Otakon 2024 Hotel Reviews

[Attendee7000 35]

I've done it in the past, and I know hotels do change from year to year, so how were your hotels?

 

Embassy Suites:

Stayed there last year too. Pretty much the same observations I had last year as they haven't changed much since then. Their free breakfast is REALLY good; eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, pancakes, cereal, muffins, fresh fruit, and of course the made-to-order omelettes. The suite setup is still great for having multiple people in a room. The bedroom can be the quiet room where people are sleeping while people are doing other stuff (games, fixing costumes, whatever) in the "living room" area. They have a microwave and mini-fridge so I brought food, snacks, and drinks with me. Saves a bit of money, and lets me have something when the mood hits me. I'm still annoyed by the key scanner in the elevator because the elevator wants to get moving before you swipe your card and hit a button. Neither TV in my room worked when I arrived, I think the previous guest had swiped the good batteries from the remotes. I let the desk know and both were working when I came back a couple hours later.

 

Oddly enough, there seemed to be a lot of Otakon staff staying there too.

 

I still really like the rooms and really like the quality and convenience of the breakfast, so it will probably be my go-to next year as well.

[Hauser Two 5]

Moxy Hotel

The hotel was pretty cool. The front desk doubles as a bar and cashier for the snack stand. You get a small token for a free drink upon check in and there is a lounge area with table top games available in the lobby. Microwaves are available at the snack area (not in your room) and there's free coffee in the morning. The room design was very cool and the bed was soft and clean; very comfortable to sleep in. The TV allows you to connect to your YouTube/Amazon Video/Netflix account to view on screen (I didn't use these options) but also have a number of other channels available along with public WiFi (use a VPN if you ever connect to public WiFi, especially if you're making an online purchase). This is more of a lively hotel for "party-type" people but you can still get peace and quiet in your room which is what you'd already expect from your hotel, so you won't feel neglected there.

 

Costs: I reserved my room through the Otakon hotel block and I was quoted about $199/night. I reserved a 3 night's stay (Otakon estimated it would be $692 total), I got to the hotel and they put a $760 hold on my card upon checking in (the charge stayed there until I checked out, then they would evaluate the state I left the room in and determine if I should be charged anything extra (for damages, theft, etc.). Around the following Tuesday, I got a final charge of $720 total from the hotel.

The "Cons": There was no dresser to unpack my clothes (there is a single drawer but it is occupied by the room's safe, you will need to leave your clothes in your suitcase and store it under the bed in a designated area). There is no ice machine/ice bucket for your room (but you could come down to the front desk which doubles as a bar and request ice if needed, so at least there was an option for ice available). 

Walkability: The hotel is about a 5 minute walk to the convention center, and about a 5 minute walk to their parking garage (but they offer valet so walking is an option). There are quite a few stores within walking distance. You may need to walk a little further to reach the more affordable food spots like McDonalds or 7Eleven though.

Food & drinks: I haven't tried the food/drinks/coffee at the hotel but the bar was packed on Thursday and Friday night, so I suppose the selections are pretty good since they are so popular. The bottled drinks are overpriced though, so it's a better bet to get your beverages and snacks from either the local 7Eleven, CVS, Giant, or Streets Market in the area.

Parking: Their parking garage address is 850 11th St NW. I didn't park there but the fee was $60/night and they had valet services. There are other parking garages in the area that are more affordable (they may or may not offer valet though), I used Spot Hero and found a more affordable option.

Room Photos:

https://sta.sh/01kn67e92snq

https://sta.sh/03yv0nbfy63

https://sta.sh/0s7v0ncpl95

https://sta.sh/02018vka371j

https://sta.sh/01u8mmad77u

https://sta.sh/03vkt6ii3u2

 

 

Edited August 10 by Chillo

[Just a Lad 3]

Hampton Inn

first time staying here (usually I stay at the Cambria and loved it but they’ve been in a real state of disrepair the past two years. Happy to see it’s being shut down and put under new ownership tbh)

Rooms: stayed in a two queen “suite”. Room had been recently renovated and beds were very comfortable, but there was barely enough space to move around. The room was very cramped even with just two people and our props, and lacked a lot of hotel basics like an iron/ironing board, safe, closet with hangers, ect. But did have a microwave, TV and mini fridge. Bathroom was huge though and very well maintained. Housekeeping came daily despite the sign in the bathroom mirror stating otherwise which was a plus.

Amenities: Breakfast was great and well stock with fresh eggs, sausage, pastries and a surprisingly good coffee bar. No pool though which was a bit of a bummer. Liked the self checkout convenience store, came in handy for late night snacks after the con closed.

Cost: even with the Otakon block discount, $880 for three nights was a bit steep for what we got, and the $60 valet only parking was insane. Didn’t help that staff didn’t seem aware of the Otakon room and put an almost $2,000 hold on my card until the end of my stay. I eventually got charged the correct room rate but was a heart attack to see on my CC statement.

Staff: I travel a lot for work and I am not exaggerating when I say that the front desk staff here were the worst I ever encountered. Constantly rude and condescending, and seemed to have no idea how their hotel was supposed to function. I checked in digitally, which is pretty standard across all Hilton properties at this point, and sent my friend a digital key. Staff apparently had no idea this was a thing and refused to let my friend up to the room until he let the front desk interrogate and berate me over the phone. Some members of staff had no idea what bag check was and actively turned people away from claiming or storing the bags on Sunday, and none of them except the one woman who seemed to be the only trained person on staff knew when checkout was. It was baffling. Valet line was also a hot mess.

Overall I won’t be staying here again unless it’s the only hotel left in the block, will probably stick to the Marquis, AC or Embassy Suites if given the option to do so

 

 

Edited August 10 by Just a Lad

[Daniel Perales 108]

Comfort Inn

 

This is the second time (not consecutively), I've stayed in this hotel. It's more or less than a 12 minute walk to the convention center.

 

Room: My room was a single Queen on the 6th floor. The size reminds me of the Day's Inn back in Baltimore. It had a dresser with a refrigerator, coffee maker, spot for the ice bucket all built in with the tv set on top.  The room also had an ottoman at the foot of the bed, a cushioned chair and a wheeled desk chair. Also, there's a wardrobe (with a room safe inside). The bathroom was slightly smaller than average (sink, toilet and bathtub all inside with just enough room to move around without bumping into anything). It also had a small desk that you can roll out from under a shelf where I can actually set my laptop on.

The air conditioner worked flawlessly, and it was basically a quiet running one, too.

 

Amenities: The complementary Wi-Fi in the room was working fine and fast every time I was using it. Also, the complimentary breakfast buffet every morning was also great (scrambled eggs, sausages, bagels, waffles, cold cereal, cold orange juice, hot coffee, tea, muffins and other breakfast pastries).

Not part of the hotel, but I would like to mention that there was a grocery store about 1 bock south of hotel's entrance where I bought some cold cuts, loaf of bread, soda and iced tea and stored them all in the room's refrigerator for the duration of my stay.

 

Cost: Well, this is one thing that I did not use the Otakon block discount, sorry to say. I got this room through a hotel discount site and paid in full right at the time of reservation. I paid $131 a night while the Otakon block was charging $204 a night. I could have got a cheaper hotel, but having stayed there before and getting the complimentary breakfast buffet sort of sealed this for me. Also, they will charge you an extra $100 upon check in on your credit card for incidentals which I was immediately refunded upon checkout. I think most hotels do this now.

 

Staff: Most of my interactions with staff were the janitorial crew. They were very friendly and kept my room as clean as it can get. The front desk was very friendly too whenever I was checking in and out.

 

In conclusion: The only negative I can say about all of this is that when just before I was checking in and then leaving to the convention center that early Friday morning, I was encountering a small group of people who looks like they're homeless, asking me (and everyone else) for food and money right at the hotel's entrance. This happened to me only Friday morning, only one individual later that night, and another individual the Monday morning when I was leaving. They weren't aggressive or threatening, but it was still uncomfortable.

Will I go back? It depends. If I can still get a good deal on hotel rates, probably I will.

 

[TomDent 24]

Beacon Hotel and Corporate Quarters

Our group stayed here for the first time. We were going to get two rooms at the Marquis Marriott, but we had to change our plans due to budget reasons, so we got two rooms at the Beacon to save some money.

Cost: It was about $730 for a room with two double beds and a pull out sofa bed. 

Amenities: The rooms were a nice size, not cramped at all. The beds were OK (the sofa bed was pretty stiff, as they usually are). There was a mini kitchen with a small (not mini) fridge/freezer, sink with garbage disposal, two burner stovetop, some dishes and cookware (barely enough for 2-3 people), single cup coffee maker, and complimentary bottled water. Besides the beds and sofa bed, there was a small desk (no drawers, just a tabletop hanging on the wall), a small dining table, two dining chairs, and a reading chair with ottoman. There was also a bar/lounge/restaurant in the bottom level and a rooftop bar/lounge (we didn't try either of these for some reason). They also have valet parking that I think was something like $60 a day (we parked in a nearby garage for much cheaper).

Location: The location was nice IMO. The real downside was that it was a 20+ minute walk to the WEWCC, but for it's length it really was an easy route mainly just following Massachusetts Ave. There was a Wawa and CVS nearby, so that was nice. Wasn't too far from some restaurants, but if we didn't eat in the WEWCC (which we really tried to avoid doing) or really close to it, then we just ordered delivery from a few places to the hotel.

Staff: The only interaction we had with the staff was with the front desk when checking in and checking out. We dealt with the same guy both times. Checking in was a bit of a wait, not because of the staff, but because their computer crashed and had to be rebooted. They also informed us at check in that our room was given a complimentary upgrade to a singe king bed with a sofa bed (something I declined in an email from them the week before), but after telling the front desk employee that we really needed the two double beds, they fixed it with no problems. Everyone that we saw working at that hotel seemed super nice and professional and very patient (A+ in my book).

Pros: Rooms were spacious, clean, comfortable, and had more amenities than I expected. In-hotel bar/lounge/restaurant (we didn't use them, but it's nice to have that option). Nice laid back location with no disturbances that I can think of. Decent price. Very nice staff.

Cons: No vending machines that we could find in the hotel. The fridge wasn't really cold at all, just a bit colder than room temperature, and the freezer was more fridge-like temperature (we just put all of our drinks and leftovers in the freezer). The bathroom door was a sliding door that was a little off track and didn't lock (we were OK with this, so we didn't ask for a different room or anything). The walk to the WEWCC was by far the biggest con for this hotel. Google Maps listed it as 23 minutes by walking and it was every bit that, but at least it was just following down one street for 99% of the way.

Conclusion: This wouldn't be my first pick for Otakon, but I would recommend it for a solid backup option if you can't get the hotel you want, as long as you don't mind the walk. The biggest issues with the room were the fridge not working properly and the bathroom door not locking, but for our group, we decided we could deal with it (hopefully they'll get these things fixed as I did mention them in the review they sent me). It was overall nice and comfortable at a decent price (considering the other hotels' prices) and had some good amenities in and around it. 7.5/10 (solid 8.5/10 if not for the long walk).

[Hauser Two 5]

On 8/10/2024 at 9:44 PM, Daniel Perales said:

I did not use the Otakon block discount, sorry to say. I got this room through a hotel discount site and paid in full right at the time of reservation. I paid $131 a night while the Otakon block was charging $204 a night.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what was the hotel discount site that you used? 👀

[Daniel Perales 108]

10 hours ago, Chillo said:

If you don't mind me asking, what was the hotel discount site that you used? 👀

I was using a few, but I used Trivago for this one. You would enter the city, state and the days you want to reserve the room. Then it will give you a list of all the available hotels and the sites (like Priceline.com , Hotel.com, and others), where you can compare prices and other amenities. Once you choose, it will redirect you to the site where the discount is offered. Usually once you choose the room, some will give you a choice of making the reservation with the option to cancel, or get a cheaper rate without the option to cancel (in other words, you will not get your money back if you can't make it).

Once you decide to take the room, you have to pay for it in full right there and then.

 

 

[Daniel Perales 108]

On 8/10/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chillo said:

Moxy Hotel

 

I've stayed at the Moxy the year before and the year before that.

On 8/10/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chillo said:

 

Costs: I reserved my room through the Otakon hotel block and I was quoted about $199/night. I reserved a 3 night's stay (Otakon estimated it would be $692 total), I got to the hotel and they put a $760 hold on my card upon checking in (the charge stayed there until I checked out, then they would evaluate the state I left the room in and determine if I should be charged anything extra (for damages, theft, etc.). Around the following Tuesday, I got a final charge of $720 total from the hotel.

 

I paid about $116 and $121 a night respectfully, and I was going to use them again Being close to the convention center was their good part. But, the lowest price that I found was about $169 earlier this year. I will not reserve a room that looks like a walk-in closet with unpainted walls with no dresser and regular table. In other words, they're overpriced for the type of room it was.

 

On 8/10/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chillo said:

Walkability: The hotel is about a 5 minute walk to the convention center, and about a 5 minute walk to their parking garage (but they offer valet so walking is an option). There are quite a few stores within walking distance. You may need to walk a little further to reach the more affordable food spots like McDonalds or 7Eleven though.

 

      Besides a friendly staff, that's the only other thing that was to their advantage. I didn't know that they had a parking garage.

On 8/10/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chillo said:

Room Photos:

https://sta.sh/01kn67e92snq

https://sta.sh/03yv0nbfy63

https://sta.sh/0s7v0ncpl95

https://sta.sh/02018vka371j

https://sta.sh/01u8mmad77u

https://sta.sh/03vkt6ii3u2

 

 Definitely looks like the room that I had before. I refuse to pay more than $125 for something like that.

 

 

[Just a Lad 3]

On 8/10/2024 at 1:25 PM, Chillo said:

Moxy Hotel.

Room Photos:

https://sta.sh/01kn67e92snq

https://sta.sh/03yv0nbfy63

https://sta.sh/0s7v0ncpl95

https://sta.sh/02018vka371j

https://sta.sh/01u8mmad77u

https://sta.sh/03vkt6ii3u2

 

 

Oh my god, and I thought the Cambria was in bad shape before it got shut down. That’s unacceptable, especially for the price. If I walked into a hotel room and saw an I fished ceiling with water leaking and exposed pipes I would have demanded another room or a full refund.

[Hauser Two 5]

5 hours ago, Just a Lad said:

Oh my god, and I thought the Cambria was in bad shape before it got shut down. That’s unacceptable, especially for the price. If I walked into a hotel room and saw an I fished ceiling with water leaking and exposed pipes I would have demanded another room or a full refund.

The dark spots on the ceiling and wall is just rockite-like patchwork, possibly from previous work on the pipes (the walls and ceiling are all concrete). No leaks, but in some places, exposed pipes is the norm. It wasn't bad tbh. I did feel like it was just a little bit overpriced. Last year, I stayed at the Comfort Inn around the corner and paid a rate similar to the Moxy's prices. The Comfort Inn though had more amenities (free breakfast, drawer space, ice machine) so I felt like I wasn't getting my full money's worth here but JUST barely.

[Hauser Two 5]

8 hours ago, Daniel Perales said:

 

I've stayed at the Moxy the year before and the year before that.

 

I paid about $116 and $121 a night respectfully, and I was going to use them again Being close to the convention center was their good part. But, the lowest price that I found was about $169 earlier this year. I will not reserve a room that looks like a walk-in closet with unpainted walls with no dresser and regular table. In other words, they're overpriced for the type of room it was.

 

 

      Besides a friendly staff, that's the only other thing that was to their advantage. I didn't know that they had a parking garage.

 Definitely looks like the room that I had before. I refuse to pay more than $125 for something like that.

 

 

Agreed. I stayed at the Comfort Inn last year and between the two, Comfort Inn has the Moxy beat. The hotel for me was just a place to crash between each con day so I didn't care TOO much about what the Moxy lacked but at the same time, it was a glaring difference.

[Golddess 5]

Westin (Formerly Renaissance)

Rooms seemed decent enough, though for some reason the AC would cut off in the middle of the night.  Could turn it back on immediately via the thermostat, but still annoying to be woken up in the middle of the night because the room got too clamy.

Also they initially split up my 2 rooms between floors.  When I asked if they could put them closer they said no because they are completely booked.  Which seemed like an odd response since, sure, all rooms may be booked, but not everyone has checked in yet, right?  Plus, if you are going to pre-assign the rooms, why would you put one room on floor 2 and the other on floor 6 when both rooms are on the same reservation?  But after noticing housekeeping was cleaning a room adjacent to my room on 6, I told the person at the front desk "this room is being cleaned.  That means no one has checked into it yet, right?  So can you move my 2nd floor room to that one?" and they finally relented.

[Daniel Perales 108]

On 8/12/2024 at 8:26 PM, Hauser Two said:

 The hotel for me was just a place to crash between each con day so I didn't care TOO much about what the Moxy lacked but at the same time, it was a glaring difference.

This is what I feel about the hotels in general, but I tend to care about the room's extra amenities when I have to stay the extra night.

For example, if I just used the room to just sleep and take a shower, the Moxy was good enough, for the right price. But after the con, when I have to stay in my room for an extended stay, I start to miss the desk, chairs and refrigerator that the Moxy lacked.

 

[marii 15]

Washington Marriott Marquis

In short: It was a lovely stay as always. We have picked this hotel every year since moving to Washington and it has been amazing! With the ease of access to the convention via tunnel, the Atrium view which brings many delights as people hang and put various items in their windows, and the friendly staff, it is hard to go wrong here. We always end up arriving at Thursday and leaving late Sunday night (we book through Monday to allow for this), and we have plenty of downtime in the hotel.

Ease of Access

There is a tunnel that can be accessed by going downstairs via escalator (or elevator if required). Except for a couple years back when Otakon was overwhelmed with the surge of attendees, we have never experienced a line that lasted longer than 10 minutes. This year, I would say 5 minutes was the top wait to get in line and through bag check. The tunnel makes things a lot easier for needing to return to your hotel room quickly, for cosplay changes, and for travel. I am extremely sensitive to temperatures and prone to overheating and heat exhaustion in most temperatures over 75F so not having to step outside to deal with the Washington DC heat is most ideal for me and why we pick this hotel every year. 

Separate Badge Pickup

We were aware of this since the year the con required vaccinations, but Otakon has a table inside the upper lobby area (not entirely sure what this is called, but it's a popular area for photoshoots). We stopped by there this year to grab a lanyard, our welcome bag, and adorable pronoun tags for our badges. While there, we found out that you could pick up your badge there as a Marriott Marquis guest and the staff were super friendly! We always get our badges mailed, but it's nice that they are continuing to have a separate little table there for hotel guests. I do not know if this was exclusive to Thursday only, that was just the day that we happened to go there.

Staff

The staff here never misses. They are always understanding, friendly, and welcoming from the moment we step inside. If you have the Marriott Bonvoy app, you can make requests and message the front desk as needed. We requested additional towels and a blanket. They both arrived within 20 minutes and the cleaning staff (who are generally the ones who deliver these type of things) were super kind. The front desk usually replied within a few minutes but during particularly busy times, such as check-in and check-out/bag check, they took about 5-10 minutes between messages which is very understandable! Whenever we had food delivered, they would let us know and a couple times brought our food up to our room for us (we did not request this and did order during quieter/off-peak hours).

Packages

We get packages delivered every year because it never fails that we forget something or run out of something. These deliveries usually end up at their FedEx office (second floor, can be accessed via elevator ad escalators) but sometimes do end up at the front desk. Our packages are generally light, so we do not need to pay a handler fee, but others may find they need to. You can request that your packages are delivered to the front desk (if using a service such as Amazon) but for the most part, they end up at FedEx. From my understanding, based off of the information provided by the kind woman working at FedEx, they arrive at their delivery dock downstairs and sometimes do not make it upstairs the same day that they are delivered. We had this happen with one of our packages, but the others arrived and were sorted quickly enough that we were able to grab them the same day.

Rooms

We get a single room every year and our friends get a double queen. All rooms we have been in have come with a mini fridge (please check that it is on when you arrive! there is a button inside for you to quickly cool it down if not), TV, dresser, desk that rotates/swings outwards, computer chair, small table, and another chair + ottoman. These are in addition to the usual things such as an ice bucket, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap, lotion, etc. There is a small keurig style coffee maker and a very small variety of coffee and teas. By default, there are two little bottles of water. The fridge is very small, it can hold only a few water bottles at a time and has a slot on the door for sodas (which can hold about 5-6 sodas). Nothing else can really fit in there so if you bring a lot of things for the fridge, I would advise bringing a cooler and getting ice from the ice maker. Our single room had a lot of room and didn't feel cramped for two people. We bring our Roku every year and hook it up to the TV. You can easily plug in anything that uses an HDMI cord. The double room our friends slept in felt a lot more cramped than our single room even though it had more room overall. The two beds fill up a lot of space and leave you with less walking room than our single room. The desk swinging out is always nice so that we can watch TV while on the computer, and it swings back in easily so it's not a pain to keep changing unless you bring a PC with lots of wires.

Cons

I mostly spoke on the positives of each thing but there were a few things that stood out to us. The valet parking rate was raised this year to $70 + tax a day. We do not use this service, but our friends do and they weren't pleased with spending a few extra hundred dollars to park. This parking does not come with in and out privileges and is for everyone not just hotel guests so the parking garage fills up quick. You have to pay for valet, there are no additional parking options at the hotel itself. 

Our room only had two working outlets and they were the ones that come inside (on top?) of the lamps. We made it work, but usually that would make us want to move rooms. We know rooms are severely limited, though, so we put up with it and made it work for us.

The shower door just would not close all the way. This was the first year we had this issue. They had sent someone in to take a look and even he was confused why it was getting stuck. They apologized for not being able to fix it and gave us extra towels since the floor was getting quite wet there from showering.

This one is very minor and something I am sure most hotels have to deal with, but being on a higher floor is awful if you need to get downstairs quickly. We were on a higher double digit floor this year and trying to get downstairs on Sunday was a nightmare with everyone trying to leave. It took us an hour and walking down 4 flights of stairs (more on this in a minute) before we were able to get inside of an elevator to go downstairs.

A more major issue: the stairs! The stairs themselves have a terrible design. We were only able to go down 4 flights and not all the way down to the first floor because it was gated off and did not lead to more stairs. When we told others about this, they said there was a way downstairs to the first floor via stairs but you would need to go outside to do it. Awful design if there is ever a fire because one would expect to be able to go all the way down.

 

All in all, this has and probably always will be our go-to hotel. We have friends who stay at other hotels and raved about them (if you are dealer/artist, the Courtyard is ideal for you! There is a separate entrance for you so you do not need to walk all the way around to the front/main entrance.) but I can't say much on those as we have only stayed at the Marriott Marquis. In our experience, this is probably a 7.5/10 hotel for us which is pretty high in our opinion!

[Clutch 87]

12 hours ago, marii said:

This one is very minor and something I am sure most hotels have to deal with, but being on a higher floor is awful if you need to get downstairs quickly. We were on a higher double digit floor this year and trying to get downstairs on Sunday was a nightmare with everyone trying to leave. It took us an hour and walking down 4 flights of stairs (more on this in a minute) before we were able to get inside of an elevator to go downstairs.

A more major issue: the stairs! The stairs themselves have a terrible design. We were only able to go down 4 flights and not all the way down to the first floor because it was gated off and did not lead to more stairs. When we told others about this, they said there was a way downstairs to the first floor via stairs but you would need to go outside to do it. Awful design if there is ever a fire because one would expect to be able to go all the way down.

I have taken the stairs at the Marriott Marquis many times and you went down some levels to one with a gate door. You could go through that gate and continue down stairs. That gate always slammed when you tried to close it. Perhaps this was a different set of stairs than the one I would always take, but I don't know. Haven't been able to get that hotel for the past 2 years, so it is a moot point.

[Golddess 5]

On 8/20/2024 at 6:55 AM, marii said:

This one is very minor and something I am sure most hotels have to deal with, but being on a higher floor is awful if you need to get downstairs quickly. We were on a higher double digit floor this year and trying to get downstairs on Sunday was a nightmare with everyone trying to leave. It took us an hour and walking down 4 flights of stairs (more on this in a minute) before we were able to get inside of an elevator to go downstairs.

Over the years, I've learned that in order to go down, sometimes you need to get in an elevator going up.  Then you just stay in it when it starts going down.

Or was that the problem?  Too many other people getting on on lower floors, then when it finally reaches your floor it's full of people from other floors doing just that?  Hadn't considered it before but I guess anyone near the top of the hotel wouldn't be able to take advantage of that strategy.

[marii 15]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:55 PM, Clutch said:

I have taken the stairs at the Marriott Marquis many times and you went down some levels to one with a gate door. You could go through that gate and continue down stairs. That gate always slammed when you tried to close it. Perhaps this was a different set of stairs than the one I would always take, but I don't know. Haven't been able to get that hotel for the past 2 years, so it is a moot point.

We saw the gate but it was locked up. A literal chain and lock on it and we weren't going to climb over it without knowing where exactly it would lead us. It did not help that the door did not have any signage on it either, it was just a plain white door. I'm not sure if it were a different set of stairs from the ones you are talking about, but it was quite odd.

On 9/25/2024 at 8:59 PM, Golddess said:

Over the years, I've learned that in order to go down, sometimes you need to get in an elevator going up.  Then you just stay in it when it starts going down.

Or was that the problem?  Too many other people getting on on lower floors, then when it finally reaches your floor it's full of people from other floors doing just that?  Hadn't considered it before but I guess anyone near the top of the hotel wouldn't be able to take advantage of that strategy.

Normally this would be a good tactic but not when so many people are trying to leave at the same time. We were fully planning on going up to get down but the elevators were always completely full. Eventually we split up between elevators (where one was able to squeeze in but not two) and we just waited for each other downstairs until we were both there and able to go. Overall, as mentioned in the original post, it took about an hour to get down to the first floor. We usually end up on a lower floor but this was the first year we were so high up. Next year we will be requesting to be put on a lower floor to avoid this.