Jim Straus made it happen. The Radisson O'Hare provided excellent service and food. The airport shuttle service was fast and plentiful. The restaurants were clean and had good menus. The hotel rooms were nice but I'd say they are nearing "remodeling time" at this facility.

I rate this hotel ****1/2 four and one half stars.

Crystal City Hilton, Virginia (D.C. Area)

A Very nice hotel, good rooms, nice banquet facilities and excellent banquet buffet. It's only draw backs are a weak, blah breakfast buffet for a staggering $15.00, all food a bit pricey for what you get and the lounge is not real large. The gift shop is a closet (literally). Pleasant staff. Good Location. Airport Service.

I rate this hotel ***1/2 three and one half stars.

Holiday Inn, Arlington (at Key Bridge)

I cannot recommend this hotel if you plan to have a banquet. The banquet SUCKED and the caterers were rude, there wasn't enough food for the entire group (only about 60% got a full meal) and they charged us about twice the going rate for banquet food at other hotels. On the good side...rooms were nice, location was good and as for the staff, they were pleasant and helpful to our group and the housekeeping services were very good.

I rate this hotel **1/2 two and one half stars.

Holiday Inn, Westport, St. Louis, MO.

We stayed here twice in 1997 and 1999. We gave then an opportunity to make up for the disasterous first stay in which they pitted a loud wedding party in the banquet room next to ours. The music was so loud they disrupted our presentation. On our second visit they were outstanding. A note to the wise....make sure you know who they are also booking the weekend of your reunions.

I rate this hotel *** three stars.

Holiday Inn (Market Square) San Antonio, TX.

Great location, Very good banquet facilities and meals, Nice rooms and rates, poor restaurant facilities and lounge. We were pleased overall with the service and food at this Holiday Inn and have already decided to make this a repaeat hotel in the future. The restaurant consisted of a pizza and cookies sub station. They had burgers and such but I was deathly ill after eating a burger on our last day there. The banquet food which is catered (I guess) was just fine. No complaints on the hotel staff or services. (We have now outgrown this hotel but would recommend it for groups under 150)

I rate this hotel ***1/2 three and one half stars.

The Sheraton National Hotel, Arlington, Virginia

"Angry Skipper" has been having reunions since 1993 and we have stayed in hotels and motels in many cities around the country. This last November 9th through the 12th, we stayed at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Prior to this reunion we have had some pretty good luck with the hotels we have chosen to host our reunions in. This was an exception, so I decided to have a review page set up to let other units know where service was good and where service was poor so that they may use this page as a guideline in choosing a place to hold their reunions. Although the Sheraton was the host hotel for the 1st Cavalry Division's Ia Drang memorial reunion it was open to all Cavaliers who wanted to attend and we chose to stay there. It was a BIG mistake. The hotel was overbooked and not only were there 1st Cav guys being sent to other hotels but other guests were also being shuttled to other places. It was mass confusion at the front desk for the entire weekend. Five people in our group who booked reservations as far as six months back were not given rooms at the hotel. They were given rooms at another Sheraton Hotel a mile away. The Sheraton didn't even offer compensation for their troubles. Those who did get in had to wait as late as 6:00pm to get into their rooms. The location of the Sheraton National is too far to walk to any subway connection or restaurants. Getting a shuttle to take you there is a joke and you're lucky if any of the employees speak enough english to understand what you're talking about. They only had one restaurant which had buffet quality food at gormet prices. The bar offered small cocktail glasses of your favorite drink for a mere $5.85 per drink (including beer). That will sober up anyone. The 1st Cav had free draft beer but you were not allowed to take it out of the hospitality room. The rooms were nice except for an occational insect scampering across the floor and the convenient ice and coke machines were empty during my entire three days. The hotel was packed and it was normal to wait for thirty to forty-five minutes before getting an elevator because they only had three. It was even more fun on one morning when the employees decided to close down two of them for cleaning right in the middle of breakfast rush hour traffic. Needless to say "Angry Skipper" will not be returning to the Sheraton National next year. We will also voice our complaint to the 1st Cavalry Association in hopes they will change their plans to return to this louzy hotel. We will also exclude Sheraton Hotels from any consideration in our annual May reunion gatherings. They do not deserve our business or yours.

I rate this hotel ** two stars.

The Emerald Springs Holiday Inn, Las Vegas, Nevada

(This hotel was sold and is no longer a Holiday Inn)

This hotel deserves your business. They are friendly, clean, priced right and have a great location and staff. We have had the pleasure of staying here on three seperate occations for reunions. They have a very good restaurant with easy on the wallet prices and a nice bar and lounge area. The rooms are spacious with convenient refrigerators and bar sinks in every room. Located just two blocks off the busiest corner of the Las Vegas "Strip" and within walking distance of several fine restaurants and casinos. The convention facilities are great and the place is spotlessly clean. Unfortunately, we have outgrown this facility.

I rate this hotel ***** five stars but remember, it's now under new mngmt.

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