It's a Twofer!

[billroper]

And today, the Wyndham O'Hare, which hosted Windycon until a few years ago, announced that it will close on January 1st.

They're dropping like flies!

Comments

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

Not only should that hotel be closed, the building should be imploded and the ground sown with salt. The only hotel worse than that one that I stayed in was the Purple Hotel the last couple of times DucKon was there.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you had bad stuff that I never ran into. I didn't love the goofy floor plan, but for my part, if someone could have magically created adequate parking, I would not have quibbled at Windycon staying there. I don't remember ever having a problem with my sleeping room. That may have something to do with the fact that I never got stuck in the tower. I'm not sure how much that was because of janmagic creating a filk block, and how much of it was because of the strong preference I express whenever I check in for a low floor room that I can walk to.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

The first year we were there, our room smelled of raw sewage. The "wet" basement was so full of mold even I, who usually do not have issues with the furry stuff, was reaching for my inhaler. And we won't even talk about having to run across Mannheim at 6pm on a Friday night, in the dark and the rain. Just blowing the place up is way too painless a death.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

Not to mention guests getting robbed - in the case I heard of, apparently by hotel staff [or someone with a master key], while the guests were in the room asleep(!)

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

Apparently, the last year Windycon was there, the housekeeping staff was stealing from the rooms. The elevators were abysmal and the mold in the "wet" basement (where filk usually ended up) was hideous (gave me problems, and I just don't normally react to mold). The parking was absolutely unacceptable - there were not enough spaces under the best of circumstances, but the guys running the gates would sell spots "on the side" (read, to make money for themselves) to people attending events at the Horizon just across the parking lot. The air conditioning never worked in any of the rooms I stayed in - I usually had to sleep with a window open (not the best of circumstances when my room fronted Mannheim Road, with all the traffic). The function space was just 'okay' - not great, but usable - even though it was spread out quite a bit.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed to admit I'd forgotten about the robbery, since one of the victims is a good friend. But closing, or even blowing up, the building doesn't address problems with the staff (unless the staff is still inside at the time); in fact, it increases the likelihood that the bad people will be working at another convention hotel.

[madfilkentist]

Maybe the Omni in Baltimore can go next?

[gorgeousgary]

That hotel became a Wyndham shortly after Bucconneer, and is now a Sheraton. It's probable that the idiots who inhabited the Reservations department (and Front Desk) when it was an Omni are no longer there.

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

First, my problems with the Wyndhamm O'Hare (which in part relate to why I missed the last Windycon there, even though I'd yet to move to San Diego). Parking was a big issue. We learned that unless you got there early enough of Friday, and didn't leave, you could easily end up parking across the street, in the mud, with no cross-walk or traffic control. Second, there was only the one restaurant in the hotel, and they often seemed unable to handle con crowds (I waited with a blood sugar crash one year for over an hour for a seat). Due to the roads and parking, leaving the hotel to eat -- nothing was in friendly walking reach -- was inconvenient. When this was coupled with the collision with the National Karate tournaments, and when Derrick and I were competing on Saturday afternoon, it just got easier to not go to Windycon at all.

Second, as I observed on Facebook (I think in a comment to Helen Montgomery's post on this), this now makes a clean sweep: The immediately previous hotel for all three of the still running, annual, general interest, Chicago Metro, Cons have now closed. First was the Purple, where DucKon was prior to its home in Naperville, then almost on top of one another, the Sheraton where Capricon was up to two years ago, and then the Wyndham that Windycon left the same year.

[rrcgoose.livejournal.com]

Bad time to be in the hotel business?

Steve-

[gorgeousgary]

I had one stay at that hotel on business. Not the worst hotel I've had to stay in, but I can see where some of the commenters are coming from.