Do all hotels supported by the con have discounted parking?

[Hauser Two 5]

Last year I stayed at the Comfort Inn and got parking passes that reduced my parking down to like $40 for the weekend (if I remember correct). I'm staying at the Moxy this year and I called the hotel to check the rates for parking at it was about $60/night??? What are the odds that Otakon members get discounts for parking if we booked through the hotel block?

[marii 15]

I've stayed at the Marquis every year and while we never parked there, our friends who did never received a parking discount. It was always $50/night valet parking only costing them $200 in parking for the weekend. If Otakon could work out a deal for members staying that would be lovely! I know some hotels (Marquis included) do have benefits for members such as free internet, food discounts, etc.

[Clutch 87]

I don't recall any parking discounts when we were in Baltimore. More that you were guaranteed a space in the lot, and they would fold the daily parking charges into your bill.

[Hauser Two 5]

16 hours ago, marii said:

I've stayed at the Marquis every year and while we never parked there, our friends who did never received a parking discount. It was always $50/night valet parking only costing them $200 in parking for the weekend. If Otakon could work out a deal for members staying that would be lovely! I know some hotels (Marquis included) do have benefits for members such as free internet, food discounts, etc.

If you drove there, where did you park and was it cheaper/free? 👀

[Attendee7000 35]

Honestly, hotels are usually known to have more expensive parking, because their guests are largely a captive market. Not all DC hotels have their own parking, and those that do usually don't have enough parking for every room (knowing that many guests will arrive via Metro or Uber).

 

If you want cheaper parking, watch Spot Hero and other parking reservation sites. More parking will become available as we get closer to the con, for some reason a lot of garages don't like to reserve overnight parking 5-6 months out. In general though, I'd expect $25-$30 per night.

[marii 15]

On 3/26/2024 at 5:06 PM, Chillo said:

If you drove there, where did you park and was it cheaper/free? 👀

Last year and this year we have just been dropped off and picked up so parking doesn't personally cost us anything but I know that isn't an option for everyone. When we did park, we used Parking Panda (Which is now called Spot Hero) and ParkWhiz for cheaper parking. There is a garage we usually parked at down the street which was about a 6-8 minute walk from the Marriott that the latter is showing still has spots open for about $74 (after tax) total from Thursday afternoon until Monday morning (that's how long we typically stay). We haven't had any bad experiences with either but find ParkWhiz to be cheaper if SpotHero doesn't have any discounts.

[EdKitten 72]

Back in the 90's I had bosses who traveled a lot.  They'd park their cars and leave them at Reagan National Airport during their whole trip.  A google search said the airport's economy lot is $19 per day.  The daily parking rate at the Terminal Garages is $29 per day.

National Airport has a metro stop right there at the airport, so you could hop onto the metro.

Dulles Airport also has a metro stop now, but I don't know if it's right next to the airport or farther away.

The down side is that your car would be at the airport during your trip, so you wouldn't have the car near you during Otakon.

 

[EdKitten 72]

Also, I've found the people at TripAdvisor.com to be really helpful with trip questions (almost all the time).  You might want to tell them the dates of your travel, hotel name, cost of parking, and ask if they can recommend a cheaper place that's safe.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28969-i39-District_of_Columbia.html

 

If the url doesn't work, you can get there by:

www.tripadvisor.com

click: More (near the top)

click: Forums

click: US

click: District of Columbia

[EdKitten 72]

Ooops -- meant to say "ask if they can recommend a cheaper place to park that's safe."

[Hauser Two 5]

21 hours ago, EdKitten said:

Also, I've found the people at TripAdvisor.com to be really helpful with trip questions (almost all the time).  You might want to tell them the dates of your travel, hotel name, cost of parking, and ask if they can recommend a cheaper place that's safe.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28969-i39-District_of_Columbia.html

 

If the url doesn't work, you can get there by:

www.tripadvisor.com

click: More (near the top)

click: Forums

click: US

click: District of Columbia

You are awesome! Thank you!🙏

[Daniel Perales 108]

On 3/26/2024 at 2:10 PM, Clutch said:

I don't recall any parking discounts when we were in Baltimore. More that you were guaranteed a space in the lot, and they would fold the daily parking charges into your bill.

Neither do I. 

 When I used to drive to Otakon when it was in Baltimore, I used to park my car at the garage that was across the street from the Day's Inn. Even if I stayed at the Day's Inn, the cost of the garage was still cheaper than the hotel's own parking. The only advantage of staying in their garage (Day's Inn), was that once you parked, you had the privilege of taking your car in and out without losing a spot. 

  Now I just take Amtrak and then take either the subway or a cab to the hotel, whichever is cheaper and/or convenient for me.

 

[Revan 45]

The biggest 'advantage' to the hotel garage at the Baltimore Hyatt was that they could add the parking bill to your hotel bill. It made it easier (for me) to track the totals for splitting the bill. I have to admit I'm a little surprised that it's only $50 / night for the Marriott - that's how much the Hyatt charged, and that was 8 years ago. (Has it really been that long? Time flies...)

23 hours ago, Daniel Perales said:

  Now I just take Amtrak and then take either the subway or a cab to the hotel, whichever is cheaper and/or convenient for me.

 

The minute I heard Otakon was moving to DC, I told my brother: We're switching to Amtrak. I figured the cost of the tickets versus the cost of gas & parking makes it at worst a push - if I were to go back to coach instead of business class (my brother prefers the leg room and assigned seating), Amtrak would be the clear winner. Admittedly, we're dependent on both SEPTA and Amtrak* to get us to DC and back, but the fact that we don't have to worry about DC traffic (and 95 North from Baltimore up). We take the Red line from Union Station to Chinatown and walk to the hotel from there, so it's not too bad. Add on the fact that the Metro system is just so darned useful for getting around DC on the Thursday before the con.  I just top off my card (which I got in 2017, and is still good) every couple of years w/ $20, and I'm good to go.

* In 2018 there was an incident between New York and Philly, which delayed our train by a good 1 1/2 - 2 hours while they investigated it. You pays your money and you takes your chances, but overall it's been a positive experience for me.

[Daniel Perales 108]

2 hours ago, Revan said:

The biggest 'advantage' to the hotel garage at the Baltimore Hyatt was that they could add the parking bill to your hotel bill.

 

It was the same with the Day's Inn as well. But the Day's Inn was charging about $24 dollars a day for parking (not including tax) the last time I remember,, compared to only $16 a day at the garage across the street (it was slightly cheaper if you came in early enough).

 

2 hours ago, Revan said:

The minute I heard Otakon was moving to DC, I told my brother: We're switching to Amtrak. I figured the cost of the tickets versus the cost of gas & parking makes it at worst a push - if I were to go back to coach instead of business class (my brother prefers the leg room and assigned seating), Amtrak would be the clear winner.

 

That eventuality became my decision, too. In fact, I started out with taking a bus when Katsucon was at the Omni Shorerum hotel in Washington DC some years ago. I would get on a bus that used to cost about $25 per trip. It would stop at Bethesda then I would take the subway from there. The first 2 years when Otakon moved to Washington DC, I started taking the MegaBus which would I paid $23 round trip for a reserve seat (if you do it as soon as the schedule becomes first available).

Now I've been taking Amtrak for these past few years (I already reserved my ride this year which cost me $51 round trip). A bit more than the bus, but I will get there 2 hours sooner.

 

2 hours ago, Revan said:

* In 2018 there was an incident between New York and Philly, which delayed our train by a good 1 1/2 - 2 hours while they investigated it. You pays your money and you takes your chances, but overall it's been a positive experience for me.

 

I remember that. The story is that the train that was ahead of us struck and killed an individual that was on the tracks.

 

[Hauser Two 5]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:54 PM, Attendee7000 said:

Honestly, hotels are usually known to have more expensive parking, because their guests are largely a captive market. Not all DC hotels have their own parking, and those that do usually don't have enough parking for every room (knowing that many guests will arrive via Metro or Uber).

 

If you want cheaper parking, watch Spot Hero and other parking reservation sites. More parking will become available as we get closer to the con, for some reason a lot of garages don't like to reserve overnight parking 5-6 months out. In general though, I'd expect $25-$30 per night.

I ended up using SpotHero for my parking reservation and it was a HUGE help! Thank you so much for the advice!