Wednesday morning at 9 AM Pacific Standard Time, many of my friends will being dialing and mousing like crazy as hotel reservations open up for this year's Comic-Con International, July 24-28. It's like a big, frustrating game of Musical Chairs since there will be a lot more people wanting rooms than there will be rooms. I hear that for a number of reasons — mainly more hotels opening up and the existing ones having fewer competing conventions — the situation will be much easier beginning in '09. That will be small comfort to those who will spend much of this Wednesday morn trying and failing to secure lodging for this year.
Do not write me and ask if I can help. I cannot help except to tell you that even after the initial ration of hotel rooms is gone, there will be more added. A year or two ago, I was given a long explanation of how the entire process works but there's no way I can replicate it here. Suffice it to say that just because they run out of rooms on Wednesday at 9:03 doesn't mean they won't have rooms available in a few weeks or a few months.
Also, the convention's hotel booking agency only has access to some percentage of the rooms at some hotels in San Diego. You may still be able to find something on your own, especially if you look some distance away from the Convention Center. Last year, a few friends of mine found shelter at a hotel about 10-15 minutes from all the action. Even taking a cab to and from the con each day, it was cheaper than what they would have had to pay to be nearby. Others have reported on successfully using the city's trolley service to commute from outlying motels, and a friend of mine likes to stay in San Clemente and use Amtrak to get to the convention each day. (Parking spaces at the convention are about as easy to find as copies of Groo that Sergio hasn't autographed.)
Yes, I know the convention is "too big," whatever that means. It's probably one of those valid complaints that there's no point in making because it's not going to get any smaller and, as a chum of mine points out, if they made it any smaller, they'd probably eliminate the parts of it that we love. For good or ill, the convention is the size it is and with that comes the problems of lodging and parking and crowds. Take solace in the fact that membership is now limited — in fact, it will sell out well before the convention dates — so the beast can grow no larger. If you accept its size instead of fighting it and moaning and wishing we were back to 3000 attendees at the old El Cortez, you can have a very good time down there. I certainly do.
Then again, I already have my hotel room.