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| Standard hotel room |
Conventions can be a place of fun, but they can also be a place of extreme stress. This can get even worse if you're in charge of a hotel room, especially if it's your first time in charge. Most people jump right in, thinking that being in charge of the room is the same as just staying in the room with friends. It is not the case. People at conventions tend to be dishonest as well as too trusting. They allow people you don't know into the room, things get stolen, people don't pay and try to weasel out of it, and things get broken. In the end, the person in charge of the room is left having to fit the bill for other people's mistakes.
I've heard so many horror stories about convention hotels. I've also been in charge of hotel rooms for almost the entire time that I have been attending conventions since 2005. I was taken advantage of a lot in the beginning. People have refused to pay and guilt-tripped me into allowing them in for free. People have broken things and refused to pay the deposit saying it was my responsibility to watch them. They have let others into the hotel room when I've specifically told them not to and things have been stolen. They've even taken all my alcohol to someone's room party without me, drank it all, and refused to pay me for my booze they drank.
Unfortunately, I am not the only person who's suffered these types of situations. I've heard these same stories repeated back to me by several people in charge of hotel rooms. I've heard other variations, where someone harassed someone into letting them put 12 people in a room built for 4. I've also heard people who've stayed in other room's been told "there's only 4 in the room, here's the cost" - but when they get there, there's 20 people in a room, and they were stuck in the situation.
Beneficially, having to deal with these situations and hear them over and over - I've become very knowledgeable on how to prevent oneself from being put into this situation - from both being in charge of the room's stand point, to knowing how to handle being in someone else's room. I will cover both sides and ways to help handle it.
FOR THOSE IN CHARGE OF A ROOM
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| Depending on how you manage your hotel room, it can remain as nice as the image on the left, or turn into the disaster on the right. |
If you want to be in charge of a hotel room, or have been and have suffered these situations, here are some tips and advice to being in charge of a hotel room. These are just my personal advice, as well as some advice given by a few others, so do not take these suggestions as hotel room laws. See them merely as suggestions from convention veterans.
First off, do not allow people you do not trust to room in your room. This can range from people that are friends of your friends, to even your own friends that you feel iffy about. If you are hesitant about the situation, put your foot down and say "no". Letting people you don't trust into the room is the quickest way to end up with people who don't pay, steal, and bully you into getting their way the entire weekend which will take away from your fun. If you are unable to put your foot down this early in the process of being in charge of a room - you are not ready to be in charge of a room at all.
The person in charge needs to be able to have good leadership, which means being able to make difficult choices and stick with them. If you feel you would cower if backed into a corner by those in your room, you should probably stay in someone else's room. I cannot stress this fact enough, if you cannot keep control in a group of your friends - do not tackle being in charge of a room.
Secondly, and this is extremely important. If you cannot afford to pay for the entire room by yourself, do not be in charge. Situations happen, people who say they can pay could back out last minute, and prices could change. There are so many unknown factors that could make people drop out, the prices go up, more people drop because the price portions go up...and these problems might not surface until the day everyone shows up in the room. If you cannot afford to suffer the loss of money, do not book the room.
One of the best solutions to this is to have everyone PayPal you the money in advance. Though you need to stress, that if they drop out of the room after a certain time, they will not get their money back, and if they don't pay by a certain day - they are no longer in the room. If they don't pay by the deadline, they probably had no intention to pay you properly anyway. If they cancel and try to get their money back past the date, you must be able to stand firm and refuse to return the money or return it suffering the loss yourself. Be warned, money dealings on hotel rooms is the quickest way to lose friends, so be prepared.
Another thing to think about is to set rules ahead of time. Inform all people who are going to be in your room of the rules, and have them agree to them. I'd suggest writing up a list if you're unsure of what your rules would be. If you don't have set rules, people won't know what to follow and you will be disrespected. Fights will also break out. So set rules that people agree on like in the following example:
Rules of the Room:
1. No people we don't know allowed in the room unless 2 or 3 room-members are in attendance - unless the head of the room has given you specific permission otherwise.
2. No underage people in the room.
3. No sex or etc in the hotel room.
4. No drugs in the hotel room
5. Keep your costumes and etc organized, and keep the bathroom clean. Do not leave makeup out or etc
6. Everyone must shower at least once a day. If room-members ask you to shower, do so without argument.
7. Sleeping arrangements have been set; do not take another person's sleeping spot.
8. Lights out at 2 a.m. - if you still want to be awake, do so outside of the room - some people need to sleep.
An additional good tip is not to overflow your hotel room. If the hotel says the limit for your room is 6, then do not have too many more than 6 people in your room. Yes, there are people who break this rule, but that is disrespectful to the hotel and can get the convention into a lot of trouble. Certain hotels are really cracking down on that lately, so I suggest either researching which cons are okay with overflowing your room and which are not, or obeying the hotel rules regardless. If you are not responsible enough to show the hotel and convention that much respect, then you are probably not ready to handle being in charge of a hotel room. Do not allow other members of the room to convince you to put more people into the room just because other people do it. In the end, if you break the hotel rules and are caught, you will be the one paying the consequences, not the person who told you to do it.
There are several other pieces of advice that can be given regarding being in charge of hotel rooms, but those are relative to questions asked. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment on this post and we will try to respond to you as quickly as possible. Or you can send an email to animaniacs_cosplay_contact@yahoo.com
STAYING IN ANOTHER PERSON'S ROOM
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As with being in charge of a room, the number one factor here is to make sure you can trust the people you are rooming with. As you attend more conventions, you'll learn how to deal with only trusting one or a few in the room, but when you're just starting out - it is best to trust as many in the room as possible. People at conventions can be extremely cruel, so be very careful. If you feel the people are shady, you probably shouldn't room with them.
Secondly, it is important to respect the person in charge. There are many aspects to this portion. First, find out what the rules of the room are. If you don't agree with some of the rules - voice your concerns or room elsewhere. Do not just disregard the rules because you do not agree with them - that is the easiest way to get it so the person in charge warns others against you and you will soon find yourself unable to find other rooms in the future. Keep your stuff organized and do not leave things a mess. This is beneficial for two reasons. One, it will make the person in charge respect you more and also it will make it less likely for others in the room to steal your things or accidentally get yours mixed up with their own belongings. Shower every day. Nobody wants someone who smells like a garbage can in their room. Try to be as helpful as possible. Do not be too loud in the room either.
Be very careful when it comes to money regarding the room. As much as I hate to say this, there are several people who like to charge more than the proper portion and will try and make a profit. Make sure to ask them to show you the exact cost of the room and how many people. If the costs seem odd to you, do not be afraid to question it. Not questioning it will only hurt you. Make sure to find out all the details on costs - parking, room, food, etc. If you wish to be even more helpful, let them know in advance if something happens and the price goes up, that if the price ends up exceeding a certain amount, you cannot room with them. And always make sure to have at least $200 more than what is required with you in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
Try and get to know everyone who will be in the room before the convention begins. One of the worst things to have to deal with at a convention is ending up in a room with someone who you do not get along with. This is easier said than done, but it is beneficial to try to achieve this.
Another bit of advice is this - things will go wrong. It is not always the person in charge's fault, so try not to take it out on them. The person in charge is under enough stress as it is. If things go incredibly wrong, try to make the best of the situation and try and handle it professionally - screaming and shouting will get you nowhere. The smartest option you can do in this situation is to stay out of the room as much as possible and not room with those people in the future.
There is a lot more advice that can be given on these areas, but these are some of the top pieces of advice. The more conventions you attend, the more lessons you will learn, and you will find methods that work for you. You will also hear horror stories and be given advice freely over the years that will aid you in learning to have peaceful hotel situations.
Article written by Abra Gauthier
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