San Diego Comic Con 2009 hotel help!!

[Deak Starkiller]

Hey guys I am trying to plan a trip to SDCC this year and need help finding a hotel with a shuttle/comic con shuttle to the show. We are looking in the price range of $175-$225 a night. Any help would be great thanks!

 

[dharper]

I don't know if they still have anything left, but I've stayed at the La Pensione Hotel in the little Italy section of town. It was about $100 a night and it's a block away from a shuttle stop (Pink Line) at the Holiday Inn on the Bay.

https://www.lapensionehotel.com/

 

[CAhobbit]

The official list of Comic-Con hotels with the ability to reserve a room at their reduced rates should be up soon. https://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_hotel.shtml

Of course waiting to book a room on that day can be quite the ordeal (at least it has been the last couple of years) so booking ahead is something I would recommend before the Comic-Con list of hotels go up.

Here's a small sampling of hotels near the convention center (most of these will probably have shuttle stops again, though some are so close that it's faster/easier just to walk to the convention center).

Holiday Inn
Sheraton Suites
Hilton
Mariott
Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Omni Hotel

 

[Deak Starkiller]

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[King Darkness]

If you need a place to stay for SDCC I have some extra room at my house.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

If you need a place to stay for SDCC I have some extra room at my house.

"IT PUTS THE LOTION ON THE SKIN"

 

[King Darkness]

Did I mention I live in New Mexico?

I dont know that makes a difference

 

[The Josh]

You need to try and see if they have rooms in that range for when they do the rooms through SDCC. Otherwise you need to keep trying and get several folks in a room.

 

[Wetanut]

The official list of Comic-Con hotels with the ability to reserve a room at their reduced rates should be up soon. https://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_hotel.shtml

Of course waiting to book a room on that day can be quite the ordeal (at least it has been the last couple of years) so booking ahead is something I would recommend before the Comic-Con list of hotels go up.

Here's a small sampling of hotels near the convention center (most of these will probably have shuttle stops again, though some are so close that it's faster/easier just to walk to the convention center).

Holiday Inn
Sheraton Suites
Hilton
Mariott
Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Omni Hotel

CAHobbit gave you some good hotels that's walking distance. But be advised -- most (if not all) of the walking-distance hotels are blocked out for the Comic-Con travel folks (and they're blocked almost a year in advance). Your best bet would probably be to check out the shuttle and tram routes that's on the Comic-Con site. Hotels a bit of a distance away are cheaper and easier to get.

IF you manage to get online or on the phone to grab one of the walking-distance places (up to 8 blocks) when Comic-Con travel folks go live, then you'll pay about $185-$220/nite. (Otherwise they'll cost $350-$450/nite). Some of us who have been through the frustration of trying to get rooms thru the Comic-Con site don't even bother to try anymore....we just start contacting hotels around August (yes, that's right after we come home from the Con) and fork over the $400-$425/nite. As Josh said, many room together (sometimes 8 to a room) to split the costs.

Last year, some of us tried out a 2BR condo for the week. Wasn't too bad (we were still talking to each other at the end), but the renters jerk up the prices just for that week. Example, during the last Con our condo cost $2500/week. This year, they are charging $4000/week.

 

[Deak Starkiller]

Wow! Thanks Josh & Wetanut. Also King if I went to New Mexico it wouldn't feel like I left home (Arizona). Not much difference. I think I found a place, maybe we could keep this thread alive for other Freaks who need nerd shelter for a week.

 

[The Josh]

No problem Deak! Good Luck.

 

[Kuzeh]

There's a few affordable hotels in an area called Hotel Circle, and fairly close to the Trolley train.
It's not downtown, but it'll be cheaper, that's for sure!

 

[Darklord Dave]

Last year, some of us tried out a 2BR condo for the week. Wasn't too bad (we were still talking to each other at the end), but the renters jerk up the prices just for that week. Example, during the last Con our condo cost $2500/week. This year, they are charging $4000/week.

Wha? Did you guys trash the place, they had to raise the rent so high?

Usually by this time they at least have a date as to when the hotels go up for sale, it's typically mid-Feb.. But the past 2 years I haven't had much luck with it, despite being on 2 different computers and refreshing every 5 secs.

The entire comic-con experience is becoming an exercise in futility and frustration. (Just try to get into ANY panel you want to see without waiting an entire day for it.)

 

[Wetanut]

Wha? Did you guys trash the place, they had to raise the rent so high?

Not moi. But I kinda left early and left it to Sam, Sara, Stig, and Ellen to sort out the last of the cleanup. I can't vouch for them
*waits for the inevitable stuff to hit the fan from Sam, Sara, Stig, and Ellen*

Nah, really...the woman I was working with on it was a co-owner. Her partner insisted in jacking up the price this year, despite her telling him that they're pricing themselves out of even $2500. Let them have that dammed condo.

 

[Kibishii]

The entire comic-con experience is becoming an exercise in futility and frustration. (Just try to get into ANY panel you want to see without waiting an entire day for it.)

I only live two hours from San Diego, so I drive there and just do a one day trip. However, over the last four years or so, I agree that it is getting crazy crowded. I used to go on Friday for the exclusives and the more interesting panels, but last year I went on Sunday hoping to avoid the crowds. The early panels such as women in comics and the Harry Potter panel were not too bad, but later in the day it became a zoo.

 

[Dusty]

Didn't P!tu stay at the hostel in the Gaslamp district? I hear that it's a pretty cheap way to go, and it's close, but can be really noisy - and you have to share a bathroom with everyone probably

 

[My Lord]

The entire comic-con experience is becoming an exercise in futility and frustration. (Just try to get into ANY panel you want to see without waiting an entire day for it.)

You summed it up perfectly for me. I have gone to Comic-Con the past 5 years straight and had a great time, but the past two (last year and the year before) have not been worth the hassle anymore.

I wonder if the state of the economy will effect attendance dramatically?

 

[Darklord Dave]

I wonder if the state of the economy will effect attendance dramatically?

Let's hope so.

 

[Bannister]

Didn't P!tu stay at the hostel in the Gaslamp district? I hear that it's a pretty cheap way to go, and it's close, but can be really noisy - and you have to share a bathroom with everyone probably

They actually had some private bathrooms and they were cleaned everyday, but even that place is all booked up now.

 

[Wetanut]

I've been hoping so. And hoping that the increased admission price will thin out the crowds a bit.