Iml 2015

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

As mentioned by Wisconsinguy in another thread, the IML in Chicago this year is at the Congress Hotel and not the Michigan Ave. Marriott where it has been for the last few years. The Marriott seemed perfect for this event and they always made tons do money from this event. Does anyone know why this happened? I can't imagine the the old Congress is any larger.

[wisconsinguy]

I think I heard last year that the Congress was larger, and that's why the move???

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

Thanks, if that is true, it certainly makes sense. As of a few months ago, the Marriott was listed as the host hotel. I was surprised to see the change at this late date.

[wisconsinguy]

I typed in IML Chicago a couple of months ago and this yrs program was up. I remembered that there would be a change in hotel, and it was on the site. There was a block of rooms set aside for attendees and took one of those. I was checking room availability for a friend a couple of weeks after, the hotel was booked. Both the block of rooms set aside, and the others.

[Steven_Draker]

The Marriott seemed perfect for this event and they always made tons do money from this event. Does anyone know why this happened? I can't imagine the the old Congress is any larger.

 

As of a few months ago, the Marriott was listed as the host hotel. I was surprised to see the change at this late date.

 

Probably the change is good. The Marriott on Michigan Avenue has a great location, but it's a horrible hotel: the rooms are tiny and run-down, don't have individual air conditioning control (the room gets FREEZING on winter nights with no heating) and the elevators are very busy, slow and it takes forever to reach your floor or wait for one ... No, thanks.

 

The Palmer House and the Hyatt Regency on East Wacker Drive were good hotel choices.

[+ Topseed]

The Congress is in the South Loop, so it's a hike to most everywhere. Agree that the Marriott has seen better days; I can't imagine either the Palmer House or the Hyatt Regency wanting IML (even with the big liquor sales....).

[TruHart1]

I avoid the Congress Hotel

 

Probably the change is good. The Marriott on Michigan Avenue has a great location, but it's a horrible hotel: the rooms are tiny and run-down, don't have individual air conditioning control (the room gets FREEZING on winter nights with no heating) and the elevators are very busy, slow and it takes forever to reach your floor or wait for one ... No, thanks.

 

The Palmer House and the Hyatt Regency on East Wacker Drive were good hotel choices.[/color]

 

Well, it was my first hiring trip to Chicago in July of 2011 and the rates at the Congress Hotel seemed super reasonable to me. Unfortunately, my room smelled awful, as if there was bad mold that was never cleaned. I went out the day I checked in and bought a room deodorizer but the smell was always there, just covered by the lemon "freshness" of the deodorizer. When I entered or left the hotel I noticed a few people with signs. I then read more about the Congress online and found that the staff, underpaid maids/bellboys, were on strike and had been for something like 4 years at that time! They may have come to some labor agreement since then but I don't know because I have always avoided the Congress Hotel since then, not wanting to experience that awful smell again.

 

Since then I have been quite happy with hotels around the Magnificent Mile - River North area!

 

TruHart1

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

What A DUMP

 

I think I heard last year that the Congress was larger, and that's why the move???

 

I was at the Congress Plaza a couple of years ago for a Conference --- WHAT A DUMP!!! The Hotel staff had been on strike for several years -- all scab labor.

 

 

Two people from my conference had the ceiling in their rooms come crashing down in on them in the middle of the night -- No way to regulate the temp in

 

individual rooms - we were there just after Labor Day and the AC had been turned off in the rooms. The ventilation in the conference rooms spewed black

 

soot/dust out of the old paneled walls -- that looked like Nana's basement rec room.

 

The business center was non-existent as was the fitness center. The bartender offered to pickup a

 

bottle of my brand of liquor on the way in to work if I fronted the cash -- then paid by the drink.

 

 

I left after the first day ---

 

Nice Marble in the Lobby!

[Diverdan]

Do not stay at the congress hotel... As some have said, it is a dump, the owners don't care about the guests and are only holding on to try and bust the union..... It is an embarassment to chicago... Maybe iml is just getting to raunchy for some of the other hotels, in spite of all the money they make from iml. Stay somewhere else if you are coming to iml...

[Bart]

IML needs to go back to the Hyatt. It really is the only hotel that can handle the size and number of people. Its the only hotel with enough elevators to handle the crew that comes in. They have more desk help than any hotel I have seen in Chicago. Plus a great auto check in feature that you can get all the information in and just go in line to get room and key. With the lower levels they could easily have restricted the group stuff below the main lobby area. The Marriott was just inept to handle the crowd. Now at Congress Ecks!!!! I was there once to meet a guy, yeah redline is somewhat convenient unlike the Hyatt, the only negative, but unless they did a big remodeling and reinvestment in the property I am not sure about this.

[Guest ChrisW]

The reason IML moves around from hotel to hotel is that Memorial day weekend is a HUGE weekend for the hotel industry. There is some conference for the food industry that sells out most of the hotels downtown. Hotels can either charge full price that weekend which is about 300-350 a night or they can charge 180 for IML. There is also clause in the contract that IML has that says they have to fill up the hotel to a certain capacity (I think 85-90%) so if they can't do that I think the contract won't get renewed. The reason that IML is not held at the Hyatt anymore is that they couldn't fill up even one tower, IML is actually on the decline for attendance. They are struggling to figure out how to make a party weekend thats going to cost you at least $1500 (friday-monday night plus a plane ticket) appealing to most folks. A lot of people don't have $1500 to drop on a weekend when you could pay rent or other bills.

 

This is a great weekend and I will go every year I can afford too. I have heard mixed reviews about the Congress but the venue is not whats important, its the sleazy sex,hot men walking around, and friendships that can be forged that make it worth it.

 

Even if your not a kinkster, this event is worth going to at least once. I usually fly in on the Monday of that week and explore the city then come Thursday the city starts to fill with incredibly hot guys. Come Friday you can't walk down the magnificent mile without drooling. The vender mart is a sight to behold and if I could figure out how to post pictures of the last few years to give you guys an idea of what goes on there I would. The filthiest porno you have seen has nothing on IML, I have walked into rooms previous years and seen things that I still jerk off to. If you guys are in Chicago and are curious you can just walk around the hotel and get a feel for it and if your lucky you might get asked back to someones room for an orgy

[Dave]

the venue is not whats important, its the sleazy sex,hot men walking around, and friendships that can be forged that make it worth it.

Even if your not a kinkster, this event is worth going to at least once.

 

couldn't agree more. personally, I'm excited to be going again - I'll be in chicago for IML and the ensuing days around it, available one-on-one as well as for threesomes with Tyger. I think that with events like these - whether it's IML, MAL, Folsom, Dore Alley, etc - the true focus is on celebrating sex positivity. as such, you've gotta be ready to give something up - recognizing that you'll be having another sort of experience. do I wish the hotel were nicer? sure - but short of it being unsafe/dangerous, I'm in.

 

woo hoo!

[Guest ChrisW]

couldn't agree more. personally, I'm excited to be going again - I'll be in chicago for IML and the ensuing days around it, available one-on-one as well as for threesomes with Tyger. I think that with events like these - whether it's IML, MAL, Folsom, Dore Alley, etc - the true focus is on celebrating sex positivity. as such, you've gotta be ready to give something up - recognizing that you'll be having another sort of experience. do I wish the hotel were nicer? sure - but short of it being unsafe/dangerous, I'm in.

 

woo hoo!

I had heard in previous years before the renovations the elevators used to break down because they were too packed. What happens when you put a bunch of horny gay men in a confined space with nothing else to do? When the elevators would finally come back online people would see the doors open and behold an orgy of epic portions. Were you trapped in an elevator with other horny gay men wouldn't you do the same?

[bobchitown]

The Congress strike is long since settled, but the property remains a dump. Which, in a way makes it the perfect location for IML - just get a little into the place and go with it. Could make for some great fantasy fulfillment!

[Steven_Draker]

Some hotel managers don't want to host these events any longer because the party crowd destroys the property and leave the rooms in terrible condition.

 

Personally, I choose not to stay at the host hotel, because I don't like the idea of being solicited and bothered by intoxicated "horny" party crowd 24/7.

 

As for those who think that it's OK transform the elevator into a public orgy ... GET A ROOM !

[Dave]

As for those who think that it's OK transform the elevator into a public orgy ... GET A ROOM ! [/color]

 

when I was a kid, my dad used to say, "A stuck elevator's the perfect place for a spontaneous orgy."

 

and that's how I learned to always carry condoms on me. and how my dad's face scrunches up when he's about to come.

[Steven_Draker]

Someone was watching too much porn, eh? ;-)

 

A real-life "stuck" in the elevator with NO AIR. Enjoy!

 

[video=youtube;KX2KRSr7Zas]

[Dave]

Someone was watching too much porn, eh? ;-)

 

Steven, I thought you knew this, but - I never watch porn. this shit just comes into my head on its own.

 

anyways, my dad had a strict "no porn" policy. he'd always say, "save your money... come into our bedroom if you want to watch".

 

hijacking the IML thread for a second here - sorry, but - YESTERDAY I really did get stuck in an elevator - first time in my life! it only lasted 3 minutes, and alas, I was alone. it was a moment of panic, and then I focused on other things. three minutes, obviously, is not what those MTA folks went thru - so it wasnt that big a deal - but it still was unsettling.

 

ok - lets go back to talking about how crappy the IML hotel is this year!

also, they're already sold out, but no second option listed? my IML slave is having a hard time finding a place for us that weekend!

 

and speaking of him and IML - he wants a scene with four men, sitting around watching sports, drinking, and him on his knees servicing us all. any escorts interested in being a part of this, hit me up. I'm still looking for two guys...

[+ Topseed]

The Conrad Hilton on S Michigan is close to the Congress.

[Steven_Draker]

If anyone wants a classier place, check out the Blackstone hotel on South Michigan, a couple of blocks from the Congress.

[+ purplekow]

Seems like professional discrimination, not allowing a lavender bovine apply for the position of sportswatching straight guy getting a blow job. Highly unfair. And just in case, is having someone pay you $20 bucks to blow you 40 years ago classify me as an escort, for this event?

[bobchitown]

I have no idea if they have rooms, but the Blake on Dearborn is also just a couple blocks away.