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Hotels

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on June 11, 2015 at 12:22:35 pm
 

 

Note: The "Last Updated" time at the top of this page may not reflect the actual age of some of the information presented. The sections "Host Hotels" and "Overflow hotels" pull data from other wiki pages and are updated separately. 

 

Unless you're only coming for one day, odds are you're going to need someplace to sleep. Hotels at Dragon*Con are divided into 2 main categories, Host Hotels and Overflow Hotels.

 

Below are the official hotels as well as some that are close to the convention or the connecting MARTA mass transit rail system.

 


 

 

Host Hotels 

(Below contents from the Host Hotels page of this wiki)

Host hotels are where the convention activities are actively held. In these hotels, you will find Registration, Programming Tracks, the dealer rooms, and more. Also, these hotels will have DragonConTV. Rooms in the Marriott are the hardest to get. Hilton rooms are considered the most quiet of the main 3 hotels. Westin and Sheraton rooms are a little further away from the main 3.

 

The official Host Hotels for DragonCon 2016 are: 

 

 

 

 

Overflow Hotels

Be sure to check out the Official Dragon*Con overflow hotel page for rate codes!

(Below contents from the Overflow Hotels page of this wiki)

Updated Jan. 30, 2013

 

 

 

Google Map of Overflow Hotels

 

These hotels have been official overflow hotels in years past but are no longer listed as of 2013. Space may still be available.

 

 

See the official list of Overflow hotels on the Dragon*Con website

 

Hotels that are not partnered with Dragon*Con but are local to the convention area.

 

Note:  only refers to discounted Dragon*Con group rate rooms at host and official overflow hotels. Availability of room at non-discounted rates may be available. Check with desired hotel for full price availability!  

 

The Hotel I want is Sold Out. Now what?

For the 2013-2015 conventions, there was a veritable land rush on host hotels. This is expected to continue in the future. If you really want to stay in a particular hotel, check various forums or the dragonconrooms Live Journal group. You may find available room share options or entire reservations to take over. Also, people will occasionally post room share offers to Twitter using the #DragonCon hash tag.  Some hotels will add rooms back to the block due to cancellations (not the Marriott though). Periodically calling host hotels can net you a coveted convention rate room. Worst case, some may have a full price room available which will still give you the con room experience, but at a steeper price. If you do go the full rate route, considering joining AAA to get a discount and consider booking for the next year at check out (The Hilton usually offers this option to departing guests). Also, consider joining that hotel's loyalty program. If you're paying 4-5 times the price, might as well rack up the points or airline miles.

 

Another alternative is to simply choose another hotel. There are many hotels in the downtown area that are not officially part of the convention, but have room. We've tried to list them all, but it is easy to miss one. Also, consider hotels near the airport or in Midtown.  If you can't get a downtown location, look for locations that are adjacent to MARTA, in particular the rail portion. Dragon*Con is fortunate to have a MARTA subway/train station right in the midst of the area.

 

Some members rent nearby condominiums. Some locals, it has been reported, flee the area when we roll in and a few of them place their condos up for rent. These offer all the luxury of home while being near the convention. VRBO.com is one source, but there are many. Real estate agencies in the area may also be able to arrange weekend rentals.

 

Also keep in mind that you're competing for rooms with other convention goers as well as college football and NASCAR fans. Most of the football crowd will be closer to the stadium and most of the NASCAR fans will either be camping at the speedway or towards the southern end of the city. A few will venture towards the hotels in the downtown area. The hotel operators know about all of these events and rates will be jacked up adjusted accordingly.

 

General Hotel Notes 

  • With the completion of the Marriott renovations in 2008, the Hyatt and Marriott Marquis are typically the busiest hotels.
  • The Hyatt is the hotel that will most likely run into issues with the fire marshal.
    • If large crowds are not your thing, you might consider spending more time in the Hilton, Sheraton and Westin.  It is not uncommon for there to be literally thousands of people in the Hyatt and Marriott lobbies from time to time.
  • The Hyatt has five elevators in the main part of the hotel. If you choose to use these, you will be able to get to know all of the other people that are waiting quite well - elevator waits can take more than 30 minutes to go up to your room. Plan accordingly - the Hyatt is not the hotel where you should expect to run to your room every fifteen minutes. Whenever possible, take the stairs.
  • All of the Marriott Marquis elevators go to the 10th floor. There are no hotel rooms on the 10th floor, this is just a wide open area. The designated usage of the 10th floor can vary each year.
  • For social smokers, the Hyatt pool is the place to be.
  • Checking out of a Dragon*Con primary hotel on Monday morning is a special experience. It may take a long time if you have so much stuff that you need a cart. You really should consider moving your belongings out on Sunday, or early Monday morning, or plan to have a bellhop deal with it for you (which might take several hours). While Dragon*Con is a special place for you and tens of thousands of your best friends, we are also all checking out at once, and this tends to overwhelm the host hotels year after year. Checking out on Tuesday is much easier and more relaxing.
  • NEVER leave your hotel without your room key and Dragon*Con badge. The Hyatt, Marriott, and possibly some other hotels will require that you either have a hotel room key or a Dragon Con badge to get into the hotel. Security will check badges at multiple entrances and exits including the skywalks/ habitrails. When the fire marshal shuts down entry to the Hyatt, entry opens up first to those with room keys. You could be locked out of the Hyatt for 90 minutes, or longer, if you aren't prepared.
  • When you try to take shortcuts (i.e. the Hyatt pool entrance), D*C security needs to see your badge.

 

Moving Between Hotels 

  • Moving between the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt is pretty easy - usually. As long as you have a Dragon*Con badge, you can walk out the front entrance of the Marriott, cross the street (an APD uniformed officer is typically there acting as a crossing guard), and walk up the rear (pool) entrance of the Hyatt, and vice versa. In 2011 a bridge was added that goes from the Marriott's Atrium to the Hyatt's lobby level.
  • Moving between the Hilton and Marriott was simplified with the addition of a bridge between the 2nd floor of the Hilton and the Marquis level of the Marriott
  • Moving between the Hilton and Hyatt, without going outside, is possible. From the Hilton, go to the 2nd floor. Take the bridge to the Marriott. From here you can either go up 2 floors, take the bridge to the Hyatt, or up 1 floor and take the tube to the Peachtree Center Food court and another tube to the Hyatt.
    • For the Hyatt to Hilton, reverse the directions. Bridge to Marriott, down 2 floors, and bridge to Hilton
    • The Marriott can be bypassed if you're willing to risk a little exposure to the outside. Cross John Portman (Formerly Harris) Bvld to the Courtland St. Parking Garage. Take the elevator to the 7th floor. A covered walkway will take you to the Peachtree Center Food Court. From here, a tube to the Hyatt is available.
  • Moving to the Sheraton from the Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton,  you'll want to go down to the Hilton. Walk down Courtland St for 2 blocks and the Sheraton will be on the same side as the Hilton.
  • From the main 3 to the Westin, there are a couple of options.
    • Proceed to the front of the Hyatt. Cross Peachtree St, and proceed left for a few blocks.
    • From the Hilton, the easiest method is to go through Peachtree Center via Courtland St parking garage (bridge on 7th floor), turn left once you get to the food court, and go out the doors at the end. Turn right, (look up, and you'll see the Westin). Proceed a short walk and you'll enter on the Westin's 6th floor. 
      • Alternatively, you can go up the escalators at the food court and go out the revolving door and turn left. 
      • Also, if you need to pick something up along the way, you exit through the CVS and turn left.
  • Between the Westin and Sheraton, proceed along Andrew Young Bvld NE for 2 blocks. East to the Sheraton, West to the Westin. 
  • http://www.dragoncon.org/?q=disability_services has information for people with disabilities.

 

How to Transfer or Trade a Hotel Reservation

This is very detailed, but well worth reading closely.

 

Can I transfer a hotel room? Yes! Most official sources and confirmation emails from the hotels will say "Rooms are non-transferable." But this is not true. As long as you NEVER use the word "transfer" when talking to hotel staff, this will work. Here is how I have successfully done it for years. I've always called the hotel, but doing it online may also work.

 

NEVER cancel a hotel room at the Dragon Con rate. It will go back to the full rate, costing the next person 2x or more. Why do the hotels do this? Because they can, and due to strong demand, it is more profitable for them.

 

Always transfer your extra rooms to a fellow attendee. There is always someone who wants a room, especially at the host hotels.

Here are some places specifically dedicated to finding people looking for rooms and/ or roommates. Please add to this list if you know of any more.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/360351017432661 - Dragon Con Rooms group
https://www.facebook.com/DragonConHotelConnection 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/655983534444907 - DragonCon's Cheap Klingon - hotels and bargains in Atlanta
http://dragonconrooms.livejournal.com/ - The oldest community for finding rooms and roommates at Dragon Con. It is very well organized.
http://dragonconforums.org/get-me-there!-(now-also-with-roomshare!)/ 

 

Step 1: Money

 

It is against convention etiquette to ever profit by selling or trading your room to someone else. If someone asks you to give them more money than the cost of the deposit that they've already paid, don't do it. They are preying on your desperation and ignorance. If they are part of an online community, follow their procedures and report their behavior. Find an honest person to deal with, there are plenty out there.

 

To trade a room with someone else, first calculate the difference in the non-refundable deposits you may have paid. If you paid $200 and they paid $250, you will owe them $50. Pay them and ask them to confirm they received payment.

 

Both sides should protect themselves. I strongly recommend paying with a method that will allow you to get your money back if there is a problem. For example, PayPal, a Credit Card, or another method where a third party is involved.

 

Step 2: Transferring a Reservation - The Super-Short Version

 

If you are giving your room to someone, put the other person's name on your reservation. Then give them the reservation confirmation number. Have them replace your credit card info and email address with theirs and take your name off the room. Confirm with the hotel that your name, email address, and credit card info have been removed.

 

Step 2: Transferring a Reservation - Complete Version with Helpful Tips and Tricks

 

Both sides should agree to do this on the same day. Set aside the time, stay in communication during all steps. Set aside one hour to get this done.

 

  1.  Add the other person's name to your reservation. This may require calling several different numbers until you find someone who can help you.
  2. If you can't do this online (this is often disabled) and the reservation was originally made through Passkey (Usually the Hyatt and Marriott and sometimes the Hilton) then call Passkey first. Marriott Passkey 1-888-266-9432. Hyatt Passkey 1-888-421-1441. http://www.passkey.com - Passkey 1-781-373-4100. The Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton have all used Passkey for the bookings done on the official booking day. Which hotels use Passkey will vary by year. 
  3. If the Passkey number doesn't work or your reservation was not made through Passkey then call the hotel directly. Their local phone number will have a 404 area code. Ask for in-house reservations. If they can't help you then try the hotel's 1-800 number for reservations. If you are a rewards member then try that line too. As of 2015 the Sheraton and Westin have never used Passkey. The overflows have never used Passkey either. They key is to keep calling different reservation departments until someone can help you.
  4. If you are calling the hotel directly, ask for in house reservations. Then ask if there is someone in charge of the DragonCon room reservations. If so, get their contact info and speak to them. If not, ask to speak to someone who is experienced with the DragonCon room reservation block. Be prepared to be transferred around a lot. Be patient and polite. You may need to speak to a number of people before you find someone who can help you. You may need to leave messages on someone's extension and wait for them to call you back. Be persistent. Eventually, someone will be able to help you.
  5. If you made your reservation through Passkey, make sure you have both the Passkey confirmation number and the hotel's reservation number. If you used Passkey to book, your original confirmation email will only have the Passkey confirmation number on it. You may need to log into your online account or call the hotel to get the hotel's reservation number.
    1. There will be a holding period during which no changes can be made to the Passkey reservation, including adding a roommate's name.  Once Passkey has transferred the reservation to the hotel, changes can be made. The time it takes for this to happen varies every year and may vary by hotel. It can be weeks or months. Do not use the hotel's 1-800 booking number to find this out. Call the hotel's number directly and ask for inside reservations. Ask them if the passkey reservation is showing up on there system. If it isn't there, ask when it will be. If they don't know, call Passkey to ask.
  6. Give your reservation number(s) to the other person. Forward them the confirmation email.
  7. Call your new hotel and replace the other person's credit card info, email address, and room requests with your own.
    1. Always use a credit card with an expiration date of the year of the convention, October or later. 
    2. If you don't have one, request this from your bank and put it on file as soon as possible. This is to prevent your room being cancelled because your credit card is past the expiration date.  The hotels will tell you this doesn't happen, but it does. Don't take the chance. 
  8. Ask the hotel to send you a confirmation email with the changes on it. Make sure you get it, keep this. Take it with you to check in. I print mine out so I can more easily hand it to the clerk. I prefer not to hand over my phone.
  9. Check your original reservation. Confirm your credit card and email address is no longer on it.
  10. Keep the other person's contact info in your cell phone so that if there is any problem on check-in, you can call them to work it out. I've never needed to do this, but I believe in being prepared.
  11. Check your hotel bill both during your stay and upon final checkout. Make sure you know what all charges are for. Politely explain to the hotel staff if they've made a mistake and ask them to correct it. Honest mistakes happen, be courteous.
  12. Check your credit card statement after Dragon Con, make sure all the charges are correct. If they are not, dispute them.  You should be doing this anyway.

 

 

Readers: 

 

Unofficial hotels are listed as a courtesy to aide fellow Dragon*Con patrons in the search for a room. A service or hotel's listing on this wiki does not constitute an endorsement of the establishment by the Dragon*Con Wiki or it's contributors. Availability may change at anytime without notice and information may become inaccurate between edits. Readers are encouraged to research hotel offerings to ensure the property offers the best fit for their particular needs. A listing marked sold out indicates that it was not possible to book a room to check in Friday night and depart Monday morning on their website. In the case of official host and overflow hotels, this only applies to convention group rate. Individual nights may be available, as well as rooms at different rates. 

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