Here’s part 3 of my series on how to pick the best hotel at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. If you’re using the official Hotel Registration process, you can’t really get to pick one hotel and expect to get it. You have to pick a bunch and hope you’ll get one toward the top of your list. The only way to have an actual say in the matter is reserving separately and paying a big price. Still, it doesn’t hurt to know what some hotels have to offer…
Where do the celebrities stay?
Logic dictates that the ones with the money (or being taken care of by the studios) will stay in hotels closest to the con and with direct lines of access that don’t go through throngs of overly-adoring fans. But last year I saw most of the cast of Community in the lobby at the Westin Gaslamp where I was staying, which is a number of blocks away at Horton Plaza, the outdoor mall (they likely stayed there because they’re on NBC, which is right next door to the hotel). Almost every day of my second year at Comic-Con, I’d run into Seth Green standing outside the Marriott Gaslamp. And back in 2006, I walked out into the lobby of the Hilton Gaslamp one morning to find Joss Whedon standing at the bottom of the steps with open arms. I looked up to see Adam Baldwin descending those stairs with a big smile for his buddy. They embraced and caught up on old times. That’s one of my favorite memories, even though it has nothing to do with me. No, I didn’t interject myself into the cuddle session in an attempt to get an autograph or picture, even though it would have been really easy to do so. It was enough that I got to witness that moment as I’m a big Firefly fan.
If you’re planning on going to any of the hotels just to hunt celebs, I’m going to beg you to change your mind. Many of the celebs we love are there for a little bit of a break too, especially those who are genuine geeks, soaking up the experience like each one of us ticket-buying nerds. If you find them in a non-convention space, especially if they’re with their friends or families, leave them alone. At most, give them a nod, a smile, and a “HI!” in passing. But don’t bug them for autographs or long conversations about episode 12 of season 3 when their character did this thing or the other. If they’re in a social situation, like a mixer at a club, that’s another situation entirely, but there’s a reason why most attendees don’t get invited to those exclusive events. Okay, I’ll admit that after a few gin and tonics at the Xbox party and then the Robert Rodriguez party last year, I did walk up to Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice Guy) outside the Hard Rock and told him how awesome he was (he was standing waiting for someone, so I wasn’t interrupting anything), but I didn’t linger. I said hello, got a handshake, a smiling baritone “thank you”, and I went on my merry way. Besides, I had one more party to go to. I like to think that a lot of the celebrities don’t mind casually chatting with fans or a friendly comment or handshake, but they’ve been freaked out so many times in the past that they tend to shut themselves away from those types of situations, especially in a place where it’s possible that every single one of their disturbingly obsessive fans could be at that one place.
So my advice is: be cool. Don’t pick a hotel just for the celebrity sighting potential. The entire Gaslamp Quarter is the place to gawk and gasp every time you turn a corner. If a celebrity is on their way to their room for a little shuteye or they’re having some quiet time with their family, try not to spaz. If you think you can’t communicate with them without spazzing, keep to yourself and most of all, NO CAMERAS!
And, by the way, it is NEVER cool to chat up a celebrity while they’re taking a whiz next to you at the urinals (or the next stall, ladies). It just isn’t. Leave them be. And that NO CAMERAS advice goes double here.
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