WWDC Hotel & Food Advice

I think it's important to stay close - try the Mosser. It's really quite close, and has some cheap rooms - note the very cheapest rates are rooms without a private bathroom, and some of the reservations also require you to buy two rooms so keep an eye on that. You should be able to come up with a room under $200 though

It'll be interesting to see what other people come up with for recommendations.

It all depends on how far you think is far away, but if your hotel is more than a half mile away I'd count on being at the conference all day from morning to night. You probably will be there all day anyway but having a hotel that's further away guarantees it so pack a jacket and plan on being out.

I usually stay in a hotel about a mile straight up Stockton - but I usually walk a mile each way to work so it's pretty routine for me. SF is a touristy and expensive town so $150/night is really a pretty good price and I wouldn't expect to do better unless you're willing to go with one of the lower end chain places. (Something big is getting out of town the weekend before because my Monday night in the hotel is costing me way more than any of the other nights.)

You will be fed almost all the time during the conference. There is an open breakfast room area in the morning and snacks through out the day. I think Wednesday night is the only night you are going to have find dinner on your own unless you want to go out other nights. If you are a foodie SF is a great food town so pick your nights carefully and eat well.

The area south of Mission going up town - 5th, 6th etc gets a little dicey but nothing you'd really have to worry about.

On a personal level Yelp.com is the only user recommendation site that I have found that I really like. Check it out for San Francisco and use it to find hotels, restaurants, bars or whatever. SF has a very explicit idea of neighborhoods so it lends itself to searching for restaurants close by as long as you know what neighborhood your hotel is in.

It's also worth mentioning that there is a Bart station about 2 blocks from Moscone West so using Bart is an option and getting in from the airport on Bart is completely feasible. (I recommend it.)

Hope that helps - maybe see you there,

=Tod

First time for me... staying at Hotel Fusion on Ellis Street around the corner from you near the San Francisco Apple Store.

rob.

This will be my first time! Pretty excited about going, staying at the Palace Hotel

With a couple of WWDCs under my belt in general I would agree with these tips.

My opinion of the food was better than that, but maybe I'm less picky. Breakfast is mostly about coffee for me and a bagel or sweet roll and some orange juice is just a bonus. If you demand hot eggs or something eat before you get there for breakfast. Lunch and breakfast are served downstairs in an area with a bunch of round tables. These meals were - more often than not - more about who else was at the table and the conversations and discussions than it was about the meal. Everyone is there for the same reason and the tech talk flows all day. There are cookies and fruit and grab and go foods all day on the conference floors so maybe that's why the meals weren't a big deal for me. I never experienced "being hungry".

I'll echo a couple of the other points he made to reiterate:

1) *Bring a laptop*. You're really hurting yourself if you don't do this.
2) *Bring your code and Bring your questions*. If you have specific and/or deep questions about a technology go early and find out when that person will be there. You can often talk to the lead person of a technology team about your issues. You can both get your questions answered and get some real insight into the philosophy and intent of different technologies.
3) *Take advantage of the labs*. Schedule time to go to the UI lab or other technology spots.
4) *Don't sweat the Sessions*. You will get access to all the sessions on iTunes after the conference is over. I've often watched sessions I actually went to again because you can only retain so much after 4 straight days of constant data dump. Often those tips and tricks only make sense after you've actually used the technology a little bit.

The real value of going is access to the labs and Apple engineers as much as data in the sessions. Talk to a lot of people check out sessions just to see "what's new" and ask a lot of questions. See you there!

My $.02,

=Tod

I'm booked in at the TravelLodge on Market street. Not familiar with the area, but it's not too far to Moscone (and I assume transport links are good, as Market is a main thoroughfare). Rate are the best I could find in SF - about $130 a night.

If anyone else is staying there and attending WWDC feel free to contact me. Would be great to catch up as this is my first WWDC and only my 2nd time to SF.

This is my first time too and I can't find a place anywhere near the Moscone center. The hotels like TravelLodge are miles away. Do you plan on just taking a cab every day?

I plan on arriving on the 8th, Sunday, but I'm unsure if I should depart on Friday evening or Saturday. How late does the conference run on Friday?

Andrew,

There are both buses and streetcars that run up and down Market street. San Francisco is small and very public transit oriented - do not bring a car into the city unless you have to.

Google maps has a really cool feature that if you put both a start and stop (A and B) destination markers and get directions there is also a "Take Public Transit" tab button and it will map it out for you, give you times, estimated travel times and even cost.

HTH,

=Tod

Miles ? Well, Google has it at 1.6 miles. Even if I take a cab every day, I'm still saving a bunch over what it costs for a room within a couple of blocks of Moscone.

Of course, if you know different, speak up !

As for dates: I'm arriving on the saturday and leaving the following saturday. International flights get very expensive if your stay is less than 1 week....

Message was edited by: Andrew Rennard

Hey - I hadn't noticed that Public Transport tab before. Thanks for the tip.

$1.50 and 17 minutes by light rail. That leaves me plenty for lunch money 🙂

Message was edited by: Andrew Rennard

1.6 miles isn't too bad considering the money you're saving.

I live in the states so I'm trying to figure out if I need my employer to pay for Friday night stay and leave on Saturday morning or if the conference is over early on Friday then I can leave on Friday night.

Meh, I think I'll just stay Friday night to keep from having to rush around.

By Friday afternoon the conference is winding down. The lobby area on Friday morning is sea of rolling suitcases as every prepares to leave. It's been a long week and by the afternoon the Apple labs and demonstration areas are starting to get packed up to be shipped back to the Apple campus. If - allowing time to get to the airport - you can stay into Friday afternoon then you'll have stayed for the bulk of the conference.

On the other hand San Francisco is a great city and if you've just spent all week mostly ignoring the city because you're attending the conference and you want at least one night in the city one your own then go ahead and stay. 😉

=Tod

PS This is another reason I advocate getting into the lab areas early. If you wait until Wednesday afternoon you've really cut down the time you have to take advantage. Think of the labs as running through Thursday rather than Friday - sometimes the person you really want to talk to may have done their time by Thursday night and you can miss them if you wait too long.