Hotel question

Csifreak86 · April 2016

So this is my 8th year at PAX but this will be the first year I can afford a hotel. My question is what are some of the rates in the past, I would like an idea of just how much I need to set aside. Any suggestions of a good hotel would be great too.

zerzhul · April 2016

Rates for the OnPeak partner hotels are in the range of $170-220 per night at the PAX rate. There's loads of good hotels right near the convention center.

Csifreak86 · April 2016

Thank you so much!!!

Ktulu · April 2016

I am cautious to book a hotel now, but I wonder when choices are going to start filling up. I've never got a hotel for PAX either.

whypick1 · April 2016

When the hotel rooms become available through OnPeak, they'll go about as fast as badges do.

YoungFrey · April 2016

The highly desired hotels, like The Sheraton, go very quickly. But there will be downtown hotels available longer than badges. But if you don't get what you want, in the weeks and months after badges/hotels go on sale hotel rooms sporadically become available as people adjust their plans. So if you check diligently, you'll likely get any room you want.

Hoboking006 · April 2016

I've stayed at 2 different hotels (bunked at green tortoise hostel before that), The Sheraton as part of a random room share and the Renaissance with friends last year.

If you want to be right in the middle of it, Sheraton is the hotel to get. Its a block or so from the convention and there is board games and social events all night in the lobbys. As mentioned it sells out very quickly for just those reasons. I had a great time and still try to meet up with the people I met at the roomshare.

The Renaissance hotel is about 6 blocks away, but it is roomier and has better amenities in my mind. My friends said it was one of the nicest hotels they stayed at, so if you want a place to just relax it's calmer and we had a great view of the mountain. The plus for me is that we drive, so when we first come up we park at SeaTac on the cheap, and then the night before last bring the car up and park for 25$ a night at an underground garage a block away, which is cheaper than the Sheratons nightly parking.

Ktulu wrote: »

I am cautious to book a hotel now, but I wonder when choices are going to start filling up. I've never got a hotel for PAX either.

Hotels are specially set aside for the convention, last year they went on sale at the same time as badges. If you can't get a hotel then, sometimes they open up closer to the convention as people consolidate. By that I mean people will reserve a room with the intent to roomshare, and end up room sharing with others since you don't pay till after your stay and will cancel their original reservation. Outside of Onpeak will be very expensive or far way from what I've seen.

If you don't mind distance and just want a cheap hotel, some friends of mine did a travel deal where they got a hotel and plane tickets with the hotel being near SeaTac airport, and they just took the tram in. But if you want to be in the middle of Pax, and enjoy the after hours events I wouldn't recommend it.

LetMeIn · April 2016

Does anyone have a list of the hotels with 2 bedroom suites or bigger rooms with 2 beds and couch? Or do you know which have smaller rooms, so I can exclude them from my searches? If you know of a site that listed square feet of the rooms, please let me know

thanks for any help

ASimPerson · April 2016

The Homewood Suites is pretty much the only thing that will have a suite or larger rooms. Everything else is going to be 1 or 2 beds with maybe a desk.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Homewood+Suites+by+Hilton+Seattle+Convention+Center+Pike+Street/@47.6132711,-122.3294804,291m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xdabc2508a8d45b26

ddt58 · April 2016

There is a new hotel called the Thompson opening up in June. It is at 110 Stewart, which is only about 6 blocks or so from Pax. It has rooms and suites, but it is high cost. Out of curiosity, I checked rates for Sept. 2-5, and it came up at $500 per night for the cheapest room.

bacon_avenger · April 2016

ddt58 wrote: »

There is a new hotel called the Thompson opening up in June. It is at 110 Stewart, which is only about 6 blocks or so from Pax. It has rooms and suites, but it is high cost. Out of curiosity, I checked rates for Sept. 2-5, and it came up at $500 per night for the cheapest room.

That's nuts. The homewood isn't that expensive a night for the big 800 sq ft suite for the PAX weekend.

LetMeIn · April 2016

here in Portland camping on the sidewalks has became a thing, do the police stop it in seatle?

just kidding but it sure would make the pax trip cheaper

Was just me and a friend but this year friend wants to bring his teenage kids(boy,girls) and I'm not sure how to work out the sleeping areas

EscoBlades · April 2016

If you can get it, Hyatt at Olive 8 is a GREAT hotel.

Pro tip

Csifreak86 · April 2016

You guys are awesome! Now to wait for the great F5ing of 2016! Thank you everyone!

Hoboking006 · April 2016

LetMeIn wrote: »

here in Portland camping on the sidewalks has became a thing, do the police stop it in seatle? just kidding but it sure would make the pax trip cheaper

Was just me and a friend but this year friend wants to bring his teenage kids(boy,girls) and I'm not sure how to work out the sleeping areas

How many people total?

D0rkAngl · April 2016

EscoBlades wrote: »

If you can get it, Hyatt at Olive 8 is a GREAT hotel.

Pro tip

Pro++ tip, Olive 8 currently has (at least via hotels.com) reservable rooms for PAX Weekend at an unbelievably expensive price. BUT, they're cancellable until 9/1, and you don't have to pay until you check in. I nabbed one for just in case.

vespachica · April 2016

Hyatt at Olive 8, in my experience, is super loud and while it is shiny I did not have a good experience there. Granted, this was on NYE so it's a loud holiday but I can't imagine PAX being any better. Although maybe you'll hear a lot of gaming and not a goddamned p0rn soundtrack next door.

shimwood · April 2016

vespachica wrote: »

Hyatt at Olive 8, in my experience, is super loud and while it is shiny I did not have a good experience there. Granted, this was on NYE so it's a loud holiday but I can't imagine PAX being any better. Although maybe you'll hear a lot of gaming and not a goddamned p0rn soundtrack next door.

But what if it's nerd porn?

LetMeIn · April 2016

Hoboking006 wrote: »

LetMeIn wrote: »

here in Portland camping on the sidewalks has became a thing, do the police stop it in seatle? just kidding but it sure would make the pax trip cheaper

Was just me and a friend but this year friend wants to bring his teenage kids(boy,girls) and I'm not sure how to work out the sleeping areas

How many people total?

5 (3adult,2teenager)

YoungFrey · April 2016

D0rkAngl wrote: »

https://fetlife.com/groups/55465/group_posts/8614329

EscoBlades wrote: »

If you can get it, Hyatt at Olive 8 is a GREAT hotel.

Pro tip

Pro++ tip, Olive 8 currently has (at least via hotels.com) reservable rooms for PAX Weekend at an unbelievably expensive price. BUT, they're cancellable until 9/1, and you don't have to pay until you check in. I nabbed one for just in case.

I did the opposite. I reserved at The Moore, cheap and borderline run-down, but also cancelable.

EscoBlades · April 2016

D0rkAngl wrote: »

https://fetlife.com/groups/55465/group_posts/8614329

EscoBlades wrote: »

If you can get it, Hyatt at Olive 8 is a GREAT hotel.

Pro tip

Pro++ tip, Olive 8 currently has (at least via hotels.com) reservable rooms for PAX Weekend at an unbelievably expensive price. BUT, they're cancellable until 9/1, and you don't have to pay until you check in. I nabbed one for just in case.

I do all my hotel bookings/reservations via Hotels.com

I get free nights in the process and the Secret Prices usually turn out to be close to the OnPeak rates.

Win win.

Hoboking006 · May 2016

LetMeIn wrote: »

Hoboking006 wrote: »

LetMeIn wrote: »

here in Portland camping on the sidewalks has became a thing, do the police stop it in seatle? just kidding but it sure would make the pax trip cheaper

Was just me and a friend but this year friend wants to bring his teenage kids(boy,girls) and I'm not sure how to work out the sleeping areas

How many people total?

5 (3adult,2teenager)

From what I remeber we fit 6 people in a room at the Sheraton. We had four people in beds and the other two made a nest out of pillows and blankets.That being said I don't know why they turned a blind eye to more than 4 people staying in a hotel, so I would call the hotels and ask beforehand.

You could always try air bnb, I know a group that rented a house two years back since entry had like 8 people.

That_Guy · May 2016

Protip: If you're going to be the one sleeping on the floor, bring an air mattress. Even a small one will be better than pillows and blankets.

Now that we have a date for PAX, I wonder if I will be able to score flight and a hotel for any cheaper than this bundle deal on a travel website for ~$2,000.

SinoSamba · May 2016

Last year I was not able to get a badge at all (had to buy from a friend), but even after logging in a bit late on OnPeak, I got a decent hotel and days later was able to move the reservation to the Sheraton. The good thing about West is that there are a lot of hotels close to the Convention and they are mostly pretty good. Much better hotel situation than East.

Kaollasu78 · May 2016

My husband and I have stayed at the Grand Hyatt for 6 pax's. We even got married there in March

Their customer service is supreme, same walking distance as the Sheraton (and cheaper), has a Starbucks, Blue C Sushi and an awesome NYC deli connected to it.

ClannMorgan · May 2016

@Kaollasu78 congratulations!

Crossing my fingers I can snag tickets when they go up, and I really hope to get the Grand Hyatt...as I heard they have awesome soaking tubs!

I stayed at the Sheration last year and it was nice, not great but nice. And having no experience with the hotels for Prime I was shocked at how close a fair amount of the hotels were. Much, much better than East.

Kaollasu78 · May 2016

ClannMorgan wrote: »

@Kaollasu78 congratulations!

Crossing my fingers I can snag tickets when they go up, and I really hope to get the Grand Hyatt...as I heard they have awesome soaking tubs!

I stayed at the Sheration last year and it was nice, not great but nice. And having no experience with the hotels for Prime I was shocked at how close a fair amount of the hotels were. Much, much better than East.

Thanks! and yeah, the bathrooms are what got me to book originally.

Scunosi · May 2016

Last year was my first year staying at a big hotel rather than various friends' places nearby for free. The cost factor was daunting at first (and we should have budgeted better ahead of time) but overall I think it made for a pretty enjoyable experience, and with our group we ended up paying a little over $200 per unit (some couples, some singles, 6 people total iirc).

We stayed at The Westin which is literally a block or two away so that really helped with morning prep times; we could sleep in a little later before having to rush to the line, and once ready it wasn't so much a rush to catch a bus or something. The room was comfortable though not huge (2 king/queen beds, can't remember exact size), and the single guys had to sleep on the floor/chairs. The one bathroom wasn't too bad since everyone's schedules were slightly off from each other so we didn't have to struggle over it, but depending on your group it could be a problem. We had a nice big window just like in their promo photos which while that doesn't really impact anything just helped the room feel nice. We also had a mini-fridge but I believe I had to pay a little extra to have it and they were sort of first-come first-served. Apparently The Westin also has a pool which we originally planned to use but with how late you stay out and up at PAX we never got an opportunity.

I think the biggest benefit was just having somewhere close by to return to throughout the day, whereas in the past we would only go home at the end of the day so if you bought anything or were wearing something uncomfortable like a cosplay you didn't really have any respite from carrying it. With the hotel we could bring goodies back for drop-off, go take naps somewhere other than the ground (or a beanbag which is never available), and wash up more often throughout the day. As much as I would have liked to save the money for more PAX funds, I think this is the way we're going to do it from now on as a group. If you can afford and don't have someone in the area to stay with already it I highly recommend getting a nearby hotel.

IncreaseBlue · May 2016

Crowne Plaza was around $190 a night with three person occupancy in a double Queen bed room. That room had plenty of space for us (even with suitcases, swag, etc) and we really liked its location because it was directly across the street from the rear park entrance to the convention center. Every day we got a nice walk through the park and got in to the less congested entrance to WSCC.

We stayed five days and paid about $1000 (about $340 a person). If we can't nab Sheraton this year, I think we'd definitely go for Crowne Plaza again.

Marino · May 2016

IncreaseBlue wrote: »

Crowne Plaza was around $190 a night with three person occupancy in a double Queen bed room. That room had plenty of space for us (even with suitcases, swag, etc) and we really liked its location because it was directly across the street from the rear park entrance to the convention center. Every day we got a nice walk through the park and got in to the less congested entrance to WSCC.

We stayed five days and paid about $1000 (about $340 a person). If we can't nab Sheraton this year, I think we'd definitely go for Crowne Plaza again.

I've stayed at the Crowne 3 times in the past. It's fine, but that hike up the hill at the end of a long day is less than ideal.

IncreaseBlue · May 2016

Marino wrote: »

I've stayed at the Crowne 3 times in the past. It's fine, but that hike up the hill at the end of a long day is less than ideal.

Oh agreed, but we found that going through the park was a little easier on the calves.

Hoboking006 · May 2016

Marino wrote: »

IncreaseBlue wrote: »

Crowne Plaza was around $190 a night with three person occupancy in a double Queen bed room. That room had plenty of space for us (even with suitcases, swag, etc) and we really liked its location because it was directly across the street from the rear park entrance to the convention center. Every day we got a nice walk through the park and got in to the less congested entrance to WSCC.

We stayed five days and paid about $1000 (about $340 a person). If we can't nab Sheraton this year, I think we'd definitely go for Crowne Plaza again.

I've stayed at the Crowne 3 times in the past. It's fine, but that hike up the hill at the end of a long day is less than ideal.

The Renaissance was the same way, a five day long reminder not to skip leg day.

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