No More Midtown Hotel for this Girl!

[marikotoeii]

OK Guys,

I know that in the past I have plugged the Midtown for their Large rooms and good pricing - Well this year has totally changed my mind!

In brief this is what I found and didnt like:

1. "Surprise" $150 smoking deposit:

When I go to cons, I generally book with my debit card and pay the whole thing in cash and get my card out of the miz right away. And when i do book a reservation I always ask if there are any holds or deposits, charges that will be placed on the card. I was told nothing about this until we checked in. Apparently, there is a deposit to insure that you don't smoke in the room. This little surprise was not needed!

2.) 35% ish Smaller rooms...

Now in the past when I had booked here I mustve stayed in a different section of the hotel, but the one I had before had PLENTY of room for three floor sleepers with two double beds. This new room had the two beds but there was barely room for one floor sleeper!

3.) Parking...

In the past, you paid for parking by the day so that on Sunday you could just throw all your stuff into the car and go to the con after check out. Under their new rule, your car must be out of the lot by 12pm. Yikes!

I am curious to know if others have had to deal with this. I know there was atleast one other girl who was taken aback by the smoking charge and had, like me, not planned for it.

Also, we had the do not disturb sign up bc I am an artist and have a lot of cash on hand at con.. They totally went in the room anyway...

[Rappak]

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems like a lot of hotels were not doing as advertised because PAX was also in town. It seems like they bit more off than they can chew. Hopefully next year will be better!

[MomoMiraculous]

I never had this happen to me at the Midtown before but I DID have the Marriott try to tack on $40 extra a night for "incidentals" before I even DID anything "incidental". After telling them I was NOT planning on room service or needing any kind of service, they finally ran my card for the amount on the website that was the total I agreed to paying and gave me the keys. I was in a NEWLY REMODELED ROOM that had a toilet that required you to HOLD DOWN the handle in order for it to flush and a shower that jammed and needed to be repaired. The room was impossibly small and despite my DnD sign being hung the whole time, the housekeeping lady still came in Friday morning. I was NOT happy by any of this.
As for the Midtown, yes, some of the rooms at the Midtown are smaller than the others. I don't know why they would charge you $150 to ensure you don't smoke though. It's something I would've made sure that they took off because I always plan JUST enough to be on my debit card plus a little extra just in case. I also did not know about the parking because last year, I was told I could pay for the parking when I was ready to leave for the day. Granted I left on Monday and not Sunday evening but I still left after 12 PM. Hmm interesting dilemma since I was planning on going back to them next year. I will have to look into this.

[KitsuneCreations]

I really didn't have any trouble at the MidTown this year. This was my second year, and this time my room was MUCH bigger and in a much nicer location. I also just get a king size bed. Last year, they gave me two doubles despite ordering a king.

The only big complaint I have is the price increase. It happens everywheres (because of PAX in all honesty) but I might as well stay at a "nicer" hotel for that price. I book really early too, as soon as I find out Im in the Artist Alley. When I went to check in, they ran my card and it was denied because I had a hold on my account of $500. I had to call my bank and had it slightly increased to cover the charge, and I wasnt told about a $150 smoking charge. That would piss me off, as I am very anti-smoking to begin with.

Overall it was a good experience though :/

[Secret Duckie]

That's strange. I didn't stay there this year (I did last year) because by the time I booked it was too late they were all booked out. I had a pretty good experience with the Marriott (only thing I didn't like was that the bathroom ventilation wasn't working I think, because I found no switch and assumed it would normally come on when you turned on the shower light). Although the Midtown was inexpensive, if the Marriott offers the discount for AB attendees again I will likely book there next year. There were a few things I just liked more about my stay.

I wish the Sheraton wasn't so overpriced </3

[basharoftheages]

I had a pretty good experience with the Marriott (only thing I didn't like was that the bathroom ventilation wasn't working I think, because I found no switch and assumed it would normally come on when you turned on the shower light).

Most large hotels have switched to a passive airflow system to save energy. People forget and leave the fans on and the motors burn out on them (which is a potential fire hazard). The solution the Marriott uses is just horrible though. My room had a constant humidity level north of 90% all weekend. I almost felt like going out and buying the dampness remover stuff you put in basements to prevent mildew.

[MomoMiraculous]

I had a pretty good experience with the Marriott (only thing I didn't like was that the bathroom ventilation wasn't working I think, because I found no switch and assumed it would normally come on when you turned on the shower light).

Most large hotels have switched to a passive airflow system to save energy. People forget and leave the fans on and the motors burn out on them (which is a potential fire hazard). The solution the Marriott uses is just horrible though. My room had a constant humidity level north of 90% all weekend. I almost felt like going out and buying the dampness remover stuff you put in basements to prevent mildew.

That sucks (and lol I would've looked around for the stuff anyway since who wants mildew?). Mine was fine but it was a bit chilly which was great during the day when I came up to the room to adjust my cosplay/relieve my head of the wig for a few but it sucked at night and I actually got a cold from it.

[JeffersonLeeEng]

I had a pretty good experience with the Marriott (only thing I didn't like was that the bathroom ventilation wasn't working I think, because I found no switch and assumed it would normally come on when you turned on the shower light).

Most large hotels have switched to a passive airflow system to save energy. People forget and leave the fans on and the motors burn out on them (which is a potential fire hazard). The solution the Marriott uses is just horrible though. My room had a constant humidity level north of 90% all weekend. I almost felt like going out and buying the dampness remover stuff you put in basements to prevent mildew.

I felt uncomfortable in the opposite direction. The airflow in the Sheraton (and even the natural outside air) felt incredibly dry and sorta sparked a severe sensation of chapped lips nigh on cold sore for the whole weekend. Granted, that actually was the natural environment at the time and I really went through a couple tubes of Blistex and Abreva, but meh, I'm highly sensitive of these matters...