Going to WOWODC ? Here's some tips.
Tips for WOWODC West
Hotels :
We have a room block at the hotel where WOWODC West is held, Hotel Whitcomb. Those special rates are valid from June 5th to June 12th. Instructions on how to get the special rate will be available after you buy your WOWODC ticket. Hotel Whitcomb is right next to the BART Civic Center station and it's a 20 minutes walk to Moscone West.
If you want to stay in another hotel, we suggest
You can also find a hotel near a BART station. We were told that Daly City, Colma and downtown Oakland are good options, and a BART from downtown Oakland to San Francisco cost 6.50$ (roundtrip) and it's a 30 minutes ride.
Arrival
If you are flying into SFO, the cheapest (and often easiest) way to get downtown is via BART. The fare from SFO to Civic Center station is $5.35 and the trip takes approximately 30 minutes.
Mag-striped tickets are purchased from automated machines in the train station (they accept cash or credit cards) - I always buy a ticket with enough value for the round trip.
Oh, and the ticket machines at SFO are on both sides of the pillar, so don't get stuck in the line.
While you wait for the train, take a look around on the platform, there's a good chance you'll see someone you recognize... or wearing one of WOWODC/WebObjects t-shirts.
Other Links:
Toronto Area Cocoa and WebObjects developers group (tacow) co-host Karl "Kol. Panic" recently updated his list of tips for WWDC attendees on the tacow blog. Well worth reading - especially for those of us NOTB (North Of The Border).
Also worth perusing is this list of San Francisco hotels, arranged by distance from the Moscone Center (originally compiled by Jonathan "Wolf" Rentzsch).
Tips for WOWODC East
Hotels :
We have a room block at the hotel where WOWODC East is held, Hotel Gouverneur. Those special rates are valid from August 28th to August 30th. Instructions on how to get the special rate will be available after you buy your WOWODC ticket. The hotel is right next to Station Centrale, the main coach bus station, and the Berri-UQAM subway station.
If you want to stay in another hotel, we suggest
Arrival
If you are flying into YUL (Pierre-Elliott Trudeau Airport), the easiest way to get downtown is via the bus shuttle. Both way ticket is $25 CAD. The bus stops at Station Centrale, right next to the hotel. You can even go from the bus station to the hotel by the Underground City, but hey it's August so go out and walk!
You can also take a taxi, the ride is $38 USD one way. Check all other options on the ADM Web site.
You can also come by train. Amtrak provide a ride from New-York to Montreal. VIA Rail provide a ride from Ontario and other provinces. Coming by train brings you to Gare Centrale, you just need to take the subway from Bonaventure to Berri-UQAM (5 stations, 10 minutes ride on the Orange line).
Greyhound also provide bus rides from other provinces and from the US East Coast.
You can also come by car, but beware, Montreal is an island so if you come to Montreal at 5pm on Friday, expect to be stuck on a bridge for 30 minutes. The Jacques-Cartier bridge is the nearest from the hotel. The hotel have a underground parking lot.
What do to in Montreal:
Well, if you are coming to Montreal, why not stay for a couple of days? WOWODC East is held the same week-end as our Nascar Nationwide race, so Crescent Street will be on party all week-end long. Montreal is know for it's nightlife, restaurants (most restaurants are Greek, French or Italian cuisine, and our famous smoked meat and poutine). Suggestion that we have :
- Schwartz's: THE place for smoked meat. But expect a waiting line even at 9pm... It's like pastrami, but way way better. 15 minutes walk from the hotel.
- Au pied de cochon: Look like it's our famous restaurant. You must love meat (veggie? DON'T go there!) and make your reservation ASAP. 5 minutes ride by subway, 20 minutes by walk.
- La Binerie Mont-Royal. Want to see what your French-Canadians grandmother cooks? This is the place. 5 minutes ride by subway.
- La Banquise: They have every damn version of a poutine. 5 minutes ride by subway, but it's better to take a walk to come back, for digestion purpose.
- Crescent Street: Also know as "Party street". 10 minutes ride by subway, 30 minutes walk.
- Irish pubs. We have a lot of Irish Pubs in Montreal, and we love good beer here (but please, don't drink a Molson product...). We suggest the Vieux Dublin (1219 University Street, corner of Cathcart, one street south of St-Catherine)
- St-Denis Street. Somewhat like Crescent, but with a French twist. 10 minutes walk from the hotel.
- Olympic Stadium. Yes, the thing that cost us 1.4 billions and took 30 years to pay... You can also visit the Biodome and our famed Botanical Garden. 20 minutes ride by subway from the hotel (Green line, Pie-IX subway station).
- Check out the Tourisme Montréal Web site for other ideas.
Other tips
- Get some Canadian dollars with you. Most restaurants and touristic places will take US dollars, but it always useful to have Canadian dollars with you.
- Visa and MasterCard accepted also everywhere, Amex at most places. Diner's and other credit cards are not really accepted.
- Don't worry about not being able to speak French. In downtown, you have more chance to find someone who is English native than finding someone who only speak French. If you are unlucky and you found someone who don't speak English at all, just try someone else.