The Statler is a nice facility and could probably accomodate the number of
attendees, but I suspect that even with a negotiated conference rate it
will be fairly expensive.  And, while campus is beautiful, it's a bit out
of the thick of things night-life wise, unless we're all willing to
channel our inner college student and hit the Palms and Chapter House. ;-)

I would prefer the Hilton Garden Inn downtown.  As you point out, the
downtown location is ideal for restaurants, pubs, etc, and absolutely
perfect for hopping on public transportation.  It's fairly new, they do
conferences/meetings regularly, though I don't know what size groups they
usually work with.  

The Holiday Inn is, IMO, completely out of the question.  They try hard
but never seem to hit the mark when it comes to facilities and services.  

HTH!

Tania, opinionated Ithaca ex-pat

-- 
Tania Fersenheim
Manager of Library Systems

Brandeis University
Library and Technology Services

415 South Street, (MS 017/P.O. Box 549110)            
Waltham, MA 02454-9110           
Phone: 781.736.4698
Fax: 781.736.4577
email: [log in to unmask]  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
> Behalf Of John Fereira
> Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 10:05 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Code4Lib 2011 Proposals
  
> Please share your opinions on the venue.  The campus hotel 
> that Edward 
> mentioned (Statler) would almost certainly be able to accommodate 
> attendees and provide meeting space but, if it were up to me, I would 
> probably prefer the Hilton Garden Inn downtown.  There is just a lot 
> more going on downtown, especially the restaurant and pub scene.  
> Cornell has a big hotel school and it seems that a lot of 
> graduates end 
> up coming back and opening restaurants.  As a result there 
> are a *lot* 
> of very good restaurants in town, and only in the last few 
> years have a 
> few of the chains started to open up shop. 
> 
> As you said, winery tours would be easy to arrange.  There 
> are over 200 
> wineries in the Finger Lakes area and the quality has significantly 
> improved in the 15 years or so I've lived her.  The area 
> produces some 
> of the best Riesling you'll find anywhere as well as some outstanding 
> Ice wines.
> 
> For outdoor activities, things would be somewhat limited in February 
> (many of the gorge trails are closed in winter).  When the 
> water warms 
> though, a very good friend of mine opens his kayak shop for rentals 
> where one can paddle onto Cayuga lake. 
> 
> I remember when I attended the Code4Lib in Providence the 
> weather was as 
> good or better here then it was in Providence.  Still, scheduling a 
> conference in February *could* mean significant snowfalls (we 
> got about 
> 2' of snow about a week ago).
> 
> Ithaca has a regional airport with direct flights from Philadelphia, 
> Detroit, La Guardia, and Newark.  Binghamton and Elmira airports are 
> 30-40 miles away and Syracuse airport is about 50 miles away (an 
> expensive shuttle bus is available for transport to/from Ithaca).  
> Syracuse is also on an Amtrak line.
>
> -- 
> John Fereira
> Cornell University
> Twitter: @john_fereira
> Google Wave: [log in to unmask]
>