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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>NFB23 Navigating the Hotel<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>article<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It is often helpful when writing a description of convention hotel floor plans to use an analogy to assist with the layout. This year, I want you to really<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>stretch your imagination, to think creatively and picture a… rectangle. Yes, that’s it. Imagine a rectangle, and you've got the basic layout of the Hilton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Americas nailed down. The three meeting-room rectangles sit atop the lobby rectangle and the sleeping-room rectangles are above the meeting-room rectangles.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>While downtown Houston and the central business districts are laid out in a grid, that grid is set at roughly a forty-five-degree angle to cardinal directions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Rather than using northeast and southwest, I’ll refer to the front and the back of the hotel, those being the longer walls. The left and right ends of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the hotel are the shorter sides of our rectangle.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Though the Hilton’s address is technically 1001 Avenida De Las Americas, you will likely arrive at the hotel’s front doors on Dallas Street, in the center<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>of the long side of the rectangle. Taxi cabs and rideshare services will arrive at this valet entrance. For those interested, you are facing southwest<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>as you walk through the Hilton's main entrance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Entering into the hotel, you will find yourself in a large rotunda lobby. For our purposes, we will consider this the center of the hotel. If you turn<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>left, you are heading in the direction of the George R. Brown Convention Center. If you turn to the right, you are facing toward the far end of the hotel,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pappasito’s Cantina. On the far side of the rotunda, up a couple steps, is the Lobby Bar, opening at 4:00 p.m. for light meals and drinks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Let’s begin our exploration of the hotel by turning left from the rotunda. As you walk through the hotel's large lobby, there is a long registration desk<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>to your right. On the left is first the bell stand and then a large, carpeted seating area. At the far end of the lobby are three banks of three elevators<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>each. All elevators serve the three levels of meeting rooms and two banks also serve sleeping rooms up to the fifteenth floor. To the left, along the front<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>wall of the hotel, is a Starbucks with seating. Beyond the Starbucks are exterior doors that open onto the corner of Dallas Street and the Avenida De Las<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Americas. Off to the right of the elevators, in the back-left corner of our rectangle is the Avenida Houston Shop (for souvenirs and questions about the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>area) and exit doors to the bus and coach lanes. For guide dog owners, this is important as the relief area is out these doors and to the right.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Now let's head back to the hotel's rotunda. This time, we will turn to the right. Along the exterior wall are a number of seating clusters. To the left<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>is the 1600 Bar + Grille, open for breakfast and lunch beginning at 6:30 a.m. At the far right end of our rectangle is Pappasito's Cantina where you'll<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>find TexMex lunch and dinner. To the left of Pappasito's entrance is another set of six elevators that serve the three levels of meeting rooms and sleeping<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>rooms up to the twenty-second floor. These elevators also serve the health club, the hotel's spa, and the R24 Lounge. To the right of the Pappasito's entrance<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>is a sweeping spiral staircase that goes to all three meeting levels.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Levels two, three, and four contain our meeting space. All three levels have similar U-shaped hallways—a very wide pre-function area along the floor-to-ceiling<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>glass front wall of the hotel and a front-to-back hallway on both the left and the right ends of the hotel. At both ends of the pre-function area are escalators<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>serving all three levels of meeting space, in addition to the elevators providing the same service.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Level two contains only the Ballroom of the Americas. The exhibit hall and Independence Market will be in the ballroom. There are restrooms at the right<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>end of the rectangle near the elevators and at the left end along the front-to-back hallway. In the front-left corner of the second floor is a fully enclosed<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>sky bridge that connects the Hilton to the convention center across Avenida De Las Americas. And in the front-right corner is the spiral staircase.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Level three is host to the majority of our breakout sessions. Room numbers increase from 326 in the back right of our rectangle, increasing around our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>U-shaped meeting space to 346 in the back-left corner. Note that on this floor, there are actually three front-to-back hallways on the right side of our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>U. Restrooms are near the elevators on both ends of this level with entrances along the pre-function area, the bottom of the U. And again, there is a sky<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>bridge to the convention center and the spiral staircase, in the left- and right-front corners respectively.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Finally, on level four is the Lanier Grand Ballroom. Some of our larger breakouts will take place on level four as will our general sessions and the banquet.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>There are restrooms on both uprights of our U. In the front-right corner is the top step of the spiral staircase and meeting room 430. On Saturday, July<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>1, registration will be in the pre-function area on this level but will move to the front-right corner of our rectangle where attendees will find the registration<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>desk.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Additional Navigation Notes:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Discovery Green, directly across Dallas Street from the Hilton, is a twelve-acre park with dining options, a children's playground, a dog run, Kinder Lake,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>and many other attractions. Attendees should cross Dallas Street at the intersections at either end of the Hilton—there is a decorative iron fence running<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>down the center of the Dallas Street median.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Those traveling to or from the Marriott Marquis may take the level-two sky bridge to the convention center and turn left. 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