Hotels....

[novaks47]

For those who have gone in recent years, is getting on a waiting list worth it?

[YaoiCat]

For those who have gone in recent years, is getting on a waiting list worth it?

This year is the first year I personally have had to get on the waitlist, but my friends have done it in past years and it worked out for them.

[novaks47]

Thank you! I'll give that a go then, maybe I'll get lucky. Last time I attended, was in 2007, and back then I lived close by, so no hotel was needed.

[SquishyK]

Yep,I just checked it,and the nearest available is just shy of 3 miles away. Good thing I'm getting back in shape.  >:(

Fanime has a free shuttle service to most if not all of those 3+ mile hotels. I've used it in the past to get to Clockwork Alchemy and it really wasn't that bad.

[novaks47]

Oh, that's cool, I didn't know that!  :)

Although, it's really no big deal, 3-ish miles of walking is pretty easy. I was just hoping for a close hotel, like everybody else, lol.

I just reserved a room at the Four Points Sheridan. The process was very smooth and quick, no time-outs or hangups. Lucky I guess!  :)

[Ginkage]

Got in on the waiting list for Fairmont and Hilton. So here's to hoping I'll get one as people cancel due to another member of their group having a hotel already.

[Gavino]

I bought my badge in January, and my booking window was today (Feb 25 at 3pm).
I really wanted a hotel within walking distance of the con.
But all the hotels within the con area were fully booked for friday-monday.

I WAS able to get a Friday night stay at the Westin, which is a 5 min walk to the con. And then got lucky when I called the Four Point by Sherada across the street and they had just one room open for Saturday and Sunday night.

So I am set for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. Just a bit of extra work and research.
The Westin I booked under the fanime site for ~157 total(after taxes)
And the Four Point Hotel across the street was not under the fanime list, but still had a cheap rate at $144(before taxes) a night for sat/sun night.

(I advise everyone to register for badges asap for next year if you want the Marriott / Hilton. And with this new system of booking windows, I feel there will be a lot more early registrations for 2017)

[Kyra_Maverick]

I really wish Fanime was able to get Four Points Downtown and Hotel de Anza to sign on as partner hotels. Having 2 more hotels in walking distance would really help ease the stress of hotel booking.

The airport hotels were a great add, especially with the shuttle service. But nothing beats the convienience of a quick walk.

[Angelx624]

I decided to not attempt booking a room myself this year and stick with the room with friends plan. Sometimes it's good to know a lot of people who attend Fanime.....

Nonetheless, if worse comes to worse, I can always book a room once the final cancellation day hits and some rooms start popping up again.

[Barnes]

I got my Ramada room around 6:30am yesterday. But a friend of mine tried to book his room today and got crashed out. He's now on a wailist.

Just a hunch, but I kind of feel like Fanime shoved too many people into one time slot, at 12pm today. Juuuust a teeny tiny hunch. Just a little one.

That reminds me of what I thought earlier today. Fanime may have indeed let too many people into booking slot times.

I swear, sometimes Fanime staffers try something new, but something goes wrong for a lot of attendees.

[DangerHeart]

After 30 minutes of website crashes and being on hold over the phone I got a room at the Holiday Inn and emailed to be put on the waiting list for Marriott and Hilton. I ended up checking on hotels.com and got a room at another hotel on 2nd street outside of the fanime hotel block for 145/night double beds. I hope my wait list pulls through, but I'm glad I checked for a backup hotel that's way closer to the con. Not happy with how this years housing situation went down, but at least I have a plan. Just more complicated then I'm used to it being...I haven't heard many good reviews of this years housing.

[novaks47]

I think no matter what changes, or what is done, somebody is going to be outta luck. There's only so many reserved rooms after all, especially at connected/close to the convention hotels. I also think it can only be improved upon so much, before there's nothing more than can be done about it.

[OtakuAngel87]

well said :) sadly there will always be someone who isn't happy with whatever system is in place

I think no matter what changes, or what is done, somebody is going to be outta luck. There's only so many reserved rooms after all, especially at connected/close to the convention hotels. I also think it can only be improved upon so much, before there's nothing more than can be done about it.

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

Id argue that the only thing that was improved was maybe preventing scalpers from getting rooms.

[OldOtaku]

The fundamental problem is that there is just not enough housing to go around.  According to Wikipedia, when Fanime first moved to San Jose in 2004, there were a little over 6,000 attendees.  By 2013 (last reported data), there were over 25,000 attendees.  I doubt that the Con has shrunk since then.  It sounds like it may have outgrown its venue, so that there is simply no way to provide housing fairly to everyone who wants it.  Does anyone know if a large number of people either can't attend, or pay exorbitant hotel rates, because they can't get the Con rates?  Is there some alternative Bay Area venue that could affordably accommodate this event?

[Nina Star 9]

I've been saying it for years and I'll say it again: there simply aren't enough hotel rooms for all the attendees, though a lot of the issues also come from the perception of a lack of hotel rooms, which causes a rush on them at first and then people cancel later due to rooming with others/not going to the con/etc. I think that this year's new system made the hotel panic slightly worse in some ways, since it's a huge unknown. This system would be much more fair than the old system...if it worked. And if we had advance notice of it. And if the artists got priority instead of getting a terrible hotel reg time. (Which is still what makes me most angry about this whole thing.)

Let's hope there will be room cancellations this ear, like every year, and that some of the waitlisters go through. I know I'm hoping for my waitlist hotels. Any of them. Anything in walking distance would be fine. I'm usually the roomholder for my group (I mean, someone has to be the roomholder!), so it's not like rooming with friends who are closer to the con is much of an option in my case.

I think no matter what changes, or what is done, somebody is going to be outta luck. There's only so many reserved rooms after all, especially at connected/close to the convention hotels. I also think it can only be improved upon so much, before there's nothing more than can be done about it.

See, I'd agree with you, if this system worked. There was still a rush on hotels. There were still server crashes that screwed a lot of people over. The AA folks got terrible timeslots instead of being put into a priority booking window as they should have. No one knew about the system until far too late for it to really be effective. And there's lots of speculation about long lines for at-con reg for next year, as well as a giant rush for badges as soon as they open online for next year, and still getting terrible hotel timeslots because everyone else is rushing the system (and, of course, I'm sure there will be plenty of server crashes).

I'd agree that there's only so much that can be done (see above point about how there's only so many hotels), but this year;s system is still terribly broken, and there's a lot more that can be done to fix it.

[Mango Bunny]

I think no matter what changes, or what is done, somebody is going to be outta luck. There's only so many reserved rooms after all, especially at connected/close to the convention hotels. I also think it can only be improved upon so much, before there's nothing more than can be done about it.

That is true to a point. Part of the problem is the perceived fairness element. In my opinion we shouldn't have punished those who waited to register for a con that is still months out. For many people it is hard to predict life that far ahead, especially with careers and so on. Because there was no immediate and pressing need I would hazard a guess that many people, like myself, waited. The result of that was a later time slot, meaning we didn't get the hotels needed. Now, if this had been the announced plan in December that would be a different story.
The problem is that Fanime didn't really give everyone a fair shot. It was presented as 'more fair' which is sort of infuriating.

Also, I disagree with the notion that nothing more can be done about it. With a con this size and problems this ongoing you sort of have to keep chipping away with different options.

If I could improve one thing with Fanime, it's the communication. It has really broken down through the past years. We don't have guests announced, hotel changes came up late in the game, there aren't enough people responding to attendees, and a host of other related issues. It's disappointing because we all love attending this con, and also spend a load of money on it.

[Jebus]

Yep,I just checked it,and the nearest available is just shy of 3 miles away. Good thing I'm getting back in shape.  >:(

Fanime has a free shuttle service to most if not all of those 3+ mile hotels. I've used it in the past to get to Clockwork Alchemy and it really wasn't that bad.

Shuttles are nice, considering I've got a reservation at the furthest hotel on the fanime block, but then it's a matter of scheduling. How long are the shuttles going to run? And how often? Considering those options, certain after midnight panels could be completely written off and even a minor cosplay snafu, like forgetting a prop, could lose a half an hour or more of time. I may still be fine with the hotel I have reserved, but I'm still betting more on the waitlist

[novaks47]

I've been saying it for years and I'll say it again: there simply aren't enough hotel rooms for all the attendees, though a lot of the issues also come from the perception of a lack of hotel rooms, which causes a rush on them at first and then people cancel later due to rooming with others/not going to the con/etc. I think that this year's new system made the hotel panic slightly worse in some ways, since it's a huge unknown. This system would be much more fair than the old system...if it worked. And if we had advance notice of it. And if the artists got priority instead of getting a terrible hotel reg time. (Which is still what makes me most angry about this whole thing.)

Let's hope there will be room cancellations this ear, like every year, and that some of the waitlisters go through. I know I'm hoping for my waitlist hotels. Any of them. Anything in walking distance would be fine. I'm usually the roomholder for my group (I mean, someone has to be the roomholder!), so it's not like rooming with friends who are closer to the con is much of an option in my case.

I think no matter what changes, or what is done, somebody is going to be outta luck. There's only so many reserved rooms after all, especially at connected/close to the convention hotels. I also think it can only be improved upon so much, before there's nothing more than can be done about it.

See, I'd agree with you, if this system worked. There was still a rush on hotels. There were still server crashes that screwed a lot of people over. The AA folks got terrible timeslots instead of being put into a priority booking window as they should have. No one knew about the system until far too late for it to really be effective. And there's lots of speculation about long lines for at-con reg for next year, as well as a giant rush for badges as soon as they open online for next year, and still getting terrible hotel timeslots because everyone else is rushing the system (and, of course, I'm sure there will be plenty of server crashes).

I'd agree that there's only so much that can be done (see above point about how there's only so many hotels), but this year;s system is still terribly broken, and there's a lot more that can be done to fix it.

I hear ya. It could be better, but there will still be a big rush, and I'd bet server crashes to go along with it. I do agree completely with the AA folks getting shafted though. That's not cool at all. Myself, I was going to get on a wait list, but decided against it, as I can always walk. I'd rather it go to the AA folks, or to someone else who really needs to be close by.

Mango Bunny : No no, I was not trying to imply that this couldn't be improved upon, but rather it will eventually get to that point(although probably not any time soon). And I hear you on the point of those who have a hard time planning that far ahead due to life's interference's. Heck, this is the first chance I've had to plan this far ahead, since 2007! Even then, I registered on the late side, and got in by the skin of my teeth. I got lucky this time around! Hopefully, next time round will be better. Send those running the show your feedback, I'll do the same, and let see what happens.  :)

[Angelx624]

It does really suck that AA people didn't get priority. They have to be at the con at a certain time, plus haul all their stuff from their hotel room to the artists alley. So them not having a close by hotel would be a major problem.

But, with Fanime being slow with communicating as it is, we probably won't see AA people getting booking priority til next year, or the year after.

Well, I wish all of those who haven't booked a room yet the best of luck. I'll be staying at the Ramada, myself, with a few others. Haven't really checked out that hotel yet, so it should be fun. And I'm ok with a few minutes of walking back and forth. I've stayed at the Fairmont enough times to be used to it.

(And Fanime really does need to fix its communication. As stated before, it's just plain slow. I love Fanime, but they really could try harder with letting us know things. I can understand that guests take a lot of time to confirm, but there's so many other things that they could announce earlier, such as this new hotel reg for example. They really aren't the best with letting us know things early on.)