LAST UPDATE: Hotel Rooms, what is available as of May 15, 2008

[IamTetsuo]

:D :D :D :D

WOOHOO!  Just got my single bed room at the Marriot for Fri-Mon!

WOOHOO I'M SO EXCITED!

[Avairrianna]

Thank god I made my reservations when I did! It was hard finding room for 16 people but I did it! ^^ Thanks Crowne!

[Gatsby]

w00t! I just booked my room at the Marriott! I found that if you go straight to their website they still have rooms (though slightly expensive). I do wish I had booked earlier.

[Mordyan]

Wow I thought the way Fanime was selling out this year was crazy...

I tried to get a hotel room for Gen Con (a huge fantasy gaming convention in Indianapolis) and the closet they had left was 8+ miles away. Housing had only been online for like 3 weeks (they open con housing service on the 4th of Feb.). Luckily I was able to book separately through Hotels.com only .8 miles away (though I didn't get the con rate).

*sigh* I hope Fanime never gets that bad... hehe

[KamijoIsLove]

Mordyan, love your avvie/sig. =D

Does the rooms available/unavailable roster refer to rooms fanime has offered at their discounted price, or do the figures refer to the hotel in its entirety?

[Moonblossom]

Those are the listings for the Fanime blocks, but I believe the Hilton is nearly full-up otherwise as well, since the con booked a large block of the rooms and the rest are put aside for pilots and Hilton HHonors members. Not sure about the other hotels though.

[phoenixphire24]

Hey Craige,

Don't know if you know, but does this selling out of rooms seem to indicate that more people are coming to Fanime this year or that more people have decided to get rooms? I'm not sure what the pre-reg numbers are like, but it sure seems like a ton more people are going to be around! 

[FanFicGuru]

Hey Craige,

Don't know if you know, but does this selling out of rooms seem to indicate that more people are coming to Fanime this year or that more people have decided to get rooms? I'm not sure what the pre-reg numbers are like, but it sure seems like a ton more people are going to be around! 

I think it's a mixture of both.

For example, every year you have a large handful of people who are attending for the first time. They may not have much money because they don't really know what to expect, and if they live in the area they don't really see the value of getting a hotel room, or rather, they don't feel they should spend the unnecessary funds to get a hotel room. Then, they go to Fanime and notice all the awesome stuff going on all night long, that they get tired and wish they had a place nearby to actually go rest, or take a quick shower or whatever. So these first-year attendees say "I know! Next year I'll get a hotel room! It'll be great!" So they save up with their friends and reserve a room. That's one (hypothetical) reason.

And yes, Fanime is growing. It would be silly to say that this rapid reservation of hotel rooms isn't the slightest bit affected by an increase in attendees. Where are we going to get those first-year attendees if new people don't keep coming?

Anyways, I would speculate that it is a mixture of both former first-year Fanime goers getting rooms this year and the continued growth of Fanime as a convention. Last I checked we ranked in the top 5 largest anime conventions last year. Then again, the attendance drop between AX and us is like 30,000 people lol.

[SweetNiar]

yeah i just live far enough from San Jose to where it would be completely ridiculous to go to Fanime and then back home and then back to Fanime...I would hardly be able to enjoy all of what goes on.  So its a room at the Hilton each year for me! :D

[PassingTheBuck]

Hey Craige,

Don't know if you know, but does this selling out of rooms seem to indicate that more people are coming to Fanime this year or that more people have decided to get rooms? I'm not sure what the pre-reg numbers are like, but it sure seems like a ton more people are going to be around! 

Hi, Registration numbers are up by about 25%. There are a number of other factors, including those who were in college during the first couple of years that Fanime moved to San Jose and they couldn't attend all four days, but maybe one or two days and now that they are working, thus have the money and time to attend Fanime full time.  There is the factor dealing with increased attendees registration and how it affects the number of rooms that is needed.  Yes, the factor of the 24 hours of Programming affects of attendees who realize that they need some place to crash and sleep and don't want to drive home.  There are other factors that affect the growing room usage count.

[Tak23]

Just booked my room at the Marriott! They actually still have rooms available. Way more expensive though. I'm debating on booking it for 3 days instead of 4. Hum.........

[Sora]

Wow. Disappearing rooms. There's a whole lot more people coming this year ne? Awesome. :D

[PassingTheBuck]

Just booked my room at the Marriott! They actually still have rooms available. Way more expensive though. I'm debating on booking it for 3 days instead of 4. Hum.........

Tak23, what rate are you paying for one night and what was your total bill?

Trying to find out if you over paid or were charged the right amount.

C.

[Atamoti]

sorry I posted in the wrong place

[Tak23]

I'm paying $149 a day for a total of $498 for 4 days F-M. I guess I'm over paying. I should have booked earlier. Oh well! :D

[BrightHeart76]

Why no updates?  I have my room (Thank God and planning in advance), but I have a sick enjoyment seeing how many people are going and how full the hotels are.

Are the hotels just so completely packed that it's not worth posting anymore?  Are you busy? 

[FinalShadows]

It could be perhaps that Staff has alot more things to worry about (setting up the rest of the con) than to update a page :P

[Moonblossom]

According to the housing page on the website, it's closed now, so I'm figuring that means it's just totally full.

I'm really glad I pushed for the room I wanted this year >< I was told rooms would probably clear up closer to the end of the con, but that never happened, as far as I can tell.

[phoenixphire24]

No kidding. In past years I thought I was being anal booking a room in December as soon as housing opened up, but this year I'm glad I did!

[FanFicGuru]

No kidding. In past years I thought I was being anal booking a room in December as soon as housing opened up, but this year I'm glad I did!

W0rd. Seriously though, it should be made perfectly clear that reserving a room DOES NOT COST YOU A PENNY! People who have access to credit cards should seriously take advantage of the system as soon as it gets online...as you can cancel it up to the week before the convention.

Moral of the story: Get room early!