Sentiment analysis: I stayed at the Blake for the Southeast Linux Fest this weekend and was excited when I first set foot on the premise. I was impressed by the decor at first and thought to myself, "Surely, if they have this kind of decor, then this is going to be a great stay." Well, I was wrong. Dead. Wrong. Two of the biggest faults I found with the Blake is that for a business that purports to be in the hospitality industry, the staff, by and large, is inhospitable and the service leaves a lot to be desired. Let's talk details. The average room price is $250--for that price, you'd expect things like a complimentary beverage or two in the rooms, a fridge, etc. No fridge, and water--bottles of Dasani are $2. So not a deal breaker, but I've paid less for a room that had far more to offer in that respect. Me and my colleagues woke up and went in search of breakfast our first morning. After being directed to the restaurant, we found that there was a breakfast buffet which consisted of mediocre offerings and was ~$10-12. So, save your money and go down the street to the Original Pancake House. We made that decision on our 2nd day at the conference and provided with quality food, excellent coffee (which the Blake doesn't have and let's face it, is kind of a staple for sysadmins), and service that blew me away. Speaking of things that are essential to sysadmins--let's talk WiFi. While the SELF conference had WiFi available for conference attendees, it wasn't able to reach to the upper floors. So, when needing to do work in my room, I was forced to pay for WiFi ($9/day). I paid it only because I didn't have a mifi on me and tethering with other colleagues had put me at close to my data cap. But really, you have a conference of technical people and don't provide free WiFi to the rooms? Yet another strike. My cause for writing the review, and perhaps the thing that just pisses me off is the general lack of helpfulness of the staff. When I asked questions, I was given a sullen "No" the vast majority of the time. For example, I was told quite pointedly "No" when I ask if there is a microwave for my leftovers that I can use. Here's what gets me: This is my first visit to Charlotte and the Blake had a very real opportunity to increase its business by making my stay out of this world and making me want to come back. Instead, they squandered the opportunity. I will be back to Charlotte, but I won't be staying with the Blake.
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negative

Sentiment analysis: Yuck. I remember a day when I loved TGIF's. It wAs in the 80s. Now it's just greasy bar food but not the good kind. I think they started the potato skin trend.... And they ended it too!
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negative

Sentiment analysis: The Marquee has the worst acoustics of any mid to small concert venue that I have been to and I have been to a lot of concerts. It might work for some acts but for louder bands and Metal it is just terrible. There is no sound conditioning whatsoever in this place. They even had the stage right rear corner acoustic curtain retracted which made for HORRIBLE fluttering and echo effects. Even slower piano songs were echoing. Vocals were completely indiscernible even when the singer was simply talking to the crowd. I had to actually move to the stage left side to make it somewhat bearable. The fact that they had an acoustic curtain which was retracted and could have helped is just unforgivable. What exactly is the sound guy doing to setup the show if he doesn't setup the acoustic curtains? The ceiling is just a mess for sound anyway so there is probably no helping this place. This place either needs a complete sound rework or I will never attend a concert there again. There are just so many better venues that this place probably should be torn down so that the space can be better used for something else and not destroy concert experiences. It is considerably worse than: Talking Stick Casino, Wild Horse Pass Casino, The Celebrity Theater, The former Web, The Dodge, The Venue Of Scottsdale The Nile, The Rialto (and that is in Tucson...) Perhaps only Nita's hideaway sucked more but that wasn't a sound issue.
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negative