Jason Jernigan

Review of Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott

Bad place for a conference.

Bad place for a conference.

Upon arrival, the circle drive was so clogged with parked and running cars, resort busses, and resort golf carts that I just had to back out and find a parking spot. Unfortunately, the tiny paved lot was full, so I had to wind my way off property, through a neighborhood, then back on property to a dirt field. The unlit dirt field featured large boulders, uneven ground, and low hanging trees that scraped the top and sides of my vehicle as I navigated around the cluster of cars there. I finally parked, dragged all my luggage across the unlit dirt field, across a road, then up that same road into oncoming traffic (no sidewalk). Front desk staff was nice.

The facility is laid out poorly for a conference. The meeting rooms are generally in one area, comfortable, and have good sound. However, you had to walk out to a large makeshift tent to visit most of the exhibitors. This particular tent had a very loud AC system that made conversations challenging. While food was served in this tent, you had to take it outside to another, non climate controlled tent to eat. This greatly reduced the amount of time attendees had to spend with exhibitors. Also, no restroom facilities in the tents. You had to return to the main building for that. The exhibitors spend a lot of money to come to things like this. A disjointed, spread out, low traffic setup like this yeilds a poor return on that investment.

Room was small but well appointed. Staff was OK.