"Fall In AAR 1" Topic

I can't say I especially enjoyed Fall In, tho to be fair I think the problem was that I arrived early and worn out from a rough couple of weeks at work and was just never able to get "my head in the game" properly. I was halfway home Sunday before I really realized I'd left.

First, The Host. It's clear a lot of work is underway, tho there is little really visible progress. The lobby and gaming areas are little changed. Some rooms have some upgrades, but it's not across the board. A lot of parking was coopted by dumpsters and containers and pallettes of sinks, but it didn't seem to be a problem. Two relatively new adjoining hotels may be helping ease that issue.

The flea market tourney room has a new roof, tho it isn't finished yet. The porta-boiler is gone, tho in truth that may have already been gone last March.

The big change was to the vendor tennis barn. The old entrance is gone. The balcony had dry rotted. The Host tore down the pro shop and where it was is a torn up slope. The road that went down behind it is also gone. You had to go about twice as far, down and around, to get the lot that was behind the pro shop.

There are 5 new floor to ceiling windows in the south face of the barn. 3 have doors which will probably be the entrance in the future, but the sidewalks weren't done, so you had to enter thru the west face, near where Belle and Blade has traditionally been, but not quite. It also is a floor to ceiling window now.

There is going to be a kitchen where Belle and Blade normally is, but it's incomplete so B&B was able to settle into that walled off area.

The old balcony is walled off and serves now only as the roof of 2 entirely new and very large bathrooms. To quote Full Metal Jacket, these BRs are so nice (insert celebrity of your choice) would be proud to go in there to take a dump.

Some space was lost along the north wall. There is now a service corridor in there, maybe 10' wide, filled with air handlers. This may be part of what I perceived as a sort of cramped vendor area. We could be facing issues come July fitting everyone in.

I only went down three times. It wasn't so much the long walk down that got me as it was the long walk back up. I could have gone down a 4th time with friends Sunday morning, but my knees warned me not to push my luck. I ended up spending more than usual, but I didn't end up doing a lot of browsing.

I made up for an Historicon mistake by getting to Badger Games for Foundry paint Triads. It's time I tried them out. I hit Gail Force 9/Battlefront for several pints of bases. A few dice. The big purchase was the Old Glory Pirate Village and some Blue Moon figs. On the way up lugging the OG order I realized, I should have brought a roller.

People were of 2 minds about the food and the service. The cooking and presentation were a bit off, but they opted for self serve, so portions were way more generous. The scuttlebutt was the Host is planning to close down for 3 months to facilitate the upgrades and they were using us to help clear out the fridges. There may be something to that as the Host's website domain has apparently been allowed to lapse.

More to follow…

I talked a bit with staff. The restaurant proper--where you'd sit down and have a waitress for an evening meal--was already closed for renovation, and the breakfast was buffet only--no hope of a lighter (or cheaper) meal. Everything's supposed to be up and running for Cold Wars. We'll see.

The Tennis Barn renovation ran late due to trouble with permits I'm told, but you can see where the new main entrance will be on the south wall, sparing wargamers the arduous fifty yard walk to the west end. I think we missed it by a week or two. I don't know how the floor space will net out when it's done, but we certainly can't spill over into the Pro Shop and the balcony.

I'm a little cynical, having been through the whole "this time we're bringing the Host back to its glory days" routine before. But last time they were talking carpet and furniture, while this time they're starting with systems and structural work. I suspect by Fall In 2018, things will be very different from 2016. My primary concern is that we'll be priced out by 2019, but there's nothing to be done about that yet.

Not sure about the "priced out" concern. They have a long way to go, and it will never achieve a 4 or 5 star rating.

Just wish they would fix the crumbling steps and wobbly railing going out towards the dealer hall.

It's been years since I've stayed at the Host for obvious reasons, and really don't eat their either. Improvements are on the horizon, so we shall see.

Good to read, thank you.

A bit critical, but very close to spot on with some of your statements. But still, very unbiased/straight.

The area where B&B was is the load in/out area. The kitchen was on the other side. Moot point though… it is still lost space. And as for the Host renovations, yes, so much is still going on that you cannot see what is getting done.