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South 2017 [Hotel] Partners and Hotel Discussion
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I went to both of the first two PAX Souths, and I really do look forward to PAX South now maybe more than any other. First year I had no idea where the hotels were in relation to the convention center and booked a place kind of far, but it was no problem at all, and honestly it made us find a really great restaurant we ate at almost every night that year and again this past South. It's a great city, really great food, and it's PAX so what more do you want?
(You just say the letters)
Also, I'm still waiting on my confirmation email as well, so you're not alone.
I booked two rooms here this year so I look forward to checking it out.
You could always try booking directly through their website for a higher rate, but the LaQuinta wasn't too bad when I stayed there last year.
Always looking to trade.
Marriott is right across the street and is really convenient as far as walking back and forth to the room is concerned. The room is almost entirely bed though, there's very little room. If you're just sleeping it's great, if you have people coming to hang out or have a larger group it feels tiny.
Contessa is a farther walk [just a few mins, and I'm a slow walker] but the rooms all have a huge living room attached to them. I go to pax with a group of 8 and it's awesome having a separate room where we can all hang out. Seriously it's huge, all 8 large males can comfortably hang out in the room and play cards and watch tv at the same time. We ended up booking 3 Contessa rooms this year, I highly recommend it.
It's where I stayed last year, and I was really hoping that there'd be a hotel review thread, but I never saw one pop up.
My experience at the Menger:
My brother booked the room, but I got there early with another in my party. We asked if I could check in to put our bags away, without having the full charge put on my card. I expected a no, but was pleasantly surprised when they told me yes. They asked for my card for a $50 hold for incidentals. We asked 3 times for verification: it would only be $50 and not the full cost of the room. In that conversation, I even said that I wouldn't be able to afford food if the full room was placed on my card. They assured me it would be $50. They put a hold for the entire amount of the room. In order to get the hold taken off, we had to go down to the front desk on two separate days. The first day they "moved" the hold to my brother's card - yet it was still on mine. I was told it'd be gone by the next morning. I waited until the following night. There I waited 2 hours for them to send a fax (seriously, to send a fax). I was unable to buy any of the games I wanted at PAX because it took until Sunday for the hold to come off (and the games were sold out) and I had to have my group cover me for food Thursday to Saturday.
When checking in, I asked if we had a roll away bed. They told me no, so I asked if it'd be possible to get one, since the group checking in next to me stated that they were not going to need their roll away bed. They said they'd look into it. When my brother got there several hours later... it turned out he had booked a roll away bed. He had to go to the desk with a copy of his reservation. Luckily, they still had a bed available and it showed up while we went out for dinner.
Cleanliness in the Menger was not ideal. Our glasses were VERY obviously filthy. In an attempt to get clean glasses, one member chose to leave the room with water in the glasses - so they would be noticed as out of place and used. We got new glasses. But one had an oil on it and two... Had pink strawberry gunk on them. Needless to say, we didn't bother with the glasses after that. There was also pink, strawberry stuff on the door/wall... Not sure what happened... Nobody in our party had pink, strawberry stuff.
The people in the room next to me also told me when they got into the room initially their ice bucket was filled with dirty water and had no bags.
My only positives about my experience at the Menger was the location and that they had free bottled water in the room. (There was a sign which clearly stated the water was free.)
It was, overall, my worst experience in a hotel to date.
So yea, I'd be happy to not stay there if I was you :P
(Not sure where I'm staying this year. My brother takes care of hotel reservations)
Its the same place we stayed at for south 2015 and while its not crazy high end, its very nice for the price and the internet/breakfast is not awful.
This year we are at the Fairfield Inn by the Alamo. $121/night/room. We needed 3 rooms, so, I am happy with that rate.
See ya there roomie!
The room was well kept, and it was very quiet. The WiFi worked well (surprisingly), and they had free soda and popcorn (which was surprisingly good) until 10:00 at night. They also had free liquor of some kind, but I did not partake. They have a parking garage, I think it cost $16 a night. Staff was courteous and helpful. The room was listed at $!65 a night, but I didn't book through the PAX site because I wanted to deal with the hotel directly early on. Ended up being around $640 for three nights, I think.
It's in a good location right on the riverwalk, about 10-15 minutes walk from PAX. There were a few hobos standing around in the area though, up on street level. They didn't seem to be bothering anyone, but it was still weird. I had a balcony with a good view of the riverwalk, facing The Esquire.
All in all it was ok, but I'm staying at the Contessa this year. Someone from work just stayed there and had a good experience, but I've heard it's kinda noisy because all the rooms face an open atrium, and you get all the sound from the ground level. That shouldn't bother me, and all their rooms are suites with their own living room area. Plus the colors in the rooms look nice and bright, it will be a nice change from last year.
-- Vroomfondel
I actually had a similarly bad experience at the menger last year. My bf and i booked strictly for the price, & we knew from the get go that it was an old hotel. However, upon getting to the room, we noticed a really nasty stale cigarette smoke smell. The smoke alarm was covered with a plastic grocery bad, so we can only assume the previous guests did that so they could smoke out the window. The bathroom pipes leaked. The tub seemed really small. The room felt really dirty. Overall, not the best experience, & most likely wouldn't stay there again. The only pro you get out of it is the location.
Stayed there for the last two years since a buddy works there. Never a problem with the room or hotel. Riverwalk across the street and a nice 10/15 minute walk to PAX.
I am thinking about Crockett for the atomosphere, but, if they have that elevator silliness, I think I will try someplace else.
Well my ex is staying at the Crockett, and I'll be staying at the Red Roof Inn unfortunately. The Crockett is good if you like to play games after PAX, they'll let you use the dining area as long as you clean up after yourself (don't ruin it for next year's batch). I'll let you know how the Red Roof Inn is, but I'm thinking nothing special... cheap though.
I used Uber to get dropped off at the airport and we took a taxi to the hotel last year.