Fanime 2014 Hotel Review

[KyraEnsui]

Hotel Stayed: San Jose Hyatt
Nights Stayed: Thursday night to Monday morning
Amenities: Mini-fridge and sofa bed
Helpfulness of Staff: Very helpful and polite. When I was checking in, they gave us the wrong room so I had to go back to the front desk and showed them the email for a double bed room, not one king bed. It was very quick and smooth! The parking was hassle-free!
Roomshares?: 6 people. 4 on beds, 1 on sofa, and 1 on floor. Surprising, it was still comfy to sleep.
Pros of Hotel: Easy walk to the convention center.
Cons of Hotel: Hoping for the window to open more than a crack for some fresh air.
Would You Stay Again: Most definitely.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: For quieter sleep, I suggest getting the room facing the parking garage.

[CountMetal]

Hotel Stayed: San Jose Airport Garden Hotel
Nights Stayed: Wednesday night to Monday Morning
Amenities: 2 Double beds and one coffee machine
Helpfulness of Staff: At the front desk in person yes but when it comes to using the phones in the room then no
Roomshares?: Just me and my g/f
Pros of Hotel:

• Friendly front desk staff who gives helpful information about where restaurants and shops are located.
• Convenient to the VTA even though it requires a fee but we could get to the convention easily rather than taking the shuttle
• Nice Pool and Spa

Cons of Hotel:

• Phones were broken. I tried contacting the front desk when there was disturbance Monday morning at 2 am but phones weren't working.
• Wi-fi is kind of slow
• Housekeeping service was kind of poor
• Lack of power outlets
• Unclear TV channels
• Wallpaper in bathroom is peeling off

Would You Stay Again: If I plan on going to Fanime in the future, I won't be staying at this hotel.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Bring a cooler for drinks and a power strip for charging electronic devices.

[Sora]

Hotel Stayed: San Jose Marriott
Nights Stayed: 5 (Thu-Tues)
Amenities: 2 double beds
Helpfulness of Staff: Very. They are great!
Roomshares?: four people total.
Pros of Hotel: close to con, nice valet (so no need to find own parking), friendly staff, good pool and jacuzzi
Cons of Hotel: elevators, trying to get downstairs on Monday (when elevators kept coming to my floor full, I took the stairs down. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to have the same idea), no fridge (extra for it)
Would You Stay Again: Yes. Every year.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Bring a cooler along next time.

Hotel Stayed: Ramada
Nights Stayed: 4 (Thu-Mon)
Amenities: fridge, queen bed, microwave
Helpfulness of Staff: Quite.
Roomshares?: Two people.
Pros of Hotel: smaller (so not as crowded), cheap, good complimentary breakfast
Cons of Hotel: walking back and forth
Would You Stay Again: Yes
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Not much

[aetherltd]

Hotel Stayed: Doubletree
Nights Stayed: Thursday night to Monday morning
Amenities: TV, wired Ethernet. No mini-fridge. Comfortable without frills.
Helpfulness of Staff: Very helpful and polite.
Pros of Hotel: Clockwork Alchemy is there
Cons of Hotel: Food hard to obtain. Sprigs coffee shop closed some days of con. Over $20 for breakfast buffet. Micro-Starbucks ran out of food. Main restaurant about $40 and up. Sushi bar in bar area is OK, not great. No food or candy vending machines. Few nearby restaurants open on holidays. Dennys nearby, but hard to reach on foot due to freeway in the way. Better than last year, though; at least Sprigs was open most days.
Would You Stay Again: Most definitely.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Try to get Starbucks to offer more of their standard line, like their little boxed meals, during the con.

[pantsu]

Hotel Stayed: Fairmont (King room)
Nights Stayed: Thurs-Mon (4 nights)
Amenities: super comfy bed, pool, nice view of Cesar Chavez park from my room, quiet (even in the landing path of the airport we heard no plane engines), GINORMOUS room, free wifi
Helpfulness of Staff: from the interactions I had, very.  check in and out were a breeze and housekeeping was great.
Roomshares?: nope, just me and the bf.
Pros of Hotel: QUIET, away from con enough to be able to step away when you want (and having a nice walk through the park in the AM was great), gorgeous view from the upper floors, close to food, close to my favorite parking locale, close to panels, separate vanity and mirror so i could keep my makeup/wig stuff out and not hog the bathroom sink area, tub AND shower, giant closet, and the room was just SO BIG.  made getting into my giant marie antoinette dress much easier.  also, the bar area downstairs is great for photos....we did a bunch around the central cushioned seat that came out great.
Cons of Hotel: we were missing an iron (had the board though), but I always bring my own so no big deal.  elevators were kind of a pain at checkout, but were pretty good all weekend.  you have not experienced elevator waits until you've been to dragoncon, so I have a pretty high wait tolerance, lol.  also the bar area got pretty crowded every night with the live music and blue hairs hogging all the tables. 
Would You Stay Again: if i go to fanime next year, hell yes.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: join the president's club for free wifi!  for my bf's first fanime, he had a blast and really enjoyed the hotel.