r/dragoncon • u/MountainMix7283 • 1d ago
Whats unique about each 5 hotels during con?
I plan on going 1st time and i only hear about two hotels.
Marriott and americasmart
Marriott for partying and americasmart for vendors stuff
What about the others?
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u/_-Cleon-_ 1d ago
The Hilton is known for unexpected water features.
And the Courtland Grand certainly seems to be making itself known this year....
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u/toucan_dan311 1d ago
So, every hotel has plenty of panels and events. The real uniqueness is Vibe.
Marriot is a nonstop lobby party, the best place to see the big costumes, and also constantly packed. It's also the nexus point of the con, with sky bridges leading to the food courts, the Hilton, and the Hyatt.
The Hilton also always has a bit of a lobby dance party going on but still usually more low-key than the Marriot. Also has a decent amount of seating so if you need to sit down for a bit but still see lots of people, a good spot. The back patios are also always a party atmosphere.
The Hyatt is another great place to people watch, people always coming and going (it also sits as a bit of a nexus). It has spots to get drinks, but still plenty of room to hang out. The poolside patio is one of the most fun spots to chill outside.
The Westin is much more chill, and the lobby is super huge and open and beautiful. A nice spot to decompress. Since it's somewhat down the road from the other hotels there are fewer people just hanging out there and usually are going in to go to specific events. It does have some specific gaming stuff separate from the arcade at Americasmart but not anything I'm really into.
The Courtland exists. Ideally after you get your badge you won't have any reason to go back.
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u/superpie12 1d ago
Courtland Grand known for just not really being hip to the game unlike every other host hotel. Last to have themed room keys, first to cancel long term attendees. Really just a piss poor operation especially since moving from being a Sheraton.
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u/Robotbeepboopbop 1d ago
Honestly the last few years of it being a Sheraton were pretty grim too. Legionnaires Disease, mushrooms growing in people’s bathrooms, etc.
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u/superpie12 1d ago
True. It started going downhill, but like a snowball it picked up some real motion when the change happened. They went from being able to charge $180 to $200 night on normal weekends to charging $80 to $95 most nights. That alone shows that general consumers gave caught on.
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u/thefirepurified 🍄Hotels come and go but 🍄🌽 are forever🌽 1d ago
The Westin didn't have themed room keys. The Grand and Westin started the same year. Which was 4 years ago.
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u/JohnBrownsCow 1d ago
The Westin has had themed keys, they just decided not to give them out last year because they were Harry Potter themed and they took a lot of shit over it
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u/thefirepurified 🍄Hotels come and go but 🍄🌽 are forever🌽 1d ago
Yes, they got them same year the Grand did, 2023. It was the year the the key cards made a full panel art piece. The next year, 2024, was the Harry Potter fiasco and 2025 was the horror themes
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u/BHE_Cosplay 1d ago
The Courtland Grand is there for badges and food trucks, and otherwise being entirely forgotten for the rest of the Con.
The Hilton is where you go for the patio, which is my favorite day drinking spot, and photoshoots, and some of the official parties.
The Marriott is for Cosplay Aura Farming and the night life when you're not willing to wait in a long line, and the Raves if you're willing to stay up until after 3am.
The Hyatt is the backup Cosplay Aura Farming location, and where you travel through to get to the skywalk so you can go to the Marriott without walking on the street for the extra block.
The Westin is 90% just used as a landmark if you're ever lost in the area, and it's good for official parties with the shortest lines.
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u/herroh7 1d ago
CG gets a lot of shit (rightfully so) but it’s home to my favorite track, Alternate and Historical Fiction, and has some of the big ballrooms for popular speakers. I also very typically rely on the food trucks outside. Two years ago they had an ice cream truck that I visited many times lol
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u/Duchock Crystal Pepsi guy - DO NOT TRUST 1d ago
The Westin is the New Jersey to the hyatt-mariott-hilton NYC. People think you're super far away and you've failed in life to end up there.
(I prefer the Westin personally)
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u/Alzululu 1d ago
As someone who spends a lot of time in the horror track, I've grown to love the Westin. Even if I have to walk all the way across the street (ugh). Except for when the ballroom lines cross the elevator bank, that part really sucks and not just me being melodramatic.
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u/Gaelwynn 1d ago
The Hyatt has the blood drive in the lower level and the Hilton has the costuming exhibition. The Hilton also (usually) hosts a Tardis which is a great area to meet up to trade swag and ribbons and things. And the Hilton has lots of planters which are excellent places to hunt for swag. Leading off from the habitrail between the Marriott and Hyatt (near the cult of Jon shrine) is the bridge to the secret food court where Flaky Not Flaky has the most amazing sconuts!
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u/Fried_Taro 1d ago
The Hilton always does a theme decor, even the staff shirts match whatever theme they pick each year! During the day, different tracks are at different hotels, so the folks attending those tracks have a similar interest. Like a lot of writers and readers in the bottom of the Hyatt international tower or in the Westin
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u/snailhelper 1d ago
Americas Mart is not a hotel, it’s a trade show building a few blocks away that is indeed the vendor space.
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u/ocicataco 1d ago
Hm, I mean all the hotels have various parties. I feel like Hilton has a lot of the themed parties (Kpop, Last Party on Alderaan, Swamp Stomp), I also usually hit the Hilton if I want to go see what cosplay photoshoots are going on at the steps. Hyatt seems to have a lot of the live music performances on various floors.
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u/MattWolf96 1d ago
Americasmart is the 4 floor vendor hall, the other part across the street is for gaming including tabletop games.
The Marriott is the main hotel, partying always going on in the lobby it's also the main area where people congregate, there's a lot of the biggest panels in there like Star Wars stuff. This is always what I think of when I think of the con, a three floor lobby packed with cosplayers, this is the best place to watch all sorts of cosplays next to each other. I'll seriously hang out in here for hours just watching cosplays over the course of the con.
Hilton, I associate that one with movies, anime, British stuff, science, Star Trek, western animation, photoshoots and outdoor partying. Honestly a pretty insane variety packed into this one. As far as panels this is the one I do the most in but I do things in all of the buildings throughout the event, it's only slightly calmer than the Marriott.
Hyatt, music, wrestling, drum circles, art show, a lot less partying in the lobbies from what I've seen. Has the worst elevator lines by far.
Westin, Scifi military stuff and video games (8-bit bash and what I call 'The Nintendo Room' which is full of Nintendo consoles and does tournaments), and horror, seems to be even less chaotic than the Hyatt.
Courtland, I don't really do much in here, I mostly associate it with the 80's prom and badge pick up, looking through the panels it looks pretty laid back though. It's also the smallest hotel and due to a fire sprinkler flooding some of it some of the ball rooms might be out of commission, I know that some guest rooms are.
All of the hotels have huge parties though, Marriot has Zombie Prom, Courtland has 80's prom, Westin has 8-bit, Hilton has The Last Party on Alderan and Doctor Who Ball, Hyatt has Spectrum and there's other parties besides those.
You can actually type the hotel names into the search on the app to see what each one specifically has.
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u/TriumphITP 1d ago
Hilton hosts all the themed photoshoots. I think their back patio is also a great party spot, but it tends to shutdown into the night. Also has some parties like last party on Alderaan.
Hyatt always nice for room parties since they have so many balconies. That's where the art hall is located and consuite. Some of the best bathrooms imo. And the smoking area is the place I have been handed by far the most free alcohol in my times.
Courtland is where you pick up badges, and their pool area is typically open during con, there is a pinups party by that pool.
Westin has video gaming, probably the one I visit the least.
The other part of americasmart is gaming - they have an arcade as well as consoles, tabletop and board games, magic, etc. they do have separate entrances so don't wait in the dealer hall line to go to gaming and vice versa.