It's Hotel Day! Are you ready for the best hotel room ever?

 17 APRIL 2024

2:39 pm

Overall, entry times and experiences seem to align with last year. So - adjust your expectations accordingly.

CCI has this helpful nugget on their site: "We urge everyone who still needs a hotel reservation to check this page on May 2, 2024. All rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at that time."

Interestingly, you can get a refund of your two-night deposit up until the last minute of May 8, 2024. So feel free to lock down whatever room you got and still try to trade up at the "general sale." You'll only lose the service fee.

9:17 am

Well, that was pretty smooth on my end. How did you do? 

I think the most nerve wracking part for me is selecting the actual hotels. I always have my list organized but in the heat of the moment, I always feel this tremendous pressure to just start picking any downtown hotel that looks good. The "You have less than 10 minutes" message didn't help in that regard.

8:39 am

Now would be a great time to freshen your caffeine, barricade your pets from your devices, and hit the bathroom. 

8:03 am PST

Oh look, there's a wait to get into the waiting room! People are very eager to conquer today, throttling systems and deploying all their IT tricks. I even had to complete a captcha.

Will today go smoothly or be a disaster? I ran into several kinds of trouble during Open Registration, which left a lingering SDCC-sale-PTSD so I'm a little nervous about today. But all in all, hotel lotteries have been smoother (not flawless) these last few years compared to yesteryear. (If you know, you know.)

Good luck today!

7:10 am PST

The second-most panicky day of your San Diego Comic-Con existence is here: the hotel lottery. I'll start with a positive: while today feels like your only shot at the downtown room of your dreams, there are options. Eventually you'll be able to go in and look for rooms when that portion goes live, and then you'll begin the long weeks of constantly checking, feeling hopeless, blaming yourself for not checking more, wondering if you should just take that room on Hotel Circle, then getting inspired by a post from someone who nabbed the Hilton Gaslamp in late May, and so it goes.

The point is: other rooms will open up. People will need roommates. You will find somewhere to call your own and while it may not be your dream, you really won't spend that much time there. A shuttle ride is just another way to give your aching feet a break.

Also on the downtown front - if you're watching your budget carefully, check parking costs at your dream hotel. I've heard people complain bitterly that they had no idea how much daily parking can be at downtown hotels - some thought it was built into the room cost. It isn't always. A non-downtown room can put more $$$ back in your pocket to spend in the Exhibit Hall or on your nightlife, so that's another plus if you land somewhere... distant.