Review your experiences for future con-goers!
Hotel Stayed:
Nights Stayed:
Amenities:
Helpfulness of Staff:
Roomshares?:
Pros of Hotel:
Cons of Hotel:
Would You Stay Again:
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc:
Hotel Stayed: DoubleTree
Nights Stayed: Saturday and Sunday
Amenities: They give you free cookies and water when checking in (om nom nom)... and they gave me as many room keys as I needed for my roommates. Stayed in a room with 2 queen beds. Room had TV, free wifi, microwave, mini fridge, a balcony for fellow smokers, lots of storage space. Free coffee and useful coffee maker. The hotel itself had some pretty useful stuff like a gift shop (had to grab a first aid kit there), and a bar (useful for winding down after con). Also included in the price was $5 for parking to come and go so no having to constantly pay for parking.
Helpfulness of Staff: Super helpful, the people there were nothing but nice there as this was my first time handling all the hotel stuff
Roomshares?: I had a few different people roomshare, there was plenty of room for everyone which was nice
Pros of Hotel: Everything! This was the best hotel I've ever stayed at, I even liked it better than the hotels located near the con. Also wasn't crowded like the hotels near the con so no need to wait for elevators.
Cons of Hotel: Only thing I can think of is that, for people unfamiliar with the area, the location of this hotel can be confusing when driving to and from the hotel. There's a lot of freeways around the hotel and it's easy to get lost. I know I did lol.
Would You Stay Again: 100% Yes!
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Recommend Fanime having shuttles again, I absolutely loved those shuttles.
I stayed at the Hyatt and for some reason, the people who got double beds got the king bed instead. I asked the front desk about this and was told it was a miscommunication from fanime. My room never got cleaned either, and had to call to get the room cleaned. The sign to come back later wasn't even out the door. The housekeeper took the towels from the bathroom, but weren't even replaced.
Other than that, I really enjoyed my stay at the Hyatt and will definitely be back. The room was spacious, had a minifridge, the wifi sucked but it's to be expected with all the people staying here, staff were very friendly, paid in advanced so I didn't have to check out, parking was $33 at their garage (and surprisingly enough, the parking lot wasn't filled when I arrived there around 6), the breakfast buffet was pretty decent at $7.
Hotel Stayed: Marriott Town Place
Nights Stayed: 5 (Thursday-Monday, left on Tuesday)
Amenities: 2 bedrooms + sofa bed, full kitchen with stove, microwave, and fridge/freezer
Helpfulness of Staff: Very!
Roomshares?: Well, we fit 5 people in ours without issue. Would not recommend more than 6 however (and that's pushing it.)
Pros of Hotel: With AAA discount, rates are comparable to on-site but with better amenities. Complimentary wi-fi throughout the hotel, and free (albeit simple) breakfast stuff available from 6-9am downstairs. Very spacious rooms, very clean and quiet. We brought a crockpot with a timer up, so we didn't have to eat out; we just threw dinner into the crockpot before we left in the morning, set the timer, and we'd come back in the evening to a fresh, hot meal. Being offsite also meant none of the room parties/noise at all hours/elevator/escalator issues that you get on-site. The 2-room suites are particularly well suited to couples attending in a group, as the bedrooms offer greater privacy and reduce the issues of snoring roommates.
Cons of Hotel: Well, it is offsite, about 10-15 minute drive, so there is the issue of getting parking at the con. Tad pricey unless you split it 4-5 ways (for my group of five, it totaled roughly $250 per person total for the trip, but it is worth noting we came up on Day Zero and didn't leave until the day after con. The cost could be sliced by a decent amount if you cut out those extra two nights.)
Would You Stay Again: YES!
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: While I don't know if it's true of every room, the sofa bed was remarkably uncomfortable. If our group ends up there again next year, I am definitely bringing an air mattress; the room was big enough to easily fit a one-person air mattress, or you could get away with sticking a larger one on top of the sofa bed.
Hotel Stayed: Marriott
Nights Stayed: Thurs - Monday (4 nights)
Amenities: King Bed
Helpfulness of Staff: Very
Roomshares?: No more than four staying overnight, and double for people visiting at one time
Pros of Hotel: Close to the majority of food outside the convention center, neat bar to kick back afterwards, cheap valet parking that rivals the Hilton and beats out the rest of the hotels, easy access to video rooms, Speed Dating, and autographs
Cons of Hotel: Pool is not as great as the Fairmont, elevators can kind of suck at times, panels moved out of the Marriott and into the Fairmont, far away from the Dealers Hall, Gaming Hall, and the majority of the cosplay rooms i.e. Cosplay Hangout, Peace Bonding, no cheap internet options
Would You Stay Again: Yes, but I want to try the Hilton next year
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc:
1) TIP, TIP, TIP. If you tip housekeeping and write down what you want, odds are they'll give it to you.
2) If you beat the Monday rush, you can repark your car. I placed all my items in my car at 7am and reparked but when I put my friend's stuff in the car at 11am they told me I had to park somewhere else.
3) Weigh your approach the extra incidentals charge. On one end it's less to do a $200 hold on a credit card but it's harder to remburse your friends. On the other hand it's $400 for cash but if you have good roommates everyone will get their money back...in cash (or your money back because you withdrawed out of savings to pay for said charge, which was my case).
Hotel Stayed: Hyatt Place
Nights Stayed: 4 (arrived Friday, left Tuesday)
Amenities: Two double-beds (plus couch); minifridge; [within the hotel itself] "restaurant" and bar
Helpfulness of Staff: VERY helpful, and super friendly to boot~
Roomshares?: Five people total; two in each bed and one on the couch
Pros of Hotel: Across the street and down the block from the convention center, which leaves it "out of the way" enough to get a good break from all the activity; discount parking with in-and-out privileges; discount on food available at hotel's "restaurant" and breakfast buffet; doors to hotel are locked to anyone without a hotel room key, so you're generally assured that no one except guests (and, at least, other con attendees) are wandering the building.
Cons of Hotel: Again, the hotel doors from the outside are locked to anyone without a hotel key, and while not necessarily a "con" it's something to keep in mind whenever you're leaving the building; if you lose yours or forget it you're kind of stuck outside unless someone else comes along and lets you inside (either from the outside or inside). Just something to keep in mind.
Would You Stay Again: Absolutely. My group has stayed with the Hyatt multiple times before, even back when it was still the Crowne Plaza and we've never had a truly negative experience.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Just to note (as this was the first time we'd been offered such a service), when checking in we were informed that if we wanted to we could forgo regular housekeeping during our stay, and that if we ever needed something we could simply request it. I found this worked well for my group considering in the past we never really needed our utilities replaced every single day or our room made up and cleaned regularly, seeing as how we'd likely just make a mess of it again. It was kind of nice knowing we had the option to not have to worry about everyone being out of the room long enough for housekeeping to tend to our space (or to not have to keep the "come back later" sign forever up on the door), and that we could take our time and each keep to our own schedules for the weekend. All we had to do was keep watch over our trash and recycling and keep an eye on our utilities (which didn't end up needing replacing ONCE during the con) and everything was great. So, the Hyatt offers that if that piques anyone's interest.
Hotel Stayed: Mariott
Nights Stayed: 3 (arrived Friday, left Monday)
Amenities: King Bed, Coffee Machine, 32" HDTV W/HDMI
Helpfulness of Staff: Great! I asked about an early check in since I had work on Friday and they were able to accommodate
Roomshares?: Me and the GF in one bed and a friend took the spacious floor (and a lot of the pillows from the bed)
Pros of Hotel: It's connected to the Convention Center
Cons of Hotel: No minifridge which was a huge bummer and the windows didn't open
Would You Stay Again: Sure! I would like to grab a hotel at the Hilton or Hyatt instead next year just because of less walking to get to the areas I am usually at most but still a great hotel
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Nope, they did a great job! No complaints!
Hotel Stayed: Fairmont
Nights Stayed: 3 (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Amenities: King Bed
Helpfulness of Staff: Very helpful! I had an early morning Saturday and in the past hotels have often forgotten to give me a wake up call (not at Fanime) but the hotel promptly woke me up at 6am! Maid service was hard to reach at times to get essential items but they did an excellent job with the room.
Roomshares?: Nope
Pros of Hotel:
Near Food (Starbucks, Thirstea, Bijan's, Subway, etc)
Nice Pool
Close to location of BWB and panels
Spacious rooms/bathrooms
Free internet
Great for photoshoots
Perfect location from con in my opinion - it's close enough to the con center to be convenient but still not in the center of it all so you can get some peace and quiet (sometimes)
Cons of Hotel:
Elevators gave my vertigo whenever I made the trip up to the 19th floor. I usually don't get sick on elevators but something about how they stopped and started made me sick.
Not something that I experienced but the alarm on Friday morning.
It was really hard to bring our luggage down to the parking level from the 19th floor. The elevators were always full and the stairs were out of the question.
Would You Stay Again: Yes but I'll probably request a room on a lower level.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc:
Hotel Stayed: Hyatt Place San Jose
Nights Stayed: 3 (Friday check-in, Monday check-out)
Amenities: King bed with pull out sofa sleeper, TV (with cable!), mini fridge (this was "off" when we got there and we had to adjust the temperature dial), coffee machine, hair dryer (didn't try it, so I don't know how well it works), standard toiletries. I think WiFi was also included, but we were too busy to notice until the day we left.
Helpfulness of Staff: Super! They helped look up my Hyatt rewards account that I signed up for years ago but never used. When I asked nicely, they allowed one of my friends to park their car in the garage at the discounted guest rate.
Roomshares?: Shared with my boyfriend and another friend on two nights, then another couple of friends joined us the last night. The room definitely would've been big enough for four people. Although five was a bit of a squeeze, we were still pretty happy with it.
Pros of Hotel: - Proximity to the convention center (The walk is a lot shorter than it seems!)
- Friendly staff
- Housekeeping leaves you alone when you want them to and does an amazing job with cleaning when you need them to
- Breakfast buffet available for $7 (We didn't try it, but I heard it's continental)
- Super comfy beds (According to my friend, even the sofa bed was more comfortable than their bed at the Fairmont!)
Cons of Hotel: - Thin walls (We could hear every time someone walked by in the halls)
- Strong cleaning solution smell when we first entered the room
- Window only opens a crack
- Hallway was FREEZING
- Shower head stream was either too sparse or too strong
Would You Stay Again: Yes. The bed was seriously so comfy, and my complaints are pretty minor. If given the chance, I'd like to try the Marriot or Hilton for comparison, but I'd be more than happy staying here again.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: If you're staying on the second floor, you'll probably get out faster if you take the stairs. :P
Hotel Stayed: Fairmont
Nights Stayed: 3 (Friday-Sunday)
Amenities:
-Queen bed
-iron and ironing board
-huge closet
-plenty of storage space
-free wi-fi
-coffee machine
Helpfulness of Staff:
-Very helpful! Replaced our broken coffee machine and brought fresh towels within 30 minutes
-Housecleaning was very nice and careful not to move our stuff around
Roomshares?: Shared with two other friends and another joined us for Saturday night. There was plenty of room for everyone, but I wouldn't try to fit more than five people at a time.
Pros of Hotel:
-Close to panels
-spacious rooms
-close enough to the con but still mostly quiet
Cons of Hotel:
-Elevators are super trippy and slow on checkout. It took us half an hour to squeeze into one.
-It wouldn't let us checkout on the TV like you usually can. That may have been just because of Fanime though.
Would You Stay Again: Yes!
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc:
-bring a microwave/minifridge
-request a room on the 4th floor for 24 hour access to the pool!
Hotel Stayed:Marriott
Nights Stayed: 3 (Thursday the 22nd check-in, Sunday the 25th check-out)
Amenities: King bed , TV (with cable!), coffee machine, hair dryer (didn't try it, so I don't know how well it works), standard toiletries.
Helpfulness of Staff: Average.
Roomshares?: Shared with my boyfriend and another couple. 5 people would have been a squeeze btw my roommates were awesome.
Pros of Hotel:
Proximity to the convention center
Housekeeping leaves you alone when you want them to and does an amazing job with cleaning when you need them to!
Super comfy beds (Inspired me for sure to purchase a new bed :D)
Surprisingly quiet (only on occasion could hear people in the hallways)
AC worked very well and was also very quiet
Roll away bed was very nice
Cons of Hotel:
Elevators were a little slow but that is understandable.
Front desk guy was not very helpful and seemed like he was new and wasn't trained very well everyone else was great.
Shower head stream was way too sparse practically no water pressure.
No mini fridge for me :./
Would You Stay Again: Yes. The bed was seriously nice! And seriously housekeeping had their shit together.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: If you're staying on the second floor, you'll probably get out faster if you take the stairs. >:P
Hotel Stayed:Fairmont Hotel
Nights Stayed: 2 (Wednesday the 21st and Sunday the 25th)
Amenities: King bed , TV (with cable!), coffee machine, hair dryer (Worked very nice), standard toiletries.
Helpfulness of Staff: Hit and a miss but overall bad. So a week before I called about my stay to make sure I had that reservation and they told me yes it's all good. Well I get there on Wednesday and well they have lost that reservation for Wednesday they have Sunday but not Wednesday. Well the basically end up getting us a room anyway which is nice but still bS. I get in there and the floor in the bathroom is wet still. :/ I have also noticed for every year I have stayed here the bathroom always seems filthy :/ Like mold or something in the showers. Well whatever I have no time to complain I have to go work (staff).
Everything ended up working out in the end and I got a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries etc. on Sunday on arrival.
Roomshares?: Shared with my boyfriend and another couple. Very large rooms in comparison to Marriott. 8 people could have fit without any issues.
Pros of Hotel:
Presidents club equals free internet
Large spacious rooms
Proximity to the convention center
Housekeeping leaves you alone when you want them to and does an amazing job with cleaning when you need them to!
Super comfy beds (Inspired me for sure to purchase a new bed :D)
Surprisingly quiet (only on occasion could hear people in the hallways)
AC worked very well and was also very quiet
Housekeeping!!
Cons of Hotel:
I am part of the presidents club and no one seemed to want to help. >:/
Elevators were a little slow but that is understandable.
Front desk people were alot nicer but still meh tier to what I am used to except for concierge those guys really are the best.
No mini fridge for me again:./ The mini bar was locked and I couldn't take out anything even though we would have put everything back. If you did they said it would charge it as restock wtf.
Would You Stay Again: Maybe. Housekeeping had their shit together super fast and efficient.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: If you're staying on the second floor, you'll probably get out faster if you take the stairs. >:P
Overall things could have been better for both but it was decent and I wasn't there all day and night so it's cool.
Hotel Stayed: Hilton (first time!)
Nights Stayed: 3; Fri-Mon
Amenities: Mini fridge mini fridge mini fridge
Helpfulness of Staff: VERY!
Roomshares?: 5 of us stayed here (2 on each bed, one camped on the floor). There was plenty of room!
Pros of Hotel: Close to dealer's hall and game room, $25/night deposit, let us check-in at 10am, super nice staff all across the board
Cons of Hotel: Parking is very limited, but we did luck out. Elevators were slow, but they asked at check-in if we preferred a low or high floor, and we requested a low floor. Were put on the 4th floor, so stair access was possible when elevators backed up. Other than that, no real honest complaints!
Would You Stay Again: Absolutely!
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Get there early enough to nab a parking spot!
Hotel Stayed: San Jose Garden Airport
Nights Stayed: I stayed from Thursday to Sunday. My other roommates checked out Tuesday.
Amenities: Double beds, desk, chair? Other than that, that's about it. There was a coffee machine in the bathroom.
Helpfulness of Staff: Didn't really talk to the staff so I'll have to leave this option out.
Roomshares?: Yes. I roomed with five other males. Four males took up two beds so the last one stayed on the door and I slept under the desk provided. I didn't really have any problems with this. Used to sleeping with the floor.
Pros of Hotel: Compared to where I stayed at last year, it was very spacious! Other than that, it's nothing really new. The location is wonderful, though. There was plenty of options to eat at and it pleased all my group of friends who were quietly staying a room over to us.
Cons of Hotel: Okay, I'm gonna go on a little rant here but the little travel guide Fanime provided said that there was a shuttle available for this hotel. My friends and I were overjoyed but when one of us went to the main office and asked why the shuttles kept passing us, they instead passed us a flyer and said that we either had to walk to the Doubletree or Holiday Inn hotels to take the free shuttle to the convention center. This really pissed me off to the point where I actually did the dumb mistake of walking all the way up First street to my hotel at nine in the evening in the complete darkness. It was a two hour walk, and I was in cosplay then so plenty of scary things had happened. I don't understand why they would offer to be listed if they couldn't provide a shuttle here. Other than that, I really had no other problems.
Would You Stay Again: If they don't have a shuttle for next year, no.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Be prepared to bring lots of garbage bags, extra blankets and have comfy shoes should you be housed in the units behind the fitness center. Bring a cooler, too!
Hotel Stayed: Fairmont
Nights Stayed: Thursday-monday
Amenities: Big king bed that was super comfortable, a vanity, the bath and shower were separated, nice tv, nice desk.
Helpfulness of Staff: Very! They were super polite and helpful to me!
Roomshares?: Only one of my best friends.
Pros of Hotel: It was beautiful, very close to most food places, close to the Black and White Ball, had a vanity!, was very comfy with fast elevators.
Cons of Hotel: Elevators were busy a lot and too fast sometimes, The walk from there to the con sucked with a busy schedule, no mini fridge, no easy access wifi that I noticed, Dat fire alarm at 6 in the morning(Not the hotel's fault, just felt like ranting.).
Would You Stay Again: Maybe!
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: None that I can think of!
Hotel Stayed: Sainte Claire
Nights Stayed: Checked in on Friday and checked out Tuesday.
Amenities: King sized bed, mini fridge, free wifi, coffee maker. I was actually happy that they had an actual coffee maker with a pot, as opposed to the ones that make a single cup of coffee that a lot of hotels seem to be switching too..
Helpfulness of Staff: No complaints. Service was great.
Roomshares?: I roomed with 3 other people.
Pros of Hotel: Close to the convention, the interior is nice and would be great for photos, the mini fridge was a plus, free wifi is always nice.
Cons of Hotel: The rooms are rather small and there was only one mirror, when you have multiple people trying to put on cosplay make up, that can be an issue. There was this annoying beeping sound.. not sure what it was, it would beep and chime. The Sundry Shop was basically just a few items in a display case.
Would You Stay Again: To be honest, the Fairmont is always my first choice, however if I were to get this hotel again, I wouldn't be too upset.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Don't room stuff. This is a hotel where you want just a couple of roommates. Perhaps bring an extra mirror or two.
Hotel Stayed: Fairmont (one bedroom king suite)
Nights Stayed: 3 Fri-Mon
Amenities: Separate shower and bathtub, huge bathroom, lots of space, big closets so luggage wasn't all over the room, pull out couch(in main building suites only so we didn't have one)
Helpfulness of Staff: I had no dealings with them myself so I can't say, but they were nice enough to take the mini bar charges off our room when someone accidentally moved the snacks and set off the censor.
Roomshares?: 7 people fit comfortably
Pros of Hotel: Spacious, helpful housekeeping.
Cons of Hotel: We were in the south tower and had to have a keycard to get in the building and to go up in the elevator. That got a bit annoying.
Would You Stay Again: Yes, my group plans to stay again next year.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: We didn't book thru con housing so it was a bit pricey, but it was worth it for the amount of space we had. We had 7 people the whole weekend and it never felt cramped at all. If booking a suite I would request a main building room if possible so we could have the pull out couch next time.
Hotel Stayed: Hyatt Place Downtown
Nights Stayed: Thurs-Sun
Amenities: Two double beds plus couch (which I was on and was quite comfy), mini fridge, powerful AC (we pushed it down to 60), discounted parking, in & out parking privileges, cable TV, coffee maker, hair dryer, iron & board, free wifi (bit slow, but still free), HDMI TV outlets.
Helpfulness of Staff: VERY. Super helpful when figuring out check in & parking costs, out of their way to help with 2 AM noise complaints (sorry, we're old and grumpy). This is our second time staying here and staff is always so polite and helpful.
Roomshares?: We had five in the room, two in each bed and one on the couch (extra pillow & blanket provided)
Pros of Hotel: Staff, heavily discounted parking garage ($11/day), close enough to con for convenience but far enough to provide peace, less traffic (in both guests and actual traffic), superfast check-out, free wifi, community microwave/toaster oven in lobby/breakfast area, mini fridge, relatively fast elevator wait time (except for perhaps right at check-out on Monday). Costs are low enough WITHOUT the con price that we book without the con discount to avoid the horror of the Fanime website crashing.
Cons of Hotel: Slow wifi (still FREE), careful with condensation from the AC (very likely our fault though because we cranked it up). Honestly having a hard time thinking some up.
Would You Stay Again: Absolutely. Already booked for next year.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: Our group brings coolers, extra garbage bags, and often doesn't require room service every day. Let staff know if you only want fresh towels or the like. And tip your maids/room cleaners! They deserve it!
Hotel Stayed: Ramada
Nights Stayed: Thursday-Sunday
Amenities: TV with USB ports, fridge, microwave, hair dryer, iron, ironing board, that little closet thing but isn't really a closet (where you hang stuff I guess), bathroom sink separated from bathroom, fluffy pillows, free breakfast, free parking (with your stay), free wifi, AC, walking distance from McDonald's
Helpfulness of Staff: Didn't interact with them much except the time I forgot to put the Do Not Disturb sign on. The housekeeper knocked on my door first, I was already awake so I told her we'd be gone by noon but she said she was already leaving so I just asked for new towels and the trash taken out. When I checked out, I was informed that I made a cash payment for a night's stay (which I didn't but decided to go along with it) then they called to let me know it was a mistake.
Roomshares?: plans fell apart with my friends so it ended up just being two people in a two-Queen bed room. It would fit 4-6 people on the bed and maybe two more on the floor?
Pros of Hotel: $75 a night with all those amenities. It's pretty quiet compared to the hotels closest to the con (less activity I guess).
Cons of Hotel: two block walk to the convention center. It isn't that shady though cuz it's around the nightclubs
Would You Stay Again: Yeah but maybe as a last resort if I can't get a room at the Marriott or the Hyatt.
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: bring a power strip because there aren't a lot of outlets, and extra trash bags because theirs are super small and there are only two and maybe a blanket if you like to keep warm
Hotel Stayed: Marriott
Nights Stayed: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday.
Amenities: Nice sized TV, but kind of had some connectivity issues that would make the images jump or cut out at times, not too much of an issue as we normally just had the TV on while relaxing anyways. Ironing board, crappy wifi but that was to be expecting because of all the people. Had a fridge/freezer in our room, even though they had initially told us they were all out, so that was an awesome surprise! It kept things a lot colder than I was expecting, but that's a good thing at least for me. ;P Coffee maker, but we didn't use that.
Helpfulness of Staff: Very helpful! They didn't exactly bother us very much over the duration of our stay, and replaced towels when we requested them. So it was nice that they didn't seem very determined to bug us for room cleaning. Also, they were pretty fast to kind of fix an issue which I'll get to.
Roomshares?: Shared a king size bed with my boyfriend, and it was very comfy. I probably should have requested more pillows though because they were REALLY fluffy and we only had 3 of those ones, (I usually sleep with tons of pillows) then like 2 hardish ones that go against the headboard.
Pros of Hotel: Fridge that we weren't even charged for, spacious, comfy...South park was on all the time but that was just the channel, close by to everything so it wasn't a hassle to get back to the room when we were tired. It being close by also let us put stuff away quicker when we bought stuff. The shower was nice and the orange scented soap was very fancy. ;P Pretty quiet and didn't hear any...uh, lewd noises.
Cons of Hotel: Slow wifi but again, that is to be expected. Very VERY busy so getting an elevator was kind of tough at times (but kind of expected due to being connected to the convention itself). Shower, although nice didn't have very much pressure to it.
AND...well, my credit card got swiped twice when we checked in, so they actually ended up taking out about $630 or so instead of the original $317 or so that it was supposed to come up to. Although they fixed it kind of quick and luckily I had enough in my account, it sort of messed up my spending for the weekend... My bank ended up having to give an emergency provisional amount into my account and then they put the money back in like twice too, so my bank account ended up saying I had like $1100 in it when I really only had like $400 in my account. It was all KINDS of messed up and made having fun in the dealers hall a lot more annoying than it should have been.
Would You Stay Again: Yeah, as long as there are no credit card issues next year >.>
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: I do recommend the hotel. :D It was very nice to stay so close to the convention, but I suggest when leaving on Monday, to do it early. Or at least get your luggage out as fast as you can unless you want to get caught in the extremely crowded elevators.
Hotel Stayed: Fairmont
Nights Stayed: Fri-Sat-Sun
Helpfulness of Staff: excellent
Pros of Hotel: great for cosplayers - room has ironing board and iron, also a gigantic closet. There was also a small desk outside the bathroom but separated by a wall from the rest of the room, that was useful for one of my roommates who was an artist drawing commissions all night. hotel also provides 2 bathrobes per room. Elevators were crowded but still faster than other hotels I've stayed at. (there are a few more of them) There is a fedex store in the first floor but it is closed weekends.
Cons of Hotel: just far away from the convention center that it's inconvenient to go back and forth often.
Would You Stay Again: yes
Recommendations/Suggestions/Misc: sign up for presidents' club to get the free wifi.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.