Downtown Countdown

My fiancé and I won tickets as part of a Unilocal Elite giveaway. We had never been to a large hotel party for NYE before and thought it would be fun to check out.
We arrived at 9:30 and picked up our ticket from will call no problem. Then we were shuffled down a bunch of hallways to get our ID’s scanned and pick up our wristbands. Then we had to shuffle back and find the coat check. It probably took us 30 minutes to navigate the entire thing and finally get to the bar. It was a bit annoying to be honest and their has to be a better way to organize this.
We started in the DJ room and it was pretty full. Took a while to get a drink but they will give you two at a time which was nice. Food was general buffet but it was tasty enough and filling. Around 11pm the room started the clear out as Third Eye Blind was taking the stage in the band room down another floor. Not super interested in the band, we stayed upstairs and danced a bit.
We ventured into the third eye blind concert around 11:45. It was PACKED. I have no idea how people at the concert were getting drinks or getting around. We caught Semi-​Charmed Life which was the only song we were really interested in and then went back upstairs to ring in the new year.
99.5 took over the stage and DJ Dirty Elbows was great. After dancing for a bit we called it a night at 12:30.
Overall I enjoyed my night. I think this kind of event is more fun with a large group of people so if we decide to attend again next year, we would definitely want to come with more people.
Cheers to 2015!

this was the first time I went to a big, organized NYE party. The location was a bit difficult for me since I live in Columbia Heights/​Petworth and the night was pretty cold. We took a Lyft and made it there shortly after it started. The set up to get wristbands and show ID was totally strange, we had to keep going back though hallways and circle backing, but sometimes thats just how it has to be at hotels.
The event itself was pretty cool. We started at the room with the DJ. I wasn’t a huge fan of the type of music playing, but the drink lies weren’t grotesquely long and there was no line for the food at all. Speaking of the food, it was excellent. Vegetarian options were salad, spinach dip, mashed potatoes, two different pastas, and two different sauces. I believe the penne pasta and marinara were vegan as well. It was nice to have some nomz without waiting. There were also lots of cocktail tables with decorations and favors to fitz with.
I didn’t spend much time in the comedy room or the live band room, but the people there seemed to be having a good time. It was overall a fun event, and if you’re a fan of pop or dance music you’d probably really love it.

I got tickets to the Downtown Countdown as part of the Unilocal Elite. The location couldn’t have been more convenient (I live near Adams Morgan). The venue is a nice one, but the execution, not so much.
First we had to go down a hall, show our ID and tickets and get our wristbands in a room. Then we had to go back down the hall to find the escalators to the ballrooms. There was a coat check, but I didn’t want to check my coat, and it’s a good thing I didn’t, as it was very cold in the hotel. I wondered how some of the women in sleeveless dresses and no hose were faring.
My boyfriend and I checked out the comedy show in one of the ballrooms. However, the comedians just weren’t that funny. One young man had excellent timing, but his material was awful. And one woman kept saying «like», which gets, like, really annoying. And that it was in a very dark room took away from the experience. Part of watching comedy is seeing the expressions on the performer’s face, not to mention his/​her body language.
There didn’t seem to be much to do – see a band, see another band, go to the DJ ballroom. After the comedy show, we checked out the Pat McGee band, who we quite enjoyed, and then stayed in the (very dark) room for the countdown. We’d been in there before to check out the dinner buffet, but we couldn’t even read the signs near the food.
After ringing in the new year with a balloon drop, we decided to head on home. I probably won’t go to another Downtown Countdown. Maybe it’s the execution of the event, maybe I’m getting too old for stuff like this, or maybe it’s a combination of both.