So how was your stay this year? Where did you stay? What was good? What was bad?
Let's leave some information for next year's hotel goers!
Where we stayed: Hilton, 1 King bed room.
Was it good or bad: Good!
Would you stay again? Yes!
Other Comments:
VERY happy to have a fridge. Liked that the bar served Starbucks stuff too, though didn't take advantage of that and went to Peets right outside instead. Hilton was also right next to the Masquerade check-in, which made it easy to take care of craftmanship judging, etc. If they do the same setup next year, I'd certainly suggest costumers competing in that to stay there.
Be prepared to sign a waiver stating that basically you will not destroy the room and be a jerkus. There was another thread that came up for that around Friday, but it was a new thing they did this year, I guess, to keep people in line. It basically covered noise and mess, especially in relation to hair dye and makeup. Unfortunately I didn't get an extra copy or I'd scan it for you.
For two people, the room had enough space. I would say that you might find yourself crowded with more than that, especially if there are costumers. The bathroom lighting was good but may be a bit dim for makeup if you need a lot of light. The closeup mirror made up a little for that.
The only bug I had (mentioned elsewhere) is that we got the bill from the wrong room on Sunday. I was panicking because I swore up and down that I'd reserved us from Friday to Monday, and I didn't realize until my husband looked at it where the room number was.. :D
I think that waiver was at all of the con hotels. My hotel had it too! It's a great idea. Dunno how well it worked though, because I heard plenty of people being loud in the halls at 2 am and later.
Stayed at: Crowne Plaza Hotel, room with 2 double beds
Good or bad?: Good!
Would you stay again?: Probably!
I say probably because this wasn't the perfect con hotel. For not being one of the two connected hotels it was still pretty darn close, being directly across the street from the Hilton and right down the street from where the masquerade and MusicFest concerts were held.
We stayed on the 2nd floor and this is where frustration came into play. This hotel has no regular stair access, just emergency stair access. This means they're locked from below so you can't walk back up to your room. If you decide to take the stairs out, you land outside which is useless when you need to get to the lobby and now have to walk around the hotel from the outside to do so! I mean, great, if there is an emergency we are totally set, but... I totally felt like a jerk constantly taking the elevator to my 2nd floor room when I would normally have gladly taken the stairs. The elevators were pretty slow too, and on the last day of the con when everyone was checking out one of them was out of order. Blargh.
I know the elevator thing bothered a lot of people way more than it bugged me, so this may be a major thing to consider!
The rooms themselves were very nice. We had four cosplayers in the room and plenty of place to store our stuff. The full length mirror across from the bathroom was perfect for checking out costumes and doing makeup.
The beds were big and comfy, and the bathroom was a good size. The shower got very nice and hot, haha.
The staff were very nice and helpful. There was also a little snack bar near the front desk with pretty fair prices considering it was hotel food. I nabbed a few bottled frappuccinos and chips from there during the weekend when I needed some quick fuel.
The rooms themselves didn't have free internet (though Fanime was nice enough to work out a discounted rate with the hotel). The lobby, however, DID have free internet. It was no big deal to take the trip downstairs to connect with my netbook, for sure.
Oh, and haha, this isn't really a hotel issue but... The clocks in the room were slow. When you are a cosplayer competing in events, thinking you have an extra 5 minutes when you don't gets you into trouble. We could have easily fixed this ourselves but we realized it kinda late!
hilton
LOVE the fridge, main reason we chose it, main reason we will go back. with bulky costumes in warm weather nothing beats heading to the room to crash for a bit and have a cold drink.
only real complaint is the door tried to eat us D:
it was very hard to open and with big bulky costumes getting in and out the door was a pain.
it was also kinda further away from the fountains/cosplay gatherings than i thought. i mean when i was told the fountains are in the middle i thought that it would be like "hilton-fountains-mariot" and it was "hilton-extra space-some building-fountains-marriot" BUT it ws okay because we were able to give the costumes some extra exposure by walking through the con to get to the gatherings.
Stayed at Marriott 5th floor this year. Was happy with it since it was stair-walkable as more people arrived. No fridge did suck a bit, but I liked being so close to most of the action (panels, food, artist alley, video rooms). Hilton side is a little emptier and is only really close to the autograph and game rooms for me.
stayed at the marriot again this year it wasnt as great as a stay as it was in 2009 for some reason there was no room service to clean up the room so everything was a jumbled mess >.> had to ASK for towels,sheets and toilet paper X_X
pros: close to gatherings and just about everything else outside
king size bedroom: free internet
Cons: non lockable bathrooms
no fridge
Stayed: Marriott, 1 King bedroom.
Was it good?: So-so.
Would you stay again?: No.
We were on the eighteenth floor, and while there were plenty of good things about our stay, I wasn't all that happy with it for the price we were paying. First, the good things:
1) The view was very nice, along with the window seat from which we could admire it.
2) Being next to the con was a HUGE improvement over last year, when I was at the Fairmont. Thank you, shortened walking distance.
3) Their blankets are REALLY fluffy and comfortable. They were also very nice about bringing you extra blankets if you asked for them; we got four extras since we had people bedding down on the floor.
4) They were very free with giving out card keys; helpful since we kept losing ours.
5) Their easy checkout system was very convenient (Though I had trouble understanding all the charge abbreviations).
6) The blinds were very effective in blocking out the morning light.
The bad things:
1) I was under the impression the room would have a mini fridge and that the radio/alarm clock would actually be an ipod dock/alarm clock. Perhaps I was looking up the wrong type of room...but I wish the website would have been more clear. All of my food went bad, since I didn't bring an ice chest, expecting to find a fridge in the room.
2) The elevators, as I'm sure everyone knows, were very slow. They were made more uncomfortable (and a little scary) by how many people ignored weight limits and crammed themselves inside. It seems safer (and more polite) if people would just wait for the next one.
3) There were not enough towels in the bathrooms. This was especially inconvenient as the maids only came one day of the three we stayed. We even hung up several towels so we could re-use them when they dried...but were hampered by the lack of towel racks.
4) The closet was too small; only two of us were able to fit our clothes in it.
5) The carpet was very rough, inconvenient for us the first night, when we didn't have blankets yet and people had to sleep on the bare floor.
6) The floor space was very limited, again inconvenient for our floor-sleepers.
7) The water pressure in the shower was awful.
Where: Hilton 10th Floor
Good or Bad?: Good hotel, bad guests next door.
Would you stay again: Yes
Love the Hilton. The staff is nice, the rooms are comfortable, the bed is my best friend at Fanime. I love the mini-fridge, couldn't live without it. I like having room service available until midnight...never know when you're going to need a piece of chocolate cake. :)
On the down side the behavior form didn't work on my floor. I was surrounded by a group of the rudest loudest most obnoxious con goers I have been subjected to in 5 years as a Fanime attendee. Several times at midnight or later large groups would gather for a hall party of sorts, with several people standing in the hall yelling and being a menace. Once they took to locking each other out of the room at some God awful hour of the night and banging loudly on the door and screaming. Myself or other guests asked them to be quiet because we were sleeping, they where rude and remained in the hall being loud for several minutes each time, I can only assume they stopped because they knew we were calling the front desk. This happened Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights There were people sleeping in the hallway and playing their iPod at loud volume at all hours of the day. I spoke to the housekeeping lady on Monday. She said that the room next to mine was so dirty and disgusting that she was going to have to wait for another day to clean it so another person could help her. She claimed that they had denied housekeeping entrance for days so there was a build up garbage as well as wet towels and linens everywhere and wig hair all over the place that had been ground into the carpet. I appologized on their behalf.
I love the Hilton, I will stay there every year as long as I have the choice. I feel bad that I was roomed near some bad eggs.
Our Marriott stay was great!
We had to request towels and blankets a few times and we got them without problem, as well as extra room keys. The room was spacious and we had a great view of the fountains and we could see into the con as well. The beds were comfortable and the staff was nice and very helpful.
The cons were that my room smelled like smoke when we got in (we just turned on the fan and headed down to the con. When we got back it was fine and dandy again), and the elevators, which weren't even that bad this year, save for monday.
fairmont ftw
Stayed at: Marriott Junior Suite
Good or bad?: Meh
Would you stay again?: No
This was my third year getting a hotel and this was by far the worst one. I stayed at the Hilton three years ago and then at the Fairmont the following year and both were awesome.
The "suite" has a common room between two suites but if you don't know the people in the other room, then the space is useless.
For a "suite" the room size was comparable to the standard double/double room at the Hilton but more expensive. I also don't like rooming at the Marriott because I am usually in the game room and the dance 90% of the time, it's not a bad walk or anything but it is annoying.
The water pressure to the shower was pretty low, there weren't enough towels, there weren't enough cups, the description on the website says 2 TVs and there was only one, and the elevators were some of the most rage inducing things I've ever been around.
Where: Hilton 11th Floor
Good or Bad?: Good
Would you stay again: Yes
It was quiet.
Free wired internet, but no wifi :/
Close to gaming room
Had a fridge
Ample space for 4 people
TVs support external game consoles
Drapes kept out sunlight for the ones who wanted to sleep in
Bathroom was nice
I was checked in 2 hours early :D
Where: Marriott, double double room
Good or Bad: all right
Will you stay there again?: Most likely
I would say that I didn't get the right room this year, and I will be getting the junior suite next year instead. The primary problem was that the hotel didn't give us the real price until we checked out and we found out that we were short of money and had to ask everyone to pay more to cover it (I really wish we knew the full price beforehand). Another is that I wished we had a fridge. I might just ask for one next year.
In all, I'd say the stay was all right because I liked the location and the beds and everything was nice. Nice view from the 18th floor too (which was where I was). Just gotta tell myself to get a bigger room next year (aka junior suite instead of double double).
Hotel: Marriott 25th floor 1 king bed
Good or Bad: Good
Will you stay there again?: I kinda want to stay at the Fairmont next time lol but I would stay at the Marriott again and quite happily
Good: Great room the bed was heavenly, the room was very clean, a there was a LOT of space. They provided glasses, a safe, an iron and ironing board, and so on and so forth which all ended up coming in handy. The staff was very kind when helping us check in and out and get our stuff out of our car and into our room. Lots of hangers in the closet for our clothes, good curtains to block the sun in the morning btw (we were on the 25th floor out of 26 and in the morning the sun would blare in through the windows but the curtains when drawn blocked it out beautifully, some hotel curtains don't help much).
Bad: They hid the hair dryer in the closet (not sure if anyone else experienced this problem) and the bottles of shampoo weren't enough for a 3-night stay especially for those people who shower more than once during a 3-day weekend. Thin walls, and no microwave or fridge damn it, I vote they put microwaves and fridges in rooms for us people who bring our own food. Also room service prices = ridiculous and the elevator rides were a bit chaotic to say the least.
Where: Hilton 9th floor; King Bed.
Good or bad: Good.
Staying again: Definitely staying there next year.
Pros:
* Quiet
* Lots of space
* Mini-fridge
* Restaurant on 1st was great
* Great staff
Cons:
* Hair dryer is only available in the Double rooms.
Neutral:
* I asked to be away from the ice machine, but ended up really close to it; I could hear it "make ice" when standing close to the door, but the noise stopped bothering me once I moved beyond the closet.
The stay was also extra quite for me since I was all the way at the end of the hallway so it evens out; all noise from the outside became inaudible once I moved past the closet mirrors. :)
* Only had to take the stairs 2 times, and considering it was from the 9th floor, it wasn't that bad; didn't hurt my already hurt feet.
Although it did consume 5 valuable minutes of the con.
* A long walk from most of the convention, but I like walking with my sore ankles... T_T
Feel the burn!!
Staying there again next year.
Where I stayed: The Fairmont. 9th floor one bed.
Good or Bad: EXCELLENT
Staying again: Oh god yes.
Good: The service was prompt and friendly. Room was great. Really spacious. Couch, chair, desk, large bed. The bathroom was huge as well, shower and bath where seperate, and the toilet had a sliding door for extra privacy. Vanity with a large mirror and lights for putting on make up, spacious closet, large flat screen TV. Any time I asked the front desk for anything, they were extremely helpful. ^.^
Also Bijan Bakery is next door. DELICIOUS CAKE THAT IS NOT A LIE.
Bad: It is expensive. No fridge or microwave, but I believe you can request a mini fridge, I'm not sure.
They charge for internet, but that can be waived by joining their President's Club.
Neutral: At first I was worried about the distance, but I ended up loving the walk to the convention center. It gave me a chance to pass by cosplayers, get some fresh air and get in the mood so to speak XD
Additional information: Don't move anything in the mini bar! XD;; I wasn't aware of this, being that I've never stayed at a hotel with a minibar.. but apparently they have sensors. Almost got charged because I picked up a bottle to read the label. But the front desk waived the fee with no questions asked.
Where: St. Claire Hotel-4th Floor--One Bedroom
Good or bad: Very Good!
Staying again: If the price remains right, most definitely!!!
Pros:
* Quiet and absolutely beautiful!!!
* Away from the convention, even though it is a part of the convention block.
* Mini-fridge
* Within decent walking distance of EVERYTHING
* Great staff and I really mean GREAT Staff! They let us play Dominoes at 2 in the morning in the lobby and it was great!
* And can I say that $79.00 per night is a freaking AWESOME deal?
Cons:
* No pool :-[
* The room was a little tight, since my roomie and I had a lot of stuff between us, it made things a little tough to navigate around.
* Had to walk. But maybe that's cause I'm lazy.
* It was weird to see so many cosplayers in our hotel taking pictures all over the place. I was trying to avoid that, but oh well!
Overall, I have to say, that if they keep the prices as low as they kept them this year, perhaps next year, we may upgrade to two beds and remain there!
Hotel: Marriott
Floor: 4th
Good or Bad: overall good
Aside from delays whilst checking in, I have absolutely no complaints about the hotel staff. I was mistakenly charged for a mini-fridge, but that charge was reversed pronto when I called the front desk upon seeing it on my check-out bill. The maid was great (and worked around me the two times I came back when she was about to start or had started working on the room); the valet staff were helpful, including getting my sister started loading the car when it came up while I was running back upstairs for the last of our stuff Sunday night (she's gimpy and can't haul heavy stuff, but the valet grabbed it for her). All in all, a very positive experience with the hotel staff and the room.
The room was good-sized; we were in a corner one backed up to the stairwell (which was a bad thing in terms of the noise level -- seriously, people, after a certain hour be aware that your stairwell noise and your door slamming WILL echo!), which meant our entryway wrapped around and there was something of a hall to stash stuff in. It was just the two of us, so that was fairly unnecessary -- the sister doesn't really cosplay so I had the entire room to explode over. I liked the two tables, and actually moved the lower one by the window to let myself lay out the day's cosplays on, which worked out quite nicely. And I fit in there in my four-bone hoops with minimal squish, which is a good thing.
The elevators were the biggest bit of fail. Slower than molasses in January in New England, crammed full over three-quarters of the time, and generally made me want to tear my hair out. Being on the fourth floor was an asset in that we could take the stairs -- in theory -- but that's not the easiest thing in the world sometimes (about half of my cosplays are NOT stairs-friendly). I wound up going down them in the aforementioned hoops, and the associated cosplay also involves a corset and about thirty yards of white fabric, and the last thing I wanted was to take it down dirty stairs; we also shuffled a friend in her (long-skirted) Masquerade costume down them. The four elevators is enough even for a normal con, but not so much for one like this, especially when they're so slow. I believe I waited almost fifteen minutes once before giving up -- and on the last day, climbed down from the seventeenth floor in cosplay after giving up on waiting. I also wish people would be more considerate and not cram into them, especially when told "there's no more space".
So hotel overall good, inconsiderate congoers bad. Considering the Fairmont for next year. Larger rooms and less elevator wait sounds appealing, even with the higher parking fee and *gasp* one block's walk.
Where: Marriot
Floor: 10
Good or bad: It was pleasant
Staying again: With less people yes XD
Overall the experience was nice. We had to many people I feel for our room. I also disliked that the bathroom didn't lock. The room was was really nice. The bed was very comfy and everything was lain out nicely. I would have maybe preferred to have a fridge then a safe box personally.
Outside the hotel room, the elevators were crowded and it took forever to get one. Every time one came it was already full.
It was nice being able to just walk right into the con area. The panels were all near us, as well as the video rooms. :)
I would recommend the hotel to anyone going to Fanime. I had no major problems with the hotel.
Stay: Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Floor: 4
Good or Bad: Not the greatest
Staying again: I rather not, but its up to who I go with.
We only had four people to the room which was nice because we practically made our room into a mini home with the fridge and other household items we brought. But It's like the hotel gave us a broken room. The bell hop told us the window wasn't suppose to open all the way and it did to his shock. Our shower's drain didn't work so it's like we had a mini swimming pool for a bath. One of the sprinklers in our room was broken. If a fire would of happen we probably would of been screwed. The last straw was that the door broke on Sunday just from touching it! Me and another friend of mine kept calling to get all this stuff fixed. They only fixed one problem which was the door thankfully. When we went to check out they took our parking fees off and all we got was a we're sorry.
Walking to the convention was no big deal since it was across the street. But with all the problems we had with the room it wasn't worth the walk. I had to stay at the hotel in pockets missing some of the panels I wanted to go to which makes me a sad panda.
Where did you stay? Hilton 9th Floor
What was good/bad? Good
Would you stay again? For REALS!!!!!!
So how was your stay this year?
Four people in Double Double room with no cosplays. (I wore lolita though) And Swap Meet stuff.
Pros:
Love Mini Fridge
Love front desk (remembered my name :D)Had a movie charge I didn't do and they reversed it :D
Love sociable bellhops
Love Location. I had swap meet to worry about so it was great to be close.
Love moderately quick elevators that weren't packed.
Cons:
No mirror at desk. It's hard to put makeup on when someone is in the bathroom and you have to sit outside that door looking at the closet :/
Not much drawer space. I love using the dressers when they are available but there was only two drawers I expected three :/
Far from other side of convention. I had a lolita picnic that was the opposite side of the convention center and had stuff I had to drag over :/
Other Info:
I really really REALLY love the staff at Hilton. They are polite and sociable and very helpful if you need something. I always try to keep there job easier. I forgot to leave a tip for the maid before I left so I was sad though v____v
Where did you stay? Hilton 4th floor
What was good/bad? Great mostly
Would you stay again? Yep looking forward to it next year
Pros:
VERY friendly staff
I didn't have enough space on my credit card for the deposit so they waived it.
The restaurant on the first floor was yummy
The window opened ^_^
I loved the bathroom mirror, it made you look prettier xD
They were fast with our needs.
The elevators were so fast and uncrowded
Let us check in at 10am and added on Monday night at the con rate
Love love loved the fridge
They had no problem giving us extra keys and towels and such
Cons:
Cause of a mix up they almost charged me twice >_>
The beds were smaller then the marriot
There were no outlets by the only mirror besides the one in the bathroom so you're couldn't really get ready when anyone else was taking a shower
Bathroom was a little on the smaller side
The location is a little further away but not a bother really
Overall I liked it way better then the marriot so I plan to stay there again next year.
Where did you stay? Fairmont 4th floor
What was good/bad? It had its ups and downs
Would you stay again? I'll put it into consideration.
Pros:
Good priced room ($89/night)
Coffee shop and Johnny Rockets nearby
HUGE room and bathroom
Black and White ball downstairs
Live music
Lolita event!
Beautiful hotel
Cons:
The maids sometimes slacked off on giving us towels/Shampoo
Not as close to the convention center, had to cross the street twice with the protesters yelling at me.
No fridge/ or microwave
The bellhop was a little slow, it took a long time for our stuff to get to the room.
On Monday, the key cards weren't working for the elevator.
Other events made it crowded (Indian Wedding, Graduations)
It was a little noisy
Lock on bathroom didn't work
No ice machine!
NO INTERNET!
Meh, next year I might try the Hilton. But overall I loved the Fairmont.
Oh good, so it wasn't just me having problems with the Crowne Plaza.
Hotel: Crowne Plaza, 7th Floor
Good or Bad: ...meh, not so great.
Staying Again: Most likely not.
I feel bad giving the Crowne Plaza a 'meh' opinion since I typically regard customer service as more important than the quality of the facility itself, but the facilities here weren't so great ... even after they'd been renovated, supposedly? *blink*
Anyway, the reception, bellhop, housekeeping, etc. were all very friendly and prompt, so I've no complaints there. It really is only the facility. The elevators were ridiculously slow, and not because they were clogged up with congoers; even at weird off hours the elevators still took a lifetime to arrive. The rooms themselves were okay-sized, but guh, the bathroom...
The bathroom had a heavy sliding door that was hard to lock. Bathtub didn't drain properly; by the end of a shower one would have water up to the ankles. And the faucet water was weird. It left a kind of...slippery almost slimy feeling? I don't know how, maybe something to do with their filtration or whatever? Very strange.
Lastly, I know hotels aren't exactly known for their ability to soundproof their rooms and halls, but the sound...I could hear conversations from people in the hall several doors down. And from outside on the street. It was pretty bad, and I'm not usually sensitive to sound outside.
So overall, great staff, but the hotel itself wasn't that great. I'll definitely be returning to the Fairmont next year; we stayed at the Crowne Plaza this year to avoid Fairmont's deposit charges.
Where we stayed: Hilton, 15th floor, 1 King bed room.
Was it good or bad: Good! Room got cleaned every day. :)
Would you stay again? Yes!
Comments: Got woken up on Saturday and Sunday night by some noisy people in the hallway. :( Other than that, everything was good.
Where we stayed: Hilton, 2 Double Beds (3rd Floor)
Was it good or bad: Excellent
Would you stay again? Yes! Most definitely
Other Comments: Beside rude congoers comments about using the elevator because honestly, I don't look like I'm disable or sick, but I have bad issues with my fear of stairs and there are times when my legs are exhausted from walking around the con with heels for over 5 hours.
The staffs were exceptionally helpful this year than last year. Checking in was a bit time consuming since I reserved 3 rooms under my name for my friends, but they really took the time to let me choose and decide on what floors they are available. I had to take 3rd floor due my terrible fear of heights and less time to be in the elevator while my friends are on the 7th floor. Housekeeping always cleans our room and gave us fresh towels every day especially when I asked for our beds to be clean and they did a great job.
At check-out, they sort everything out from the wrong charge of Internet usage from another room where they just charged the Fanime discount. Not only that, when my friend forgot her phone charger after we checked out, they let her go in with same key for a quick moment because all their staffs are busy which she was able to find.
I always love the mini fridges that is in every room with no extra charge. Only complaint is that their bathroom door is heavy and swings wide and quite small, but not much to do about it since I usually bring my own mirror to do my cosplay and make-up.
Parking privileges is great especially when the front desk told my friends and I that if we can't find parking in their lot since it is full and we have to park somewhere else, they will not charge us for that night. Very helpful and informative staffs they have. A complaint about parking in their lot is when compact cars have to take the parking spots for handicaps AND big vehicles like SUV, van, or trucks. I had to carefully park my SUV in a compact parking and that was not fun when I had everyone get out from one side since the other side has barely any space to open the door.
In all, I will definitely stay at the Hilton. I don't mind the walk at all since I barely go to the video rooms over at the Marriott. Plus, both coffee shops are nearby which it was a huge plus.
Where we stayed: Fairmont, 16th floor, 1 Queen bed room.
Was it good or bad: Excellent.
Would you stay again? Most likely.
Comments: Very nice rooms, incredible bathroom with seperate shower and large tub. Vanity outside of bathroom in addition to the one inside with the sink. It was very quiet, though that may have just had to do with being a corner room. Ice machine was close, maid service was good, restocked everything. They even brought extra bathrobes when we requested them. The walk to the con was nice, not too far. The view from up there was awesome.
Cons: The 'fridge' was a minibar where they charge you for moving stuff. We had it locked to keep anyone from drinking anything.
Where did we stay: Saint Claire, 4th floor, 2 beds
How was it: Alright.
What was good:
- Elevators! They went places and there wasn't a long wait for them!
- The Staff; we had a fanime staff room, and we had people working all different shifts, so we figured out that our room would only be clear to be serviced around 2pm, and we were desperate for towels. When we asked to have them clean our room at an odd time, they were very helpful and willing to do that for us. (And got a good tip as a result).
- Free Internet; sure, it's not very fast, but it's free. You don't have to pay to use it as long as you have a room with them.
What was bad:
- I prefer softer beds.
- It's much smaller than the other hotels (both in overall size as well as room size)
- The walls were very thin, and I could actually hear my neighbors talking, not even being loud.
- We kept demagnetizing our keys! (They were good about fixing them for us though)
- Had to go outside to get back to my hotel. Call me lazy, but I don't want to leave SJCC to go to bed. (At least it was closer than the Fairmont, though)
Comments:
Given the choice, the Marriott is my favorite, except for the way the elevators get. The Hilton is also bigger, and I prefer the larger rooms. The beauty of the Saint Claire is that it's across the street, and is just isolated enough that nighttime is quiet, without being super far away. The staff was super nice, and they have a "pillow menu" so you can request exactly the pillow you like. However, I'm not such a fan of hard beds; I prefer the sort you sink into. It's not a bad hotel, and I wouldn't be upset staying again, but I would rather be at the Marriott.
Where we stayed: Fairmont, 1 queen bedroom
Was it good or bad: Good
Would you stay again? Yes
Comments:
*Big room, big closet, shower AND tub
*Vanity with a big mirror and bright lights around the mirror.
*Internet $13.00 a night IIRC. I didn't pay.
*Fairmont charges for drinks removed from the refrigerator automatically. There are sensors inside. If there are errors, you can correct at the front desk.
*Five elevators. They're fast.
*$26.00 valet parking :(
Where we stayed: Saint Claire Sixth floor
Was it good or bad: Good
Would you stay again: yes
Comment:
The room was big enough so that a lot of people could chill
The bad was comfortable enough to passout on
Internet was free, all you needed was the password from the front desk
Staff was friendly.
Only thing is that the vallet was 21 dollars a night
Where we stayed: Fairmont, 4th floor
Was it good or bad: Great :)
Would you stay again? Yes.
Comments:
We had four people staying in a room with 2 queen size beds.
The room is spacious, with couch-chairs, lots of counter space, separate bathroom with a closet, a vanity table (outside the bathroom), a bath AND a shower, and a toilet with a sliding door for privacy. Overall, VERY nice for cosplayers. We had two cosplayers with us and two casual con-goers.
Also, there weren't people constantly going up and down the elevators or running up and down the hallways, so it was nice and quiet.
When we did take the stairs, however, we got pretty easily lost.. Those staircases are a maze.
Oh, the Fairmont also has a pool on the 4th floor... We didn't use it, but we saw plenty of other con-goers who did.
There is a 5 minute walk between the Fairmont and the con. It wasn't too bad, but there definitely were a lot of instances of, "Hey, I would get this from my room right now... But I don't want to waste 15 minutes going back and forth."
They also had a late check out for Memorial day. They charged us $10 for it, but we got to check out at 4pm, and sleep in on Monday, instead of clearing out in the early morning. Overall, the front desk was super nice about everything. We did ask them to lock the mini-bar, which they never did, but we also didn't touch it. And yes, the mini-bar is sensor activated. If you touch anything, you'll get charged.
The cons: Parking is EXPENSIVE. AS. HELL. Luckily, I didn't have a car, but my friends who did paid out the ass for parking for the weekend. I think it was something like $60 for the 3 days. You would be much better off parking in the Con parking garage and walking to the hotel.
Also, room service came at 8:30 AM. This is probably because we were on the 4th floor, so they started with us, but after the first morning we put the "Do Not Disturb" sign up and were not disturbed... We took it down when we were all awake in the morning, and so we still got clean sheets and towels and all that, which was nice.
Finally, I did have some problems with billing. First of all, they have a $100/night deposit for the room. So I got a hold on my debit card for like $700 for the weekend, and had to rely on cash. Also, everyone in our room was staff, and we had a Fanime staff room, but I got charged the rate for a regular con-goer. However, I called the billing department as soon as I found out, and after sending them a copy of my original reservation, they refunded me right away, and were super nice about it.
There is a mini-fridge option, but they charge you $25 for it. We didn't use the option, and used ice-buckets instead.
Where we stayed: Fairmont, 10th floor
Was it good or bad: Horrible
Would you stay again?: No way
Comments:
Well, it wasn't -all- bad, so I'll start with some pros:
- Fancy lobby and setting (though it made me feel awkward while in cosplay)
- Elevators much better than at the connecting hotels, though there were a few times when it was really busy (due to Fanime, Fantasies, and various weddings)
- Spacious enough room
- Lighted vanity area outside of the bathroom (perfect for doing my makeup and getting ready)
There were some problems, though, both major and minor:
- The soaps weren't replenished until the last day when it really didn't matter as much anymore
- Maybe my expectations were too high and other experiences are clouding this, but the room itself wasn't anything special despite being a "nice" hotel
- Valet parking is really expensive without a self-park option (which is usually cheaper)
- The hotel itself was like a maze and I had a hard time finding things (would always turn the wrong way out of the elevators, had to ask someone where the ice machine was, had a hard time finding Fantasies, etc.), which isn't that big of a deal, but still an inconvinence
- Now, for the big one. They really didn't seem to know what they were doing when it came to charges. Long story short, they overcharged my account (charged me the full price of the room twice) and then also charged me half the price of the room an extra time, only with two numbers transposed. Then when they realized their mistake, they credited back my sister's account instead of mine, so that my account was far into the negative. We managed to figure out the problem and get it all sorted out with the bank, but it was a bit of an ordeal and whoever ran the charges obviously didn't know what they were doing. (There was also a mysterious charge and then immediate recredit on my account that I'm not sure what it was from, but since they credited it back, it doesn't really matter at this point.) There were also some issues with the holds that they placed on my account and my sister's account (since we reserved the room with debit cards), where they didn't get lifted in the correct amount of time and there was a hold for a mysterious amount ($112, which no one is sure how they came up with that or why they were holding it for so long) on my account for a while after we had already checked out and left. It's all cleared up now, but this fiasco has really left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the Fairmont. (It doesn't help that they did something similar to my friends who were staying in another room).
Next year, I'm staying somewhere else for sure because all this drama wasn't worth it. :/
Fairmont.
what happen?
last year was great..
this year, rude staff, no hot water unless you left it running for a 1/2 hour before you wanted to shower, items stolen from room!!
next year, i'm staying somewhere else.
Where we stayed: Marriott, 1 King Bed, 9th floor
Was it good or bad: Good
Would you stay again? Maybe
The issue I had with the Marriott is that the elevators were too slow and too overcrowded. I was rooming with someone who is claustrophobic, so waiting for an elevator that could take us back to the room that did not have many people was nearly out of the question. I missed having a mini fridge though.
However, aside from the crazy elevators, I appreciated the Marriott's service. The maids were able to clean up our room in pristine condition. The bed was nice and soft. It was a pleasant experience staying in our room.
Yet, our deal breaker was the issue with the elevators. I think we'll go for the Hilton next year.
Where did you stay?: Hilton 8th Floor
Good or Bad?: Great
Would you stay again?: Definitely
I had no problems with my room, it was great. The Hilton is definitely a great place to stay.
Where: Fairmont 18th Floor
Good or Bad?: Fantastic
Again: Yes, though I'm considering the Hilton next year. That mini-fridge is tempting...
This was my group's third year staying at the Fairmont, and we had just as good of an experience as we had the last two years. The rooms are fairly spacious, the beds are comfortable with lots of extra pillows and blankets. Our room was /right/ next to the ice machine, but we never heard a sound from it. We did wind up running out of toiletries at one point, but when we called housekeeping about it they brought us more very promptly. And the view from the 18th floor was -fantastic-. The hotel staff was very kind, as well. I actually think that the fairmont is just the right distance from the convention center - it's not a tiring distance but it gives one an excuse to get a bit more exercise.
Where: Hilton 7th Floor
Good or Bad? Good
Would you stay again? Hell yes
I had no problems staying at the Hilton.
Where we stayed: Hilton 2 full sized bed, 14th floor orz.
Was it good or bad: pretty good
Would you stay again? yeah as long as im not on the 14th floor orzorzorz
~~~~
the elevators tended to make me ill/light headed. so i definitely will not being going on those as much as i can :l
even when i wasnt on the damn things at random points in con/standing in my room i'd get the feeling i was on it ;__;
though i think i'm just sensitive.. xD; only one other person felt the same about it x_x;.... when i asked ;;
other than that the room service was great
the bellhopper dude took awhile monday though but i wasn't surprised
and the net in room.. well i thought it was for that room all day an any computer.. but it wasnt :/ ;; so i had to charge my laptop twice x_x; but we cleared that up :)
The Hilton elevators make me feel particularly lightheaded, as well, at least more so than the other hotels/other elevators (since all elevators make me feel slightly dizzy at best).
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on June 08, 2010, 11:01:15 PM
The Hilton elevators make me feel particularly lightheaded, as well, at least more so than the other hotels/other elevators (since all elevators make me feel slightly dizzy at best).
~~
yeah i thought there was something wrong with them :/
i mean i havent really been on an elevator in a long time but i dont ever remember elevators making me dizzy/lightheaded in the past X_x;;; i should write them a letter :U
the part that gets me is the just starting to move part and the stop X_x;; and of course there was people that hit the button to go up/down and then wouldnt be there when we stopped.. i cried everytime that happened xD;