something you'd assume when you pay for your room.

I agree with Historygamer's suggestions. Yes, the Host has been an ok venue for HMGS cons over the years but recently it seems to have gone downhill.

One more thing, if they're going to schedule games in the Business Center during Cold Wars, put up a screen in front of the door out to the dealer area to keep the draft down--it was pretty chilly on Saturday afternoon.

All those things cost money History Gamer.

So you're willing to take the increases that might be 300%

As I said before, I've been going to War Gamer Conventions for 50 years. Believe me, the Host is fine compared to some of the dumps conventions are given in.

Having travelled to some out of the way places, my Hotel requirements (especially for a guys weekend are somewhat simple)….

1. Clean – not talking black light here, but no obvious signs of filth is nice.

2. Hot and Cold running water.

3. It must provide shelter from the elements – This was added after Fall In… I thought it was a gimmee.

Last year at Fall In I stayed at the host, it failed on all three of the above mentioned items.

So for Cold Wars, I stayed at the Red Roof which at least covered 2 out of 3 of these :)

The Host is still great to game in (well not the Distlefink when it's cold) but as a Hotel? Not sure how they pass the inspections from the Health Department.

The latest 'fashion' for lighting is not fluorescent but LED. These use a fraction of the electricity for incandescent type lamps, and even fluorescent. Whilst their lifespan is 25 times better than an equivalent output incandescent. Most electrical companies offer huge subsidies to the building owners to switch over – it's a win win on both sides of the fence. The LED fixtures offer a range of color 'temperatures' to replicate incandescent [warm] to almost daylight [cold/bright white]. They are also dimmable.
The Host has no clever lighting control systems [such as are evident at FCC], they use simple switches at the wall. In the room I was in, a number of the switches were in the off position, and the dimming controls were broken, so who knows what those settings were at. However, simply throwing a few switches at the wall, greatly improved the lighting in the gaming room I was in…..

The infrastructure at the Host is well past it's prime – all the primary systems are shot, plumbing, HVAC, and lighting. At this point in time all the necessary upgrades would unfortunately be lipstick on a pig. The management/owners, must see that, and they don't care. Their biggest asset is the 173 acres and the golf course – certainly not the hotel and its conference facilities, those are a liability. The writing is on the wall for the hotel, and has been for years, and it's only a matter of time before HMGS, and the membership will be forced to find an alternative location, in my opinion.

Stay at the "Red Roof Inn" and walk the 100 yards to the Host. It is a lot cheaper too.

Several years ago I did just that. After arriving at the Host I handed my coat to the desk clerk and politely asked if she could take care of it. I would pick it up later in the evening. She gave me a card.

12 hours later I asked for my coat to find it in plastic. It had been dry cleaned.

I just did a search on Google for 'conference centers eastern PA'
Top of the list was the Lancaster Host, and fifth was the Eisenhower… been there, done those – most of the others were religious retreat venues…..
BTW – as gamers we need a conference center [ballrooms, meeting rooms, etc, with carpet on the floors], the vendors need something different, a convention/exhibition center [big hall, good lighting, but typically concrete floors]. As gamers the convention/exhibition center venue sucks [too noisy and hard on the joints], however, the vendors can always set up in conference center environment. The problem will always be to find a complex large enough to accommodate both our needs. The Host conference/convention accommodation has satisfied that mix. Of course, the convention/exhibition space at the Host, is actually a tennis barn – not a true convention/exhibition space as provided by the FCC

There are two separate issues at play here – the hotel issues vs the gaming areas. Granted, I mixed recommendations for both in my wish list, but let's focus on the gaming areas, which are crucial to all.

The biggest issue in the gaming area, that is most easily addressed, is the lighting. That is a matter of:

1. All the light switches aren't on or working, and
2. The bulbs in the lights that are working are inadequate.

Lighting issues at the Host date back decades. Talk about re-inventing the wheel. I have no idea if the HMGS staff makes sure all the lights that are working are flipped on each day (goes to my on-going rant how HMGS does not manage their gaming areas), and if so, then why HMGS hasn't demanded upgraded lighting.

So the people most on the hook to check/advocate for better lighting are the CON OPS and CDs. Since this problem cuts across two of our cons, I'd say that is more of the CON OPS job to talk to the Host about lighting.

Not sure how long the current contract runs there, but I'd make the other requests when renegotiating – if not sooner. But without a viable alternative site, the Host knows they don't have to try very hard to get us to return.

Otto:

Why would anyone have to pay 300% more for fixes at the Host. Isn't it on them to improve (I have to give credit to the FCC or whomever came up with the sound baffling ideas) if they want us back?

I would also point out that HMGS made a $50 USD profit last year, and has over $290 USDk in the bank. Couldn't they spend some of the money we pay already for some help in the venue? I think they paid for the carpeting at the FCC, so what is the difference here?

We could always go back to BCC….ahahahaahahahahahahahahaa

Which would be quite a trick considering we were never actually at the BCC.

Which would be quite a trick considering we were never actually at the BCC.

Seriously…. I thought there was just a really low attendance that year

Wow, wait, I followed another link on that page.. you mean the Amish Mafia isn't real? Bummer.

Anyone else notice that the WBC has left the Host after this year? They found a spot just south of Pittsburg. They have less people and they most of found a decent deal to move?

Doug-- considering many of us probably don't even know what the WBC is I can't imagine that this was noticed. What is it, by the way?

coastal2, lighten up Francis! A few statements of fact do not an anti government rant make! Check your judgment before you open your mouth! You need to get out in the fresh air more and away from watching MSNBC nightly!

Upgrading the Host will cost money, lots and lots of money. The property is nothing more then a tax shelter for the owners, and once it's value reaches an acceptable margin for them they will unload it in a heart beat!

Rather then continually moaning about the place what many of you should do is simply STOP going to the shows there. Get over it, and yourselves! Or band together, get the financing, and buy the place then you can turn it into the utopia you desire!

Even should HMGS ever decide to move to another location you all won't be missed, so get over it!

WBC = World Boardgaming Championship. This con ran concurrent with one of the Historicon shows several years ago in at the Host. I believe it has moved out to Seven Springs near Pittsburgh. I was there many years ago and recall it to be a small to middle size venue. Don't quote me on that, it has been a while.

I know Seven Springs fairly well. Isolated mountain ski resort. Okay for a couple of hundred people staying on site, not many hotels nearby, less food options as well. It would be a significant change of venue.

This con ran concurrent with one of the Historicon shows several years ago in at the Host.

Correction; it ran consecutively with Historicon, not concurrently. They had gaming in a couple of side rooms on Sunday afternoon and ran through the next week using the rest of the Host's space.

Duncan

The Host is a dive and I haven't stayed there in a decade. My digs in Fallujah were better. More concerning is the decline of the gaming areas. But this discussion is probably all moot as I understand the Host rests on prime development land and will probably be sold and razed in the next couple of years. Lancaster probably needs another strip mall along Lincoln Highway. Why else would they finally put in a stop light at the Host's entrance!

"Correction; it ran consecutively with Historicon, not concurrently."

Thanks Duncan. I recall it being promoted in the some of the Historicon literature and mistakenly remembered it as a twin billing.

Dear Bezmozgu7

Yah sure, been hearing that song for 10 yeas now.

Another myth put out by the "Let's move it to the next level crowd. Well they got their wish, they moved it to the next level downward, and the host is still there.

Hmmmm……

December, 2014: A York-based hotel developer wants to build a five-story hotel on Lincoln Highway East, opposite Dutch Wonderland.
Springwood Hospitality intends to develop a 118-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott on the former Lapp's Family Restaurant site.
The property now is home to Arigato Japanese Steak House.
However, to proceed with the 2270 Lincoln Highway East project, Springwood needs a special exception from the East Lampeter Township Zoning Hearing Board.
The property is on land zoned C-2 commercial. That district allows buildings up to 40 feet tall. Springwood wants its hotel to be 62 feet.
The township zoners are scheduled to weigh the request at their meeting on Thursday, Jan. 8. The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be in the township office, 2250 Old Philadelphia Pike……To the east is the Lancaster Host Resort, the county's biggest hotel, with 317 rooms.

This would position Springwood, if the construction went ahead, to purchase the golf course and demolish the aging competition.