General hotel reservations begin February 2 -- Suites at the Westin available now!
RESERVATIONS FOR WESTIN SUITES are once again available! Suites are deluxe rooms as described below, and are more expensive than regular rooms, which this year will be about $123 plus tax per night. In order to secure a suite, you must send an email to ceo(at)anthrocon.org with the phrase WESTIN SUITE REQUEST in the subject line. Include the full (real) name that the reservation will be under, and – new this year and very important – include your Anthrocon 2010 membership number which was sent to you by email when you submitted your registration. We will send you back an email with instructions on how to go about reserving a suite through our special contact at the Westin.
If you did not receive or have misplaced your registration confirmation email, you can email us at registration-2010(at)anthrocon.org and we will tell you. If you have not registered for Anthrocon 2010 yet...well, what are you waiting for? Get to it! Just click here!
Here are descriptions of the Westin’s suites (and they have done some remodeling since we were there last) and the 2010 prices for Anthrocon members. Prices do not include tax (about 14%):
1) CORNER SUITE ($250 per day). A bedroom with a king-sized bed, and a separate, small parlor room with a table and a sofa (roughly 640 sq ft). Note that few of these are available on Sunday night due to an incoming group behind us. You would need to switch to a standard room for Sunday night if you wanted to stay that long.
2) WORKOUT KING ($250 per day). A bedroom with a king-sized bed and a separate medium-sized parlor to get your morning aerobics in. It even includes some weights, an exercise ball, and more.
3) WORKOUT DOUBLE ($250 per day). A bedroom with a king-sized bed and a separate medium-sized parlor to get your morning aerobics in.
4) BUSINESS KING ($329 per day). A very large single room with a king-sized bed and a huge amount of space, about 729 square feet total.
5) BUSINESS DOUBLE ($329 per day). A very large single room with two double beds and a huge amount of space, about 729 square feet total.
6) 1-BEDROOM PARLOR ($390 per day). A bedroom with a king-sized bed and a large separate parlor with its own bathroom, dining table, and sofa. The parlor is 729 square feet and the bedroom is about 364 square feet.
The storm is coming. You feel it.
But... are you ready?
I'm more worried about the server being ready.
![The Knights who say "Ni!"](http://www.anthrocon.org/sites/all/modules/smileys/random_smileys/th_The_Knights_Who_Say_Ni_by_livius.gif "The Knights who say "Ni!"")
(And I am very sorry for that, really I cant help myself)
I can't wait; this will be my first Anthrocon after not being able to afford to go for years!
I do have a question. Ideally, I would like to stay in the Westin. However, after consulting friends who have previously attended, they have informed me that the Westin is apparently notorious for having lineups for elevators. Is this true? If so, what are the wait times like? I don't plan on being in my room very much so I don't think it will bother me too much, but I would like to have an idea before I book.
Thanks!
The lines in the Westin for elevators CAN get a bit long, but its unlikely they're any longer than a trip back to the Omni William Penn or the Doubletree. Although honestly, the elevator times are something I'm not very well versed in, because there's a stairway near the 3rd floor escalator exit point in the Westin that goes all the way to the top of the hotel.
The elevator lines (and waits) in the Westin can get very long especially in the evening right after a major event has let out. Unfortunately it's not easy to guess how long the wait will be based on the length of the line, since fursuiters, delivery people and non-Anthrocon people (hotel staff, etc.) get priority. Once I was near the head of the line, figured I'd probably get in the next car or the one after, and a fuzzle of fursuiters showed up so it was another 10 minutes' wait. So now, if the line has gotten past the concierge desk, I take the stairs. Even resting for a couple of minutes after climbing each few flights, it's quicker than waiting.
I also do my best (Even though like PeterCat, as a Director, I get cut-in-line privileges equivalent to a fursuiter (If he or I choose to use them)) to take the stairs as well. I've noticed that a great many of our attendees on the lower floors are in this habit, and many of them appreciably take the stairs down; while that has little effect on lines for going up, it makes the elevators travel down faster. Every little bit folks can do, does help our efforts to speed and optimize the elevator lines.
Also yes, as noted- other hotels generally do not have appreciable lines for the elevators. That is an advantage to the Doubletree, Marriot Courtyard, and Omni hotels that can counterbalance their greater walking distance.
We also have Security posted at the ground floor to keep people moving. Additionally, at peak elevator-use times we enforce some strict rules such as "all out at the ground floor," which discourages people from hopping onto a downward-moving elevator thinking they can just ride it back up.
Chiaro -- do you have any idea if the hotel would honor requests to be housed on "lower" floors (meaning still above the fursuit floors)?
I've hoofed it UP the steps many a time, often with luggage, but I just can't handle anything over about 18 any more, and I keep landing 20s, 23s, 21s, the roof next to the air conditioning units, etc. If they'd put me on, say, 15, I'd walk the whole convention.
It's first-come-first-serve as regards rooms. We also don't have fursuit floors anymore, because that fifteenth floor would have been a 'fursuit floor'. So would've the eighteenth.
That must explain why my room kept creeping higher in recent years XD Frankly, I was expecting to share a satellite dish with some pigeons this year.
Well, we have four hotels this year. It's a guarantee you can get a lower floor at a hotel that's not the Westin. Tradeoffs. 
True, but then I'd have to pretty much give up the night life (you've got to be crazy to walk around Pittsburgh after dark). If staying at the Westin means a wait in the elevator line, I'll sure do it. It'd just be nice to do my part by being able to take the stairs.
For the walk to the Omni, Doubletree, or Marriott Courtyard it's neither far nor a dangerous part of town; don't believe the hype about the 'crime-ridden mean street of the city'. For most cities, at that.
Oh the cities are no worse than the country or the suburbs or whatever after dark, no.
But then, I don't wander around at night at home, either. Frankly, I'm not real keen on walking in some of the areas near the convention center in daylight either, and thing start getting shady less than a block away, so it's really hard to convince me that being out after dark is safe when I've been up there and seen the area. I had a particularly scary walk up to the Catholic church on the strip in daylight but before people were really out one Sunday and that's been enough to put me off much exploring by foot in Pittsburgh.
Anyway, the peace of mind gained by NOT having to go outside to get to bed is far more valuable than the opportunity to avoid the elevator lines to me. If I get a lower room I get it, if I don't, I don't. If I don't get a room at the Westin I think real hard about going at all. That's just me I wouldn't try to change anyone else's mind whose priorities are different, but those are mine and I'm sticking with them I'm not a risk taker by any definition of the word.
I was just curious if anyone knew if they honored requests for floors when this all started XD
As some one who lived in the 'bad part' of Pittsburgh for 2 years, I can tell you the area around the con isn't that bad usually and I did walk at night to the other hotel alone and didn't have any trouble. My best advice is: Walk in groups (2 or more people), walk quickly, have things stored out of sight in back packs, don't stop to talk to people on the street who try to catch your attention. As I said I lived and worked in the 'bad part' for a couple years and only got rob once while at work. Course I looked like a bum (long beard/old trench coat) so people didn't mess with me on the street.
Also, Pittsburgh has little or no night life, the whole town closes up after 6pm and barely any thing is happening on the weekends. There are a couple night clubs close by the con (one called Club Zoo I think which is a under-21 night club like 4 or 5 blocks east, and the Pegasus Lounge about 4 or 5 blocks west if your into 'that' sort of club which has 18+ night friday nights). But other then running like mad to get to the other hotels, there's really no reason to be out at night. You have a whole con that's got stuff happening up until the early AM (dance) so stay inside and be safe.
Now during the day, mainly the weekdays, I suggest checking out the dock area to the east of the convention center. You name it its there. You have a huge comic book store like a block and a half away called Eide's I think, a costume store 'Costume world' like 4 blocks away, a party goods store 'Mike Feinberg Company Inc' I think it was called a couple blocks from the costume store that carried tons of cool things including glow sticks, and any kind of food you can imagine in both stores and street venders (careful what you eat). On the weekends most of these places are closed so if you get there thursday, check into your hotel and go for a walk. Basically, you know the bridge that connects the hotel to the convention center? Follow the road under it and just keep walking. You'll pass every thing I just listed and when you see the party supply store (on the right side of the street) turn the block to the left so you are walking towards the river. Turn left at the end of that block (you can't keep going straight as there's long warehouses in the way) to head back towards the hotel/con and you'll walk by the costume store, club zoo, a bulk store that sells swords and fireworks and a couple museums. That whole area is fine to be in during the day, just don't flash any cash out on the street.
one place thats somewhat close by to grab late night eats is Primanti Brothers. the strip district location is 24/7. its a little spooky of a walk at night though because things are closed around it. But as far as I know ,its not a high crime area.You should be safe walking in groups of 2 or more.or driving over if you have a car though its not a long walk at all. http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/271431/restaurant/Strip-District/Primanti-Brothers-Strip-District-Pittsburgh
Is there not a bar within the hotel(s)? A lack of bars around the convention center is disappointing to me. Not that I plan on spending a lot of time there - but after a long day of running around, nothing spells relaxation like sipping a good martini and socializing.
Of course there is a bar in the hotel. If there was not, Giza would not set foot inside.
Excellent, that's all I'll need. I hope they make a good martini.
there's bars EVERYWHERE, don't worry.
By "nightlife" I meant the con nightlife. The zoo. Room parties.
Have a destination when you out into the city at night and know how to get there. If you're going from point A (hotel) to point B (restaurant, other hotel), no problem. Do not go out at night with the intention of just wandering around the city, or without knowing how to get where you're going. This is not just endemic to Pittsburgh, this is advisable for any urban center.
Is that the official group name for a few fursuiters? A fuzzle?
It is now!
I used to room in the hotel up the road (I think its the one you mentioned) and I could walk there and be in my room before some one in line for the elevators could get to their room. This isn't always true (usually after a big show its a nightmare) and the day it rained really sucked for walking. As lame as it might sound, if the elevator line is a real issue with you, wear a fur suit. You get bumped to the front of the line. I was always a little annoyed by this practice when I didn't suit and the first time I was there in suit I got in line with every one else until one of the security people told me to come up front. Since I was near the top of the hotel I wasn't about to do stairs in suit, I'd already walked the stairs a couple times and it sucked a lot. Suiters do take up more room usually so they need a little help with the elevators during rushes, and most con goers are pretty good about helping suiters in to/out of the elevators AND not crowding in with suiters. I myself (when out of suit) usually let suiters get on the elevators before me even if I'd been waiting longer because they do get hot in those things when not moving.
On the other hand, we had one gentleman in street clothes whom I watched as he boldly marched to the front of the elevator line in the evening and was stopped by security.
"I need to get on," he said. "I'm a fursuiter."
When asked where his fursuit was, he said, "It's up in my room. I'm going up to put it on."
Sadly, he was never seen alive again.
i would so reg for one of those rooms.
but seeing has its $250 per day...times 3..... $750 + tax = about $900 for the whole thing!
i got enough to cover it, but i prefer the cheapo shoddy rooms at $135 a night. ^^
Shoddy? They're not shoddy! They have the Heavenly Bed!
i would take it but... D:
ITS TOO EXPENSIVE. *emo corner*
By yourself yes. but you can fit 4 people in a hotel room (5 if you get a pull away, but make sure you tell them you need a pull away when you make your reservation AND when you check in, as they often give them out to who ever asks for them and run out fast). the $250 rooms will be like $280 a night after all the non-sense taxes (state/occupancy/because we can tax you tax totals like 15% I think) so just say $300 a night for $900 for 3 nights. Divide that by 5 people and its just a little over what a single person is paying a night for the 'cheap' rooms, like $180. So if you were planning to room alone, find 4 friends and splurge on the big room.
I always get a room by myself and end up with a full room with crashers. Sharing rooms keeps the cost of attending a con reasonable.
Look at it this way, last year I paid $400+ for the room/parking, $175 for supersponsor, $50-$60 for gas, another $30 for food, far more then I should have in the dealers room, and some other costs (charity donations, a new fur suit, ect.). So in the end a solo trip to AC ended up costing me about the same as taking a couple vacation trips to Germany.
So, do any thing you can to save money at a con. Stop by a dollar store and pick up some cheap soda/water and snack food. There's a McDonalds a couple blocks from the con, live off $1 burgers for the weekend. I used to carry a ton of pixy stix with me to hand out to con goes (I didn't last year) so there's often free sugar to be had (I might have them this year so look for a puma with tentacles). They usually have a milk and cookies night in the Zoo (look into what day/time that is). If you have the money for supersponsor, you (last year) get a couple free meals at the local places and a good meal at the luncheon (between that and snack food you brought you don't need to go out for food, though there are some really good places to eat if you have the money close by, walk east from the convention center and there's every sort of food you can imagine sold in one store or another along that road). There's coffee in the hotel rooms and I think the hotel will bring you more if you ask. Rooming with other people helps save money, just don't be a bum and crash with people every night. Ride share also helps.
I'm going to be calling right away. Just one question. What are the dates for the room blocks? I saw a something earlier that said 3 days before to 3 days after so would that be June 21 thru June 30 then?
You're not calling right away; you're emailing me!
And yes, the rate is good for 3 days before and 3 days after. That does not, however, guarantee that rooms are available at those times.
Sorry, I meant that I will be calling right away on the 2nd. I'm going for a regular room, not a suite. Poorly written on my part, sorry about that. Hoping to get in at the Westin so I will be calling as soon as reservations open up.
So, if the taxes/fees remain the same percentage-wise... With the rooms going up to $123 a night, we are looking at a rate for a 'normal' room going to approximately $140 per night when taxes and fees are included.
WARNING: that's only an estimate based on the $119 rate from last year becoming $135 after taxes and fees were added. The taxes/fees came to just over $16 per night last year, which comes out to (roughly) 13.5%. The new rate of $123 per night using the same tax/fee rate comes out to $139.60. If Pennsylvania or Pittsburgh have changed their tax rates or occupancy fees, that number will be higher.
(For those oldtimers: if you do math in their head as I do, you can round the 13.5% up to an even 20%. Then take 20% [one-fifth] of the $4 increase and get 80 cents, giving a rough increase of five bucks. The quick estimate this makes is a decent quick sanity check... not that I have any sanity myself.)
Note that the math is mine and not Anthrocon's. Don't hold them responsible for any mistakes I might have made. It's just that a number of people have been asking how much they need for the room per night, so they can save (and budget) accordingly. This is just a best-guess based on last year's rates...
Kage, as always: if you feel this is misleading in any way, purge it ASAP.
How do you know the rates went up? I didn't see Kage post about that.
To quote the second paragraph from Kage's post:
RESERVATIONS FOR WESTIN SUITES, however, can be made right now. Suites are deluxe rooms as described below, and are more expensive than regular rooms, which this year will be about $123 plus tax per night. In order to secure a suite, you must send an email to ceo(at)anthrocon.org with the phrase WESTIN SUITE REQUEST in the subject line. Include the full (real) name that the reservation will be under, and – new this year and very important – include your Anthrocon 2010 membership number which was sent to you by email when you submitted your registration. We will send you back an email with instructions on how to go about reserving a suite through our special contact at the Westin.
I added the bolding in the middle to make it stand out. That doesn't necessarily mean that all hotels will be $123 before taxes. And, as I said, that $140 is an estimate based on last year's tax rates. The taxes and fees may have gone up since then as well.
(I've learned, over the years, to read Kage's posts very carefully. Sometimes he lets things slip, intentionally or otherwise...)
(For those oldtimers: if you do math in their head as I do, you can round the 13.5% up to an even 20%. Then take 20% [one-fifth] of the $4 increase and get 80 cents, giving a rough increase of five bucks. The quick estimate this makes is a decent quick sanity check... not that I have any sanity myself.)
I'm afraid that my brain was never quite that agile. I have to rely on my trusty ol' slipstick.
*whips out a worn Pickett N 200-ES Trig model from his boot*
Remember what "cursor" originally referred to? 
My high school had me on an 'advanced mathematics' course which means I never learned the practical skill of using a slide rule.
Dammit.
Looking forward to the reservations becoming available, any chance of seeing what the rates will be for all the hotels here in order to plan ahead please?
From the looks of it you can plan on the rate at each hotel being about $123 a night plus taxes and fees for the regular rooms. That will add up to about $140 a night.
Fair enough, I was just wondering if there would be any relative difference in the prices at each of the AC preferred hotels which might justify choosing one in particular and save a little on the overall cost, thanks!
If there is any difference you would probably be looking at only a couple dollars a night.
just out of curiosity, what if i were to book right now at the same place? i went to hotels.com, looked at their rates & they seem to have pretty good deals.
unless its still not available for booking?
& will the hotel booking be on AC's website or will i have to go to the hotels website to book? 
how will this go exactly?
one more question: if i book at another hotel, lets say the Hilton nearest to the Con, will i be getting a lower price than the Con's hotels? will i be getting the AC deal/discount/whateveritisthehotelsgive?
*so lost when it comes to booking hotels*
If you were to book right now you would not get the convention rate (which is about 50% or more off of the regular room rate). You might get a decent deal from one of the hotel sites like hotels.com but it may not be as good of a rate as the convention rate. And that is if they will have any rooms available for that time period.
As for booking at another hotel I can't tell you if it will be more or less compared to the AC hotels as I don't know what they will be charging so you need to check with those hotels for prices. The AC hotels will be running about $123 a night plus taxes and fees (which add about 14% to the price). If you do book at a hotel that is not one of the convention hotels you will get no discount related to AC whatsoever. One thing I will say is that AC depends on its convention goers for filling up the room blocks. If the room blocks do not get filled AC will end up paying the hotel for the empty rooms. My suggestion would be to wait until resevations open on the 2nd and try to get in at one of the convention hotels.
As for registering, when the reservations open up on Feb. 2nd they will be posting links and phone numbers for each of the hotels on this site. You will be registering with the hotel directly, not through AC. Also there will be a promo code you will need to enter to get the AC room rates if you register online. And if you register by phone you will have to tell them that it is for Anthrocon. You will also need a credit card as the hotel will charge a non-refundable deposit equal to one night's stay. The balance will be paid upon checkout.
You will go to http://www.anthrocon.org/hotel, pick your hotel from there, and follow the links.
I can't wait to reserve my room.
-The two saddest words in the English language are "Good bye"