Your Hotel Stay 2009

Started by BenihimeSama, May 25, 2009, 09:20:43 PM

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How was your hotel stay this year at Fanime!

Totally freaking awesome
21 (27.6%)
Pretty darn good
36 (47.4%)
Eh, it was okay
16 (21.1%)
Man it was bad
2 (2.6%)
Dude, this hotel sucked.
1 (1.3%)

Total Members Voted: 75

KyraEnsui

I stayed at the Hilton as usual. I was on the 3rd floor this year and to be honest, no matter what floor you're on, the elevator is there to be used. I loved to use the stairs, but when in boots for almost half the day, it's tiring. Plus, there are also luggages and stuffs to carry too.

I enjoyed their renovations to the rooms especially their mini fridges. Last year, their fridge didn't keep my drinks cold enough even if I left it for overnight. I was very pleased this year. Their room is so spacious (enough that my room was dubbed the hurricane with scattering costumes and props). The staffs were very friendly and helpful too. The table space is bigger this year so we had two laptops and a printer set up perfectly.

I was quite surprise that on Thursday and Friday night that they didn't charge for parking as they left the gate up for exiting.

They did an awesome Starbucks special too. Sad that I didn't take the offer of buy 1, get 1 free on the last day.

Downside are their bathroom being small so it was hard to do other stuffs in front of the mirror; I missed their mirrors that they have in the waiting area for the elevators for any touch-ups; and no Wifi connection since it was hard to connect from Fanime's wifi where I was rooming.

I am definitely coming back at Hilton.

Kertus

2nd year staying at the Marriot.
Beds are great, we got our PS3 to work just fine with the TV.
We always get concierge level access, service was so awesome up there this year.  Even though the concierge lounge was closed during the majority of Sat and Sun during the con as always the hotel staff was very accomadating and got us free meals at the Arcadia in the bottom of the hotel to makeup for the lounge being closed.
Although initially at the front desk I was having an extra $200+ put on my credit card due to a 'deposit' or something that wasn't listed in my initial booking they fixed it and didn't have it against my card since I've been there before.
Our bathroom door broke, but the hotel staff repaired it within 30 minutes of us reporting it and didn't charge us anything.

I actually enjoy the elevator rides, it's a sweet place to meet people I think, just have to make sure you move most all your luggage down sunday night or early monday morning so it's only 1 ride down for checkout.
Mario '06. Sven '08. Jared '09. Gai '10. Cobra '11. Kenji '12. Spike '13.
irc.rizon.net #fanime Click here to connect to IRC

FiliKlepto

Stayed at the Hilton, and to start with a compliment: I just have to say that I love the renovations!  Everything seemed so spacious, clean, and very "oshare."  The new televisions are fantastic; I'm happy we could finally hook up a DVD player/video games.  And to top it all off, the bed was probably the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on... I had a hard time getting out of bed every morning because all I wanted to do was bury myself in those cool comfy comforters and sleep~

Unfortunately, although my room was worthy of a "Totally freaking awesome" rating, my experiences with the staff brought the quality of my stay down to just an "Eh, it was okay."

First, although I explained very clearly to the front desk upon checking in that my credit card could not be authorized beyond $200, the clerk authorized my VISA for $515 which completely exceeded my limit and left me with zero available credit.  Because it was a weekend, through Monday I suffered tons of stress because I didn't have a credit card handy for emergencies--not to mention that I worried about getting penalized by my card company for exceeding the credit limit.  As the last thing I want is for my APR to shoot up to 20 or 30%, I experienced a lot of distress throughout the entire weekend.  The front desk manager promised me on Saturday night that he would straighten everything out Monday morning, but when I finished up at the con and returned to the hotel Monday afternoon, nothing had been done.  The manager had not even left a memo for any of the staff, and I had to wait an hour while they tried to straighten everything out.  I filed a formal complaint against the girl who checked me in, but I was offered nothing for my inconvenience or my distress.  I expect way better service from a Hilton and have to say that I am sorely disappointed by this experience.

Second, in addition to the credit card problem, several of the front desk staff were--to put it politely--rather air-headed.  I wasn't asking difficult or complicated questions, I was only trying to find out the single day self-parking rate, yet the clerk kept quoting me the three-day Fanime parking rate.  We talked in circles for several minutes, until I realized that she had absolutely no clue what I was trying to ask her, so I ended up looking for one of the posted signs with the parking rates instead.

Third, housekeeping was erratic.  The convenience cards the maids provided so that you select what time you wanted them to clean was a great idea, but poorly executed.  One of my roommates overslept a bit and was still getting ready when housekeeping arrived.  She hurried to throw some clothes on so she could get out of their way...  Then she waited an hour and returned to the room to finish doing her hair and makeup, but it hadn't even been cleaned in her absence.  Why kick her out of the room then if you're not even going to clean it?  In addition, housekeeping forgot to provide a new time card for the next day.  I called the front desk before going to bed, and the clerk said that he would personally walk a card up to my floor and slip it under the door.  Well, he never did and the next morning the maids walked into the room while everyone was still sleeping.

Aside from the seriously BAD credit card error, which I am still pissed off about, my complaints about the staff may seem minor at a glance.  However, when experienced all together, it just felt like the entire Hilton staff was totally inept and that they were making my stay unnecessarily difficult.  The only capable person I interacted with all weekend was the bellboy, who not only did his job expediently and courteously, but also recommended a parking lot across the street that only cost $7/day.  :)

I understand that it was a busy weekend, but I have stayed at the Hilton during past Fanime Cons and never encountered such a consistently poor degree of service.
I want death to find me planting my cabbages.
-----------------------------------------------------
Hey, you know Mop Head?  At the Fanime '04 Saturday gameshow?  I so totally named her.  ^^"

morgaine

I had a room at the Fairmont.

It was really nice.  Soft beds, beautiful, a nice walk to and from the con, and had places close by to get food.  The only problem I had was that some channels wouldn't work (group wanted to watch anime on Adult Swim xP ).

Other than that, I had a wonderful stay~  If I can't reserve a hotel adjacent to the con next year, I would stay at the Fairmont again.
Fanime 2019
TBD

Rhornez

Quote from: SSX on May 25, 2009, 11:40:28 PM
"Eh, it was okay"
Stayed at the Marriott this year. Internet was so slow every hour of the day except @ 7am (yay for being able to wake up early). The hotel and staff were extremely nice. I got to check in a little bit early at around 12 on Friday so I was pretty happy about that. Beds are comfy, towels are changed every day, and lots of space in the room. The remote for the television ran out of batteries so it was a bit annoying flipping through the channels manually but I am just nitpicking right now.

The worse part of it was the elevators... Every single time I head up to my room, I feel like I'm going to throw up! I can't believe how immature and juvenile some Fanime goers are! On Saturday evening, while I headed into the elevator on the first floor, these group of ~18 year old got out of the elevator laughing and giggling. I got into the elevator and saw all those buttons lit up. !@#$R!$ER@AR@!R!@R~!@! WTF if the door did not close at that moment, I would've seriously yelled at them like the 3 year olds that they are. I saw the elevator lit up with all the lights a total of 8 times... People need to grow up. Next year, to the people who do this: BEWARE, if I catch you, I will have a little chat with you, and you will wish you never ever even touched the buttons.

4/10 for the Marriott. 9.5/10 if not for the elevator issues.
well my stay was awsome at the marriot only bad thing....25TH FLOOR AWFASUFHOASDHFSUIOGH34526@#%@#%^
yeah the elevators sucked soo much, it sucked soo much going to the 25th floor after being full with chinese food is not so ftw
my floor was a bit quiet though i think it was my group that made alot of noise since we messed around alot and about taht thing pressing all the buttons my cousin did that and deceived people who got on and i assure you i yelled at him after we got off

Been going to Fanime Since 2008

Rhornez

Quote from: MeowDesu on May 26, 2009, 12:06:59 PM
We stayed at the Marriott, as we have for a few years now. We're a pretty quiet group, so our contact with the staff was limited, but I'll list what I observed.

Pros:


  • Loved the comfy beds. I fell asleep easily in them.

  • We got both a 360 and a Wii working with the TV (although others seemed to have problems with it).

  • The TV and selection of channels was nice.

  • It was a very quiet floor.

  • The staff at the valet entrance always held the door open for us. I thought that was very sweet and helpful.

  • There was a man guarding our belongings when we were waiting for them to deliver it to our room. I get very worried when I leave my possessions out in the open, but this guy wouldn't let anyone near it without proving it belonged to them. I thank you, Mr. Luggage Bouncer Guy.



Cons:

  • 22nd floor T_T. The staff said we should have a lovely view because of it (it faced the convention), but everyone/thing just looked like ants from that height.

  • The bathroom doors! They just slide, and there's no lock on them. Being the only girl in the room, I think I need a little more privacy.

  • I really, really wish that the Marriott had someone on these forums like the Hilton does. Maybe they do, and I haven't seen them yet. But it only helps their image in our eyes if they take time to communicate with us here.

  • Of course, the elevators. People also didn't know how to wait their turn for them. We'd wait for the elevator for 20 minutes, then some people would come right as it arrived and try to take the few spots that were available in them. That's just rude.




I also thank the amount of tolerance and graciousness that these hotel staff display during what must be a stressful time. I'm glad that they allow us to stay year after year.
yes i hated the bathroom slidy door i mean 2 guys as roommates=bad idea since they kept opening it when i tried using the bathroom(FFFFFFUUUUUUUU) and i did the same too so i guess another plus was the free fitness center cosplayed as near meant Excersise for my self lolz

Been going to Fanime Since 2008

Rodney_Pheonix

Pretty Damn Good.

Stayed at the Marriott on the 11th floor. My only gripe was the Elevator wait, which in retrospect wasn't as bad as it had had seemed to be made out to be.

AC was nice, an th water didn't taste too horrible. Then again the water in my area's pretty bad, so it's hard to be worse that what I've grown up with. Well actually when I washed my hair the water seemed to make my hair stickier...so meh, hard to tell.

Parking was pretty nice. 12.50 a night for Vallet parking+in/out privlidges, hard to beat that. I didn't bring my laptop so I dunno about the internet, but apparently the radio morning show guys nearly brought down the network on  I think Sunday, or Monday by inadvertently causing a DoS attack.
Personal FanimeCon 2015 Fund: ?/?
Planned 2014 Cosplays:
Kiev Klanker
A young Sidrovich?
HL2 Combine (concept art trenchcoat one)
Something something....no idea yet.

Raydere

Stayed at the Hilton.  This is a big upgrade from last year when I was at the Fairmont; to hell with the Fairmont's reputation, I like being able to get to the con center within 15 seconds of getting off the elevator. ;)

Though I wasn't in the room for long; I only used it for storage, taking breaks, and sleeping.
Raydere / Raymoo, purveyor of crazy Japanese music games
Twitter: @Raydere | Tumblr: raydere2

Knightfire

I have to say it was pretty darn good this year. The rooms in the hilton looked beautiful, and the beds were very comfortable. My only complaint was that the Hilton over charged my card by 275 dollars, but that was easily fixed.
Starting work for Fanime 2011

lyricaldanichan

I also stayed at the Hilton and the beds are still uber comfy and the room setup was awesome!

Only thing that was lacking is the following:

- No visible hair dryer. We asked about it after checking out and apparently it was hidden under the sink, thought that was very strange.

- Shower/bathtub needed to be replaced. The backing for the shower head was falling out! The cold and hot was set up wrong. Cold was on the right instead of the left, hard to get it warm.

- $200 convenience fee/deposit. That really sucked since we paid in cash and did not want to use
credit cards at all. Even asked to shut off the phone and no room service access and the clerk
refused to do it stating it was mandatory.

- Seemed like the room walls were more sensitive then usual. Very easy to hear people in the hallway, didn't remember that being a problem before.

- Parking. Hilton needs more spaces in SJCC or allow guests to park in valet if the lot is full at night. The Hilton used to have special rates for attendees, what happen with that? Also very disappointing that the Marriot had in/out valet for $12.50 compared to $19 a night @ Hilton!

Hopefully the Hilton Staff reads the feedback and can take in the considerations for 2010.

Kender

Quote from: lyricaldanichan on May 31, 2009, 11:28:47 PM
- Parking. Hilton needs more spaces in SJCC or allow guests to park in valet if the lot is full at night. The Hilton used to have special rates for attendees, what happen with that? Also very disappointing that the Marriot had in/out valet for $12.50 compared to $19 a night @ Hilton!

Actually, they do allow this.  Unless they've changed it since I ran into this a couple years ago.  Fanime 2007 there was no parking at all when I came back from dropping a couple friends off at their hotel a couple miles away and when I called to ask what I was supposed to do (as I had already prepaid my parking), the front desk told me to park in valet.  Those spots are wonderfully huge <3

And agreed on the special rate.  Although you got ripped off by a $1, was only supposed to be $18 a night for Fanime guests.  I was told the rate had gone up when I checked in on Thursday, but Fanime had negotiated the "special rate."  Which really, $1 off a night, whoopty doo.  I miss my $10 a night special rate it used to be.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing."

Charis

#31
Stayed at the Hilton, third floor.  And holy hell, third floor was a huge mistake.  Granted, it was a shitton easier for getting out the last day, but that didn't really make up for other problems.

Hotel itself: fine.  Comfy beds were comfy, minifridge was win, room ... well, I wasn't there a whole lot, but it was okay.  The lighting was a bit fail and annoying (either too bright or too dark), the comfy chair was not that comfy, and the lack of mirrors aside from in the bathroom and on the (terribly poorly illuminated) closet doors made for hell getting dressed.  If it had been more people besides my sister and I, that probably would've been far more annoying than it was, but ... either way, it still vexed.

Elevators, as usual, were fail.  I don't think this revelation surprises anyone, though they were better than the Marriot's.
(We didn't really do stairs during con proper.  My sister is pretty seriously gimpy and I cosplay all of con, usually with corset and some degree of uncomfortable shoe involved, so I'm reluctant to chance the stairs.  I did it at the Marriot once, up four floors, and the breathing hell involved was not fun.)

Parking: I can deal.  Compared to LA parking rates, $18/night isn't that bad, and Hilton still comes out below Marriot even with the lack of parking discounts.  We got a spot a sneeze away from the elevators, too, which was lovely.  Those spots are SMALL, though; I have never been so glad for my Toyota compact before.

Biggest complaint: noise.  I had hoped that the Hilton's remodel would include some degree of noise dampening, but this appears to have not been the case.  Between the kids next door (who I asked repeatedly to keep things down; yes, I'm that bitch), the base beat coming from ... well, maybe the second floor? ... and things like people not modulating voices walking down the hall or slamming doors at ungodly hours of the morning, sleeping proved to be quite a trial.  I know it's too much to hope for common sense and decency, but really, people.  How many times do I have to ask before you'll keep it down?

Next year: Marriot, I think, and not the third floor.  I'll deal with the elevator fail.
2012 Plans:
  • Gypsy Queen / Kaya Syokka (Trinity Blood)
  • Risai (Juuni Kokki/Twelve Kingdoms)
  • Shusui (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
  • others TBD

Dragon Ninja

I stayed at the Hilton, and I found it better than the Marriot, though I also had the gripe with the elevators.


Fanime 2013:
Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto Shippuden)
Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
The 9th Doctor (Doctor Who)

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Rhornez

Quote from: Charis on June 01, 2009, 11:43:29 AM
Stayed at the Hilton, third floor.  And holy hell, third floor was a huge mistake.  Granted, it was a shitton easier for getting out the last day, but that didn't really make up for other problems.

Hotel itself: fine.  Comfy beds were comfy, minifridge was win, room ... well, I wasn't there a whole lot, but it was okay.  The lighting was a bit fail and annoying (either too bright or too dark), the comfy chair was not that comfy, and the lack of mirrors aside from in the bathroom and on the (terribly poorly illuminated) closet doors made for hell getting dressed.  If it had been more people besides my sister and I, that probably would've been far more annoying than it was, but ... either way, it still vexed.

Elevators, as usual, were fail.  I don't think this revelation surprises anyone, though they were better than the Marriot's.
(We didn't really do stairs during con proper.  My sister is pretty seriously gimpy and I cosplay all of con, usually with corset and some degree of uncomfortable shoe involved, so I'm reluctant to chance the stairs.  I did it at the Marriot once, up four floors, and the breathing hell involved was not fun.)

Parking: I can deal.  Compared to LA parking rates, $18/night isn't that bad, and Hilton still comes out below Marriot even with the lack of parking discounts.  We got a spot a sneeze away from the elevators, too, which was lovely.  Those spots are SMALL, though; I have never been so glad for my Toyota compact before.

Biggest complaint: noise.  I had hoped that the Hilton's remodel would include some degree of noise dampening, but this appears to have not been the case.  Between the kids next door (who I asked repeatedly to keep things down; yes, I'm that bitch), the base beat coming from ... well, maybe the second floor? ... and things like people not modulating voices walking down the hall or slamming doors at ungodly hours of the morning, sleeping proved to be quite a trial.  I know it's too much to hope for common sense and decency, but really, people.  How many times do I have to ask before you'll keep it down?

Next year: Marriot, I think, and not the third floor.  I'll deal with the elevator fail.
glad you werent on the 25th floor of the marriot next to my room with my buddies eh? you woulda screamed ;P

Been going to Fanime Since 2008

Runewitt

i stayed at the fairmont for the first time. 20th floor.  the room was decent, not much different than when i stayed at the ramada, beds were a bit softer, but i ended up "sleeping" on the chair. loved the bathroom with the LOCKING DOOR, full tub and seperate shower, huge mirror, private toilet. convenient to the con, the desk staff were very polite, even at 2:30 am, or... 5am, or.. whenever, really. th only problem was that we had 7 people in the room, and only two large towels the whole weekend. maid service didnt come once.
Brevity is the soul of Wit.
Confusion is the soul of Runewitt.

Charis

Quote from: Rhornez on June 01, 2009, 08:34:48 PMglad you werent on the 25th floor of the marriot next to my room with my buddies eh? you woulda screamed ;P

No, I never scream.  I will inform politely, then I will inform forcefully, then I will snap (in the verbal rather than the mental sense), and then I will call the hotel front desk and request them to deal with the problem.  But I don't scream.  That would be inconsiderate to the other people who are trying to sleep.

I really like that ALA designates "quiet" and "noisy" floors in their hotel, and wish other cons were capable of doing the same, but I assume it's a luxury really only viable when you have just one hotel.  It would eliminate some of the issues.
2012 Plans:
  • Gypsy Queen / Kaya Syokka (Trinity Blood)
  • Risai (Juuni Kokki/Twelve Kingdoms)
  • Shusui (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
  • others TBD

smurfqueen

I stayed at the marriot again this year. It was ok. The room wasn't as small as the one we got stuck with last year but compared to the hilton it was still tiny. I guess most of my problems this year were cause so many people from the forums flaked on us. Anyway, as usual the elevators were terrible but we managed to avoid peak hours and we were only on the 11th floor we we just walked down the stairs most of the time. The staff was very polite and helpful. It's a good hotel but we decided that next year we want to stay in a suite at the hilton.  :D

smurfqueen

#37
Edit same post twice

smurfqueen


Quote from: Charis on June 01, 2009, 11:43:29 AM
Parking: I can deal.  Compared to LA parking rates, $18/night isn't that bad, and Hilton still comes out below Marriot even with the lack of parking discounts.

We stayed at the marriot and they only charged us 12.50 a night for valet parking. XD

Charis

Quote from: smurfqueen on June 12, 2009, 05:47:27 AM

Quote from: Charis on June 01, 2009, 11:43:29 AM
Parking: I can deal.  Compared to LA parking rates, $18/night isn't that bad, and Hilton still comes out below Marriot even with the lack of parking discounts.

We stayed at the marriot and they only charged us 12.50 a night for valet parking. XD


Multiple posts in a row is generally frowned upon on forums.  Just FYI.

And to clarify, what I meant about that vis a vis parking is that the per-night rate for room + parking at the Hilton (for one car) came out to less than the room + parking rate for the Marriot.
2012 Plans:
  • Gypsy Queen / Kaya Syokka (Trinity Blood)
  • Risai (Juuni Kokki/Twelve Kingdoms)
  • Shusui (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
  • others TBD