Your Hotel Stay- 2010

[Lizchan33]

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

[smurfqueen]

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.

[Mi Feng]

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.

[BonjourHoney]

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.

[Mr Anime]

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.

[KyraEnsui]

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.

[Arkham]

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.

[Aelia]

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.

[ININ]

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 :(

[outcast]

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

[monotone]

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.

[Nina Star 9]

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. :/

[Runewitt]

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.

[Eri Kagami]

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.

[Dragon Ninja]

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.

[darkkako]

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.

[Shinsengumi]

Where: Hilton 7th Floor
Good or Bad? Good
Would you stay again? Hell yes

I had no problems staying at the Hilton.

[Melly]

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 :)

[Nina Star 9]

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).

[Melly]

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;