But find out what other events are taking place at the hotel during your show. You're fighting for registration space, lobbies, function space. True, this can also happen in a convention center, but there, events are typically segmented into discrete areas. A hotel may have ballrooms on either side of a lobby, with a common registration area in between. Facilities and services Exhibit space.
Hotels are less likely than convention centers to have large, column-free expanses of exhibit space.
You may have to spread exhibits out over several rooms, perhaps even onto separate floors. If your exhibitors insist on large island booths, two-story booths or unusually tall displays, ballroom space may not work for your show. Product services are generally the same. Utilities, however, are another matter. Some hotels have loading docks at exhibit hall level, with direct access onto the exhibit floor.