Caesars Palace for Blackhat 2009
I arrived yesterday at Caesars palace for the Blackhat and Defcon conferences that are getting ready to commence. Blackhat has been at Caesar’s Palace for at least the last 3 years I have been attending and I suspect before then as well. This is the first year where there were difficulties checking in and getting my room. Previously it has always been flawless.
When I arrived they were not accepting check-ins yet. There was a rather long line of people checking out that had yet to be processed and according to Caesar’s staff the rooms were not ready. Previous years, I arrived at the same time as this year (typically late morning) , and they were processing both people checking in and people leaving. I took the opportunity to wonder around the strip and enjoy the hot weather. It was nice especially since this summer in Ontario Canada has been less than stellar so far with respect to the weather. When I came back to check-in there was a large line of people waiting to check-in and it was longer than the check-out line previously. The Caesar’s staff recognized I was one of the people that arrived early and let me go into the premium line which was thoughtful and appreciated. I am not much of a hotel room person and I typically don’t care what type of room I have when I am traveling alone (although I’m learning this is changing as I get older), but as long as it is clean, comfortable, and has decent Internet I am usually okay. The room was awful. The layout of the room was not well thought out. The decor reminded me of early 80’s hotel rooms. It was in badly need of an update. These rooms always give me the feeling of being dirty. I know they are not, it is just they are ‘well used’. Finally, the internet connection was terrible. I called to complain nicely. The staff was excellent and the lady switched my room and sent a staff person to move my luggage even when I insisted I could move it myself. Very thoughtful and concerned. I was moved from the Roman tower to the Forum tower. The room is much more modern, the layout makes sense and the Internet connection is sufficient. I like Caesars and this is the first year I have ever had any difficulties with them, but they took care of all my concerns. I was very impressed with the staff. As for the difficulties, it was probably just a bad day for Caesars. It happens to everyone in every industry at some time or another.
I registered my arrival at the Blackhat conference and today I start my first session. The session is being conducted by a researcher who has done some impressive research on security in the past. He presents well too. I am looking forward to it.
