Coffee please

[bignickel]

Can we PLEASE have a coffee dispenser out in the hall at all times? Dispensing large amounts of never-ending coffee?

I'm a bit of a night-owl, so during the day I need a cup or two to keep going.

As entertaining as our TAM1 speakers were, I must confess (Say it ain't so!) that I was starting to snooze mid-day, and there was no coffee to be found. Usually at local conventions I bring my own coffeemaker, but these days, I think I'd have some trouble getting it on the plane. :)

COFFEE PLEASE!

[Luciana]

Dear Bignickel,

You raise such a relevant question, it almost brings tears to my eyes. I'm an espresso person. At TAM1 there was coffee for breakfast, but, to my Brazilian taste, it was lukewarm and too diluted. So every morning I'd pay for my espresso at the reception... the problem is that by 1pm the espresso powder was over. Worse, one day, there was no coffee whatsoever!

On Sunday, I checked it and there was espresso. I asked that pretty Asian girl "two double espressos, in the largest cup you have". She then took two cups and poured the espressos into them. How weird. I took one cup and emptied it into the other. She looked so puzzled at me, as if a quadruple dose of a espresso was not a normal thing...

I need my espresso fix, or at least any kind of strong, concentrated coffee. That's not much to ask!

[Mercutio]

This thread chills me to my very bones. I must remember to bring proper emergency supplies...

[hal bidlack]

and the hotel charged $60 per full urn of coffee...

[SkepticScott]

Would cold caffeine be aceptable? Would it be possible to smuggle in some six-packs of Jolt cola for those that need caffeine?

[Girl 6]

I don't drink coffee, but I can sympathize.

Um, let's just have someone ship a coffeemaker/espresso machine out there. Can we do that, Hal? I can help try to track one down.

G6

[bignickel]

And I got a can full of New Orleans Chicory Coffee!!

As it once been said, "Once you go chicory, you'll never go back"

or something like that.


The tricy bit is the creamer. Non-dairy can be kept in any ole bucket. Dairy creamer has to be kept in an icebucket. But hey, I'll take what I can get.


We can have a coffee-fund container next to it to accept donations.

EDIT: $60? Highway robbery! Those beans would have to be stomped by super-models, at those prices. (Hmmmm....)

I wonder what the new hotel would charge? Just curious. Anyways, there's got to be rental places or such in LV where a coffee decanter can be rented for 4 days, at the very least. Or a caterer, anyways.

Course, if some JREFer in LV was looking to buy a new coffee maker anyway...

[Girl 6]

I think we should investigate this.

I can bring some really great coffee from the Bay Area... Peet's or anything else anyone is craving. We have coffee houses galore here and I don't mind picking up some grounds and having it shipped or brought with me.

Please chime in and let me know how much interest there is in pursuing this. I really think we should have our own coffee that's WAY cheaper than $60!

G6

[SkepticScott]

The problem will probably be that the hotel won't let anyone set up their own "food service". They're very protective of their monopoly inside their doors and don't want to lose the $60 per urn. :mad: They may not let us set up our own coffee maker, which is why I suggested sneaking in some cans of soda.

They definitely won't let us set up our own coffee service and charge for it. I've been to many gaming conventions. The hotels allow people to bring in stuff from McD's, pizzas, etc., but one hotel reacted instantly when someone brought in a cooler of soda and started selling it for $0.50 per can. The hotel considered that to be the convention bringing in its own food service, which was explicitly forbidden in the contract, and told the convention organizers to stop it. Or else. This is a convention, with an attendance of over 1000, that had been at the hotel for several years, taking all the ballrooms and most of the meeting rooms, plus booking several hundred rooms for 4+ nights, and the hotel still reacted by threatening us with the contract. Thinking about it now, there might also be some laws about selling food in a hotel that would get the hotel in trouble if they turned a blind eye on the practice. In that case any scheme involving our own coffee and donations would be doomed.

What if we got coffee from the hotel, but had a donation can? I've been at gaming conventions that did that. I think the honor system would work if you just made it known that coffee is $X per cup, pay at the registration desk. You'd know if the honor system isn't working by the time you have to order the second urn. Either you have $60 or close to it, or you don't.

I'm not a coffee drinker, so I have to ask: how many cups are in an urn? Someone will have to figure out the donation per cup.

[Girl 6]

Well... Maybe one of us could run a coffeemaker and grinder in one of our rooms... ;)

Seriously though. The $60 charge sounds outrageous to me. There has to be some way around this.

G6

[SkepticScott]

Girl 6,
That sounds like it might work. That would clearly not be JREF running a coffee maker in a meeting room, just a guest doing it in their room. Maybe people could bring thermoses so they could stock up with several cups at a time?

If the hotel complains, you can claim you would buy it from the hotel, if they could provide fresh-ground Peet's coffee. ;) Or call it "special, all-natural coffee harvested at precisely the correct botanical moment, ground using a special arrangement of the cleaving surfaces, and brewed with a homeopathic vitamin and crystal solution, as prescribed by your secular guru" and that you can't get it locally. (Translation: it's coffee, harvested when ripe, ground in a grinder, brewed with water. You told yourself to drink some coffee.) ;) :D

[Linda]

The coffee at the Renaissance Hotel for the first conference was $60 for a big urn. Coffee at the Tuscany for this upcoming conference is $30/gallon, which is about 20 cups of coffee. But that's not how we're buying it...we're doing it on a per person charge. I was planning on having beverages available each morning and it comes to $8/person and again during the afternoon break at another $8/head. Whether they will be replenishing it continually throughout the day is another story. I think the service will be available during the designated break times only. There will be water available at all times.
We are not allowed to bring in our own food or beverages to the hotel. That's pretty standard for any hotel.

[bignickel]

Well here's a question: some hotels I've been at have small mini-coffee makers in the hotel rooms.

Is this the case there at the hotel?

[SkepticScott]

Originally posted by Linda (snip)
I was planning on having beverages available each morning and it comes to $8/person and again during the afternoon break at another $8/head.Linda, is that $8 per person per break included in the registration fee, or was this a plan you considered and discarded?

[Linda]

All the food and beverage costs were factored into the registration fee. This is one reason why the registration fees are higher than last year (besides the fact the conference is a day longer).

[hal bidlack]

Originally posted by Linda
All the food and beverage costs were factored into the registration fee. This is one reason why the registration fees are higher than last year (besides the fact the conference is a day longer).

Plus, I'm skimming quite a bit more off the top for my personal use, so that's also a reason for the fee being higher.

(wait, was that out loud?)

[bignickel]

Are there mini coffee makers/water heaters in the hotel rooms?

[UnrepentantSinner]

I can't believe how helpless some of you are... you must not have had your coffee yet.

http://www.tuscanylasvegas.com/index.php?PID=HOTEL

Each Guest Suite Features...

25" remote-controlled cable television, pay-per-view movie access, music access, and Nintendo for the kids.

One king-size or two double beds

Coffee maker with complimentary coffee

Refrigerator

Hairdryer

Iron with ironing board

Deluxe over-sized bathrooms featuring separate soaking tub and shower

Writing desk equipped with telephone and data port available

Handicapped, Smoking and non-Smoking rooms.

Complimentary electronic in-room safe

http://www.tuscanylasvegas.com/index.php?PID=DINING

Marilyn's Café
Marilyn's Café menu features regular coffee shop menu, a 24-hour breakfast menu, and great specials that include Prime Rib, Steak and Lobster, and Baked Chicken!. Late night specials from 11pm - 6am. Look for Marilyn's special lineup of favorites daily!

Needless to say, I'm sure you won't have any problem getting coffee 24 hours a day.

[Wyvern]

Originally posted by UnrepentantSinner
I can't believe how helpless some of you are...
snip

Well, that's what you're here for.
And thank you. :)

[PeterB]

Originally posted by bignickel
As entertaining as our TAM1 speakers were, I must confess (Say it ain't so!) that I was starting to snooze mid-day, and there was no coffee to be found.
I'll be speaking just after mid-day, and nobody had better be snoozing!!!

Seriously, if I don't get a few cups into me I might doze off while speaking. Coffee is, after all, one of the five essential food groups.

(The others being pizza, fried chicken, anything Chinese, and beer)

[bignickel]

You weren't the bloke what referred to American beer as 'homeopathic' at TAM1, were you? ;)

[Girl 6]

Originally posted by PeterB

I'll be speaking just after mid-day, and nobody had better be snoozing!!!

Seriously, if I don't get a few cups into me I might doze off while speaking. Coffee is, after all, one of the five essential food groups.

(The others being pizza, fried chicken, anything Chinese, and beer)

Do you want me to lead a "wave" in the crowd to wake us up? :D

G6

[PeterB]

Originally posted by bignickel
You weren't the bloke what referred to American beer as 'homeopathic' at TAM1, were you? ;)
That would be highly unlikely, because I wasn't there. Well, I was reading Rupert Sheldrake's book at the time so I was probably morphically resonating with those who were actually attending.

(Sorry, I had to go away from the keyboard for a moment there. I sensed that my dog was coming home from work.)

I don't reject the hypothesis about the quality of American beer. I feel that further research is needed, and I intend to do some.

[PeterB]

Originally posted by Girl 6
Do you want me to lead a "wave" in the crowd to wake us up? :DI would be honoured.

[Cleopatra]

Today I found at the market a tiny... system that allows you to bake Greek/turkish coffee everywhere.... It needs white alcholol to work.

The reason why I bought it is because I want to offer such coffees and then read your future in it . I am serious!!! I can tell your future by reading your cups after you have drunk your coffee. This is an ancient Middle Eastern Art.... :cool:

Also, I want to be able to bake Evil Yeti his morning coffee and teach him some tricks on how to pick the right girl because there is a wise Greek saying..." The woman who makes good coffee is good in... ahem... horizontal sports as well".

Mind you EY its the preparation of coffee that I am willing to teach you!!!

[Mercutio]

Originally posted by Cleopatra

Also, I want to be able to bake Evil Yeti his morning coffee and teach him some tricks on how to pick the right girl because there is a wise Greek saying..." The woman who makes good coffee is good in... ahem... horizontal sports as well".
Hmmmm....this sounds....delicious....but for one thing.


Baked coffee?

[Cleopatra]

Yes this how we say it here. I bought some blends in order too have better results in my future telling... I know that you don't beieve me Mercutio but you w ill s ee and you will believe.

[Luciana]

Dear Cleo,

There's this Brazilian saying which says "if a woman can make good coffee, she's ready to marry". So either your coffee sucks... or else! :cool:

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by Luciana Nery
Dear Cleo,

There's this Brazilian saying which says "if a woman can make good coffee, she's ready to marry". So either your coffee sucks... or else! :cool:

LOL. My coffee is perfect but I have been married once and there is a British proverb... " You see one, you have seen them all" :D

[Jeff Wagg]

I have a room at Tuscany, and I'll be happy to have it be used as a coffee station during the day. I honestly can't make a good cup of coffee however..so someone else will have to be in charge of that.

The rooms at Tuscany are VERY large..but the walk might be prohibitive. The rooms all have their own outside entrances. This is like a Residence Inn type of hotel.

[bignickel]

I would bring my chicory coffee with me...

But with today's 'issues' with security, I'd be worried that I'd run into trouble at the airport.

Why do I worry about such a thing? I mean, it LOOKS like coffee, it SMELLS like coffee. You can make coffee drink with it! So what's the problem?

I have no idea what excuse anyone would have to question someone bringing coffee on board a flight - but then again, I have no idea what goes thru some people's heads most of the time.

Anyone think there'd be a problem bringing a plastic container of coffee onboard a plane?

[Jeff Wagg]

I don't think you'll have a problem, but there was that Beverly Hills Cop movie where coffee was used to throw the drug dogs off the scent. But hey, the worst that will happen is that they'll take it from you..not much risk there.

Anything's possible in the airport these days.

[exarch]

You're worried?

I'll be the suspicious looking Belgian dude trying to get a few pounds of Belgian chocolate through customs most likely ... :rolleyes: