/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

That's fucking obnoxious , but pretty common with rude,inconsiderate friends.

Just make them pay for their share so you can pay less for the room. And they automatically get the floor.

Make them pay as soon as they arrive.

No room sex, no drugs, no alcohol if anyone's underage. Since the room is in your name, it could legally come back to bite you on the ass.

Make sure they keep their shit clean.

Sort out who sleeps where (bed, floor, sofa) well in advance to avoid whiners who promise to sleep on the floor and then cry about wanting a bed at 11:59pm.

>>6791479
I think it would be better if I arranged to meet up with these roomies beforehand and ask that they should be ready to pay up.

>>6791486
Awesome. Thanks.

1. Try to meet with them before the con
2. Make it clear you're expecting payment on the first day and if they wreck anything in there they get the bill
3. Make it clear to them not to leave their friends in there unattended
4. Make sure you have enough room keys for everyone to have one, or for two people who will be hanging out a lot to share. What I do is put a piece of scotch tape on each one and write something on them to make it easier to tell who's is who's.
5. If they're cosplaying leave some clear ground rules on not touching other people's costumes without asking
6. No paint outside of the bathroom and if they're painting something be it a prop or their butts they better bring something to clean it up with
7. Make your opinions on drugs or alcohol very clear before con time
8. If someone decides to no-show without warning you before the con starts they still foot their part of room bill. The exception is if there was a sudden, urgent, emergency of sickness. I had someone skip on me the weekend of with no warning and I wouldn't have even found out if I hadn't bothered them about it, that's not fucking cool
9. Don't be afraid to be a bitch if you have to be

>>6791492
You can try that, or just not let them into the room until they have given you money. Otherwise they can keep pushing it off and attempting to guilt you so they never have to pay. OR WORSE, spend all their room money in the dealer's hall and act all "OH, YOU WANTED THE MONEY THIS WEEKEND?" on Sunday.

"No, you should have realized you were not getting a free room. You can either pay me now or sleep in your car, I am not letting you into this room until you have given me xx.xx amount."

I've been reserving rooms for over 5 years for cons. YES absolutely set rules. Keep in mind, the hotel has your credit card information so any damages will be billed to you. If you do not know these people/ know they are responsible & trustworthy, you might want to be overly cautious. Some ideas for rules:

> Always demand payment before letting them stay. I've been fucked over before by people going "save me a spot, I'll have the money!" then bailing on me at the last minute. Now, it's no saved spots, it's first-come first-serve when the money is in hand and the check clears. Also consider money for: fuel, parking, etc if you are travelling together.

> Everyone should really be 18+, I personally keep it 21+ because I've been in situations where people were underaged drinking (luckily not a room I reserved). Too much drama/potential legal action for me.

> On the above note, rules about booze/ drugs/ room parties? I'd keep it out of the hotel room, personally. Too much risk about stuff being damaged/stolen/etc.

> Also talk about 'bringing people home' to the room. Been in this situation before with somebody bringing home the wrong people and it ending up being bad news.

> Sleeping situations. If you've got 6 people and 2 beds, somebody has to take the floor. Will you rotate beds, does somebody like sleeping on the floor, etc? Best to argue before the con.

> Showering/costume situation. Some people set up schedules, depending on mirror/bathroom space. You may need to wake up hours earlier in order to hop into the shower. Again best to argue before the con.

> Might want to meet up to generally discuss your schedules. It might not be cool if the person comes home from the rave every night at 3am, when the rest of the room has been in bed since 11pm. Likewise, people might hate if one person wakes up at 5am to start her costume preparation when everyone else sleeps in until 9am. Get the feel of everyone's schedule, and maybe suggest people bring earplugs/eyemasks.

>>6791507
Bit of a dick move. I don't want to be the guy with the stick in his ass, though. However it IS a good idea if people give me shit about it.

>>6791520
>bringing home the wrong people
>bad news
Story teim? Btw, I love these rules. Spoke to the person who I first roomed with, but she says we can't meet up till after Acen. Is that too soon?

>>6791520
Continued

> Do not be afraid to be a bitch. It is so easy to get screwed over.
> I would ban sex from the room altogether. It's awkward when you're sharing a room, and if you really want romantic time with somebody, then rent your own room.
> If people are cosplaying, discuss. Are they using paint? Also, will they be sewing/doing anything noisy or annoying in the hotel room? I visited somebody's room and they were NOT happy that somebody decided to use glitter and get it on every possible surface in the room.
> Make sure smokers realize if it is a Nonsmoking room and to respect that. Friend got fucked over with a bill because some of his friends decided to smoke in a nonsmoking room.
> Discuss check-in and check-out times. Make sure people are packed and ready by check-out. Some hotels will bill you an entire extra day if you are late on check out. Also make sure you know what time check-out is, because every hotel is different.
> Make sure nobody touches the stuff that costs money. Some people think it's "funny" to mess around with that stuff. (I've heard some hotels charge you for opening the fridge. Many have those $5.00 Liter bottles of water and they'll bill you if the seal gets cracked.)

>That feel when one of your roomies decides to take an hour long shower while everyone is trying to change into costume

>>6791536
Bringing home the wrong people?

Basically the story goes like this:
> Sharing 2-room suite among 8 people, 4 per room.
> Last night of con, 6 of us go out to enjoy the con while 2 are m.i.a
> We come back from the con around 1am
> Weird person walks by in the hallway
> Room to suite is partially open
> Room is utterly ripped apart, stuff everywhere
> 2 m.i.a. people are drunk, have been smoking in the nonsmoking room
> Hear noise from bathroom
> Girl crying/puking in bathroom
> "Who is she?"
> "We don't know, she wanted to drink with us."
> She looks underage
> "Can't she stay, she's upset and has nowhere to go"
> Friend says fuck no, get her the fuck out
> Find out the mystery chick used somebody's toothbrush (of course not one of the 2 guys')
> Bed looked "used"
> Were concerned that our stuff was gone through, luckily nothing went missing
> 6 of us cram into the other room out of disgust, lock the connecting door and ignore the noise.

Friend got billed some ridiculous amount for the room being wrecked and the smoking. It reeked. He reserved hotel rooms for years and that was the year he stopped.

>>6791545
>Are they using paint? Also, will they be sewing/doing anything noisy or annoying in the hotel room? I visited somebody's room and they were NOT happy that somebody decided to use glitter and get it on every possible surface in the room.
I once roomed with someone had somehow managed to get an entire tube of superglue all over a wooden table in the room. In an attempt to get it off they proceeded to try to scrub it off with acetone and when they didn't work they left the acetone soaked rag on the table. We didn't even notice this until we were trying to clean the room during check-out day. Which they didn't help with.

>>6791552
While we're on this subject, you might want to see how the hotel room is laid out. I like when the bathroom is set up with the sink/mirror in the main room, and the toilet/shower is in an enclosed 'bathroom'. Additional large mirrors are nice.

If you are not sure, you might want to bring your own makeup mirror. Sucks to fight for mirror space if you've got someplace to be early in the morning.

Also while you're discussing sleeping situations, you might want to find out if anybody has an air mattress or sleeping bag they're willing to bring. It helps.

>>6791570
If that isn't a hotel room horror story, i don't know what is.. damn.

>>6791589
Good idea. My aunt gave me a single-sized inflatable air mattress. I'm bringing that fucker with me to Acen anyway.

>>6791472

>having to resort to rooming with gross,obnoxious or dumb weebs just to save a buck

Feels good getting to just room alone with the bf. Cons are pretty much mini vacations for me, and I'll be damned if I risk letting some shitty roommates spoil it.

>>6791604
Yeah, I can honestly say my days of sharing a room with 6-8+ people are over. I now share it with one trusted friend and it's really nice.

>>6791604
Well, that's the thing. What if they aren't like that at all? Knowing my original roomie she usually avoids people like that.

>>6791589
I think people who do this should pay less.

>>6791761
That's a good reason why you discuss things before the con. If you have enough beds for everybody, everybody splits evenly. If we rotate beds and everyone spends the night on the air mattress, everybody splits evenly. If somebody spends the whole weekend sleeping on the floor, they might pay a little less. Sometimes people don't mind though.

Don't know if someone mentioned it yet, but keep a small padlock on your baggage, especially if you have food or valuables. Keep the key in your wallet, sleep with your wallet in your pants pocket.

I haven't had any issues with roommates so far, but for one con I have to travel light due to luggage restrictions, and the only cheap, nutritious food I eat all weekend is mostly the little bit I bring myself. Someone swiping my food could completely fuck me over.

>When room is under friend's name
>Clothes everywhere
>Pizza boxes everywhere
>Booze everywhere
>Use trashcan as a cooler
>Toilet is clogged

>When room is under my name
>Have everyone put linens on top of bed when everyone is awake
>Put shit away and make use of the drawers
>Stack towels on the floor in the bathroom (It's common courtesy to do this and it tells housekeeping you need new towels)
>Try to keep everything clean and organized as much as possible

I feel bad for those working in housekeeping during a con. Every room is a shithole, but when they come to my room, it feels like a breath of fresh air since they don't have to do too much work.

This year will be my first year at SDCC as well as my first time in a hostel. I always went to hotels before or for cons I just went to my local ones.
Any hostel tips??

Hypothetical question: Will your roommates be mad at you if you decide that you can't finish your group costume in time?
I mean I have money set aside for my share of the hotel and giving one of the girls gas money, but honestly there's not a chance in hell I'm going to be able to finish my group cosplay character. Plus it requires body paint which I feel would be a hassle in a hotel room. I'm really not a major character anyway, I just picked it because all of the easier canons were taken by them so I had to pick out of the many obscure difficult ones.

>>6792567
If you explain it like that to them, you should be fine. As a whole, I would say people only get mad if the main character drops out and they are the more obscure one.

>best friend and I end up always cleaning the room that was a shithole by everyone else to help the maids

It's the best feeling in the world being the scavenger because sometimes you find awesome shit left behind

>wigs
>wig caps
>expensive makeup
>food
>props

You leave shit in the room, you ain't never gonna get it back.

is it really difficult for working adults to just get their own rooms? Its not like you're paying thousands per night just a couple hundred at the most if you get a room in advanced.

>>6792818
this. this is also why you have a credit card. like a discover card, not a bank card. you pay, but don't need to worry about the money going right out of your account.

>>6792818
>>6792843

Getting a good hotel room next to or fairly nearby a Convention Center is pretty darned expensive

I usually get a room by myself for multiple days and I would be lying if I didn't consider booking a room with multiple people more than once.

> tfw when a single con will cost you like 1k in hotel costs near the LACC

>>6792557
>hostel
Always take the top bunk

>>6792818

It's not hard to get your own room, sometimes it's just fun to have a bunch of people in a room. My friends and I could all easily afford our own rooms but we usually have 4-6 people for cons. It's like one big sleepover party.

To be fair though, I usually regret that choice at least once per con. Usually when one of my friends decides they need to go to some 10am photo shoot and they are making a fuck load of noise while I'm trying to sleep off my hangover.

>>6792891
>2013
>Going to AX

>>6792930
Not actually going this year, but has been the case for the years before

>>6791536
let's put it this way. do you want to be the guy with a stick up his ass or the guy who is paying three times what he should be because he didn't collect the money? let's say you were a shop clerk. would you let people walk out of the store with merchandise before they paid?

>>6792935
Hmm. Good point.

In my experience, room with people in their late 20s or older. I've never had a single problem in room shares, and I've always been the youngest one.

>>6792930
>Enjoying yourself at a con
>Not bowing to /cgl/ peer pressure

OMG SO LAME XD XD

>>6791503
why would they paint their butts?

>>6792987
Nudestuck. Or maybe they're that infamous mudkip who covered everything in blue paint.

Have you people ever had sex in a hotel?

>>6792989
Nudestucks only paint one butt cheek because they're always half-assed.

>>6792999
Yes.

>>6793004
was it with some random cosplayer or with your bf?

>>6793011
It was with my ex.

I roomed with two strangers from /cgl/ at Otakon, nicest fucking people in the world. We were all surprised how pleasant it was to not have total assholes or weirdos as roommates.

Not sure I'd ever take someone from another site (tumblr in particular), but /cgl/ has polite con-goers.

This is why I love having previously worked at a hotel. My manager still lets me use the employee discount, with a ten minute drive to the con center, I haven't paid more than $40 a night for a hotel room in three years.

Great for having a few people so the room is extra cheap, but it also means I'm not breaking the bank if I want some quiet time and a con to myself/my bf.

> Keep your cash someplace secure, either on you or in something locked. I swear to this day somebody stole $100 cash out of my suitcase, even though I thought I hid it pretty well. Likewise for anything else valuable. As a general rule of thumb, don't ever bring anything valuable that you don't need or that might be a temptation for somebody to steal.

>>6792530
Yeah, we always keep our room neat. Towels may end up throughout the room during the day but I always try to straighten up before I leave the room in the morning.

I don't like my shit being scattered everywhere, I feel like that's the easiest way to lose something or have it get stolen. Plus, a hotel room already is usually pretty small. Cluttering it up with trash and junk everywhere makes it feel so much smaller.

Not sure how useful this may be to you as things can be a tad different between US and UK cons, but I'll offer some tips regardless.

>Always aim to meet with the people at least once before the con.
I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but first impressions are pretty good for people you'll only be staying a few days with. Either the person has terrible body hygiene, or they're drug taking alcoholics. Not to mention this offers you a chance to get the money off them as well.

>Buy air fresheners and cleaning products or take them with you.
Either the people you room with have terribly hygiene or they've spent a full day sweating in a costume. A few sprays here and there or an automatic dispenser with at least mask the smell and make the room smell pleasant. Cleaning equipment needs no explanation, some hotels can be really anal about any stain.

>Book early, real early.
I find it hilarious sometimes that people are willing to spends a couple of hundred £/$ on a hotel room when they can have it for a fraction of the price if they book quite a few months in advance. Check the hotel website or a booking company, some offer you a free cancellation as long as it's 3-7 days before the date. By then you'll know whether you're going or not

>Drink anywhere but your room, even when you know the people well
It sounds like a dick move, but I've had issues with getting drunk with close friends in out own rooms and waking up the next morning to find we've done something stupid. You make not be an angry drunk, but if you don't know the people well who knows what might happen?

>If you're over the legal age for sex (16/18) do not room with people who are under it unless they are related
This can seriously bite you on the arse, whether it's your name on the bill or not. Maybe they meet someone their own age and fuck in the room, or someone older, or you get drunk etc.. Endless possibilities of things fucking up and it's not worth the hassle

>>6793261
This is all extremely solid advice and having a kit of cleaning products can really save your ass at check out time.

>>6792999
Yeah, multiple times.
Twice in my own room and once in someone else's.

>>6793003
heh

>>6793245
>> Keep your cash someplace secure, either on you or in something locked. I swear to this day somebody stole $100 cash out of my suitcase, even though I thought I hid it pretty well. Likewise for anything else valuable. As a general rule of thumb, don't ever bring anything valuable that you don't need or that might be a temptation for somebody to steal.
Adding to this, most hotel rooms usually have a safe. If you're the hotel room owner, make sure to snatch that shit up, or if you're not, ask if they're planning on using it. Good to put your extra cash/travel docs in there.

>>6792915
That comment made me think of camp. But I guess it's a good idea ;)