Addison, TX and The InterContinental Hotel

Christi Baron (Director of Conference Planning) with Karen

Last week the ISC team had a chance to visit the host city for ISC 2009 – Addison, TX which is just outside of Dallas. We stayed two nights at the InterContinental Dallas Hotel which will also be our conference hotel. The guest rooms were beautiful, the hotel staff was great, and the food was delicious. We accomplished quite a bit on our visit including solidifying the menu (which we will talk about in a future blog), planning our breakout rooms, and laying out our exhibitor area. We believe this hotel will lend itself to another great conference.

The guest rooms at the InterContinental Dallas have been recently renovated and it shows. The rooms were large and the beds were comfortable and inviting. The bathrooms were very clean and were stocked with amenities such as a hairdryer, iron, and Molton Brown toiletries such as shampoo, lotion, body wash,etc. These rooms definitely allow you to have a nice, relaxing evening. If you want to get some exercise, there is a workout room on the bottom floor that will keep you moving. Get some cardio on one of their treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, or stair steppers. Or head to the weight room to use their free weights and arm and leg machines. You also have the option of grabbing a partner and heading to one of the two racquetball courts. So whether you choose to relax or get active in the evenings, this hotel has what you need.

The colorful table at our Chef's lunch

One of the most enjoyable things we did while in Addison was eat. We had the opportunity to visit and eat in the chef’s kitchen at the InterContinental. We watched him make our lunch and it was like watching an artist. Everything was cooked and presented perfectly. The InterContinental is unique in that they only use fresh food in their meals. They have an in-house butcher and a local herb garden and produce market from which they purchase all their ingredients. This is evident in the taste and quality of the food they serve. We were able to sample a few things from their menu including soups, steak, fish, cheese, sorbet, and an assortment of pastries and sweets. This meal also gave us a chance to talk with the Director of Food and Beverage at the hotel as well as the chef and sous chefs. They have assured us that all of our attendees will receive the same quality of food that we enjoyed that day. We know you will love it!

In the evenings, we were able to try out the hotel restaurant, Monte Carlo, which serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and wonderful desserts. After dinner, you can move out to the hotel lobby where they have live music most evenings. We also visited a couple of restaurants outside the hotel. We ate at a locally owned fish house, The Fish Market, which I am told had wonderful calamari, Chilean sea bass, seared tuna, and crab cakes. I am a vegetarian and was still able to eat well. I had a salad with an amazing vinaigrette dressing followed by a potato, rice pilaf, and a vegetable medley. After this delicious meal, we moved over to a locally owned steak house, The Chop House. Once again, the food was amazing. The meat eaters enjoyed scallops served on grits and a New York strip steak. Even at a steak house, I still had quite a bit to eat. I had a grilled Portobello mushroom with a pomegranate sauce and pasta tossed with zucchini and asparagus. These are just two of many options of nearby restaurants. The hotel offers a free shuttle within a three mile radius of the hotel, but there are many places to eat and shop within walking distance.

Suzanne Schmidle, Martha Carter, Michelle Burk (Sales Manager), Karen Bishop, Russell McDaniel, Guy Dunnam

We are confident that you are going to love this hotel and the city of Addison. We enjoyed our visit and are looking forward to seeing all of you there in June!

-Suzanne

~ by sschmidle on January 28, 2009.