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Personally, I consider the Renaissance to be the Holiday Inn of the DC hotels (as in it being the ideal hotel of choice for those with taller vehicles that can't get into parking garages).

Definitely have to agree here. With this only being the first year of the con in its new home, you can't really expect the Dealers Room to see its full potential in its first year..

My photos from this year's Otakon: Otakon 2017

Another possibility: Otakon is happening during the busier months of the summer (i.e. when more people are on vacation), and as such, hotels are more expensive during this time to get more profit from the tourists visiting the DC area.

As someone who has attended Bronycon in the past, I definitely agree with that (heck, I've seen some Bronycon cosplayers turn up the following week at Otakon back when the con moved to Baltimore). To me, Bronycon is more of a con that I'd go on a Saturday, whereas Otakon is one where, even if I live very close to the DC area, I'd still book a hotel by the convention center and devote my weekend to it.

Awesomely Bad JMVs isn't one of those events that I was considering when it came to reserved seating (I was thinking more about anything contest related in terms of that element like the Contest Results and Iron Editor). Rather, I was giving that as an example of an event that can easily pack the AMV Theater to capacity crowds, thus providing support for the need of reserved seating for those events related to the AMV Contest. As for having the event in a different room, I definitely agree with that, as that is usually a really popular panel at the various cons that I attend (with it being better suited in one of the bigger panel rooms than the AMV Theater).

While scheduling was indeed part of the problem (with me having to hold off my regular Friday Dealers Room trip, save for the purchase of this year's shirt, until after the contest), the other issue had to do with the convention only having two huge rooms that could hold the bigger events, and with the main Ballroom being used for the concerts and masquerade and the various special screenings happening over the weekend, the only real time to fit the contest was during early Friday afternoon. Personally, I wonder if next year the Dance Hall could be used for bigger events during the hours when the rave isn't happening. 1. Yeah, it would be smart to include reserved seating during the contest results if a number of events at the AMV Theater end up reaching capacity crowds (i.e. Comedy Videos, Best of Baltimore, Awesomely Bad Japanese Music Videos). 2. Personally, I wonder if the reason for the move for the contest results was so that way people who didn't want to watch Iron Editor didn't have to stay for the whole show just to find out which videos won the contest and thus be able to do other things on Saturday night.

Keep in mind that the hotel offered two Wi-Fi options, with some people possibly not realizing that the cheaper one was supposed to be the free one.

I also stayed in the Renaissance as well, and while I do agree with a lot you said (save for the Thursday noise, which I didn't notice), there's a few things that I like to add as well: Pros: Great location in terms of getting to the con (just a short block containing a library separates it from the convention center) and sightseeing (a few blocks from the National Mint, National Portrait Gallery, and Capital One Arena). Across the street from an outdoor parking garage (for those who travel to Otakon via van or truck). Cons: No indoor swimming pool to go to on Thursday night (although that's one con that most DC hotels are going to share).

Thank you. With that probably becoming my hotel of choice while Otakon is in Washington DC (thanks to the outdoor parking lot across the street that could easily fit my roomie's van), I don't have to worry about another year where I was kept awake by a group of rowdy otaku singing Disney songs in the room next door until 2:00 AM.

This tweet will give you a better idea of what happened.

I just read about this, and given how I also booked a room at the Renaissance via the Otakon web site, I just called the hotel to check on the status of my room. It was still the double bed room that I requested. Not sure why you wound up with a room with a king bed despite booking one with the double beds. The only explanation could be due to the room being booked in October (whereas my room was booked as soon as reservations were up last August).

Also, keep in mind that Comiket is also this weekend, with Good Smile attending that event over Otakon (that's the problem with Otakon's regular con dates: it may happen the same weekend as either WonFest or Comiket).

You're not alone with the t-shirt thing, as this has usually been one of my first priorities when I go to Otakon for the past few years (although, depending on the location of the Merchandise table, that priority will probably be lower this year due to scheduling conflicts).

Any word on where the Otakon merchandise table is going to be? I didn't see it anywhere on the Dealers Room map (unless merchandise will not be in the Dealers' Room this year).