I've done it, had like 8 people to a room. It sucks, but I was also a college student. Now I try to stay in rooms that max at 4 people, sometimes 5. It's so much better that way, even if it costs a little more.

well, me and my friends are all asian, so we are perfectly comfortable like 16 to a room; usually we'll get a double, and use one room to house costumes/props.

yeah, it's great being able to trust your friends not just not to steal from you, but also to get along in close quarters. plus saving a shitload of money is fucking ace.

>>2675724
>max at 4 people, sometimes 5.
I wholeheartedly agree with this anon. I will never again put myself in a situation where I'm sleeping sitting up with the curtain as a blanket, and the whole floor is a mass of bodies.

Yeah, there's only going to be 5 of us....But I don't really want my credit card to get charged for 5 people at normal rate.

>>2675737
This. We save thousands of dollars and have a blast. I guess it wouldn't be doable if we didn't all get along and like sleeping together anyways.

You honestly have to be a moron to get caught stuffing.

I always have at least 6 people, and I've had up to 14.

I'm renting two dorm rooms, but I've got two people in each. Both rooms have couples in them, so it should be fine, but we're bringing inflatable mattresses in case it gets tight.

Never done it myself, usually 4 people to a room, 2 to a bed. Then again the rooms arrangements are settled by my friend.

Yeah, it cuts down on costs. And we have a group of like 5 people that consistently go to the con we attend. and a mess of people who go when they can. so we all get a long, and stay out of each others ways.

Had 8 at most one room, and it wasn't bad at all.

2 to the two beds, and 4 on the floor.

I couldn't see us doing more then 8 though.

Yeah it sucks.
Last con i went to i paid for the room by myself and let 2 friends stay.
Was so much more comfortable.
4 Max is a good guideline.

Protip: don't get caught.

No. Never. The most I've ever had is five people in a four person room one year. It's a vacation; I'm going to treat it like one.

Most I ever crammed in a room was six people, counting myself.

I agree with the four max rule, I'm never going over that again.

>>2675834

THIS. I've learned it the hard way. Room stuffing has always sucked for me. I don't sleep well, people steal my blankets, eat my snacks & food (which you can save a ton on bringing your own food!) it's just not worth it to save what, $20-40? I would much rather have 5 people in a double bed room and relax and enjoy my weekend. It's so nice.

>>2675840
wow, that sucks. I would never stuff with people I couldn't trust.

$20-40, though? Maybe the price of a room is different here, but I always end up saving $60-80 dollars at least

>>2675879
largely depends on the con.
Ive had hotel rooms from 300$ a night down to 120$

>>2675784
this this this.

most i've had was 11 people in a suite-style room (sitting room, separate bedroom). inflatable mattresses are your friends

I've had 8 people in a doubles room and it discounted the rate to $25 per night per person. It was a group of random people from the internet though and complete strangers, so I'm never doing that again.

Nowadays I rely on a friend who is a Hilton hotel employee to get discounts.

I did have 8 people in a single room, once....I don't remember how much it cost, but it was damn cheap.

Gotta say, 5 to 6 people in a double bed room is my max. My friends and I cosplay and usually bring 3+ costumes a piece.

If you try to cram any more than 5-6 cosplayers in a room with that many costumes/props/accessories/and wigs, it gets hellish. I friend had 9 cosplayers with an average of 5 costumes a piece in her room once. I went to chill in her room, it was a fucking nightmare. I'd rather pay a little more and not have to worry about stepping on someone's stuff (and it was everywhere).

If everyone's there for the con and not to cosplay, probably space isn't as much an issue.

On a related note, how much do you guys usually spend on hotels?
For three days in a suite, my friends and I spent somewhere around $275.

The stuffiest I've ever done was 5 people in one of those tiny single rooms.

I had to sleep under the sink.

>Sakura Con

>>2676008

for smaller cons, usually between 25 and 40 bucks per person

for bigger cons usually form 60-80 per person

and thats usually for about 5-6 people in the room.

I thought that bed layout looked familiar. I work at a Crowne Plaza.

I usually stay at the nicer hotels, 150 a night? Worth it when everyone chips in.

>>2676030
o....k?

Haven't before but the people I usually go with to SakuraCon are considering it this year since our group size has gone down. Looking at 5 to a room or all 10 in one.

With all my wigs, I am just thinking it is a bad idea. ( That and I like my sleep. ) And how the fuck do you work out showers with that many people?

>>2676162

You didn't know that Sakura Con's run by Nazis?

>>2676231
Have half of the people shower at night and the other half in the morning. Everybody showering in the morning is a bitch, I know from experience....

> how the fuck do you work out showers with that many people?
basic organization.agree before hand, and stick to it unless both parties agree.

Ugh, I can't room cram. I hate people.

I always get a room by myself. I used to room with online friends when I was younger.

I would never room with strangers. I mean, how can you trust them? They might steal your shit.

I hear they kick you out of your hotel at acen. which fucking sucks seeing that I have 9 people in the damn room

I once got stuck in a room with 8. barely had room to change muchless exist peacefully. By the end of the con i wanted to kill people.

>>2676409
This. I have to shower at night anyway because my hair takes forever and a half to dry and I hate blowdrying more than necessary, and when everybody is waiting for the shower in the morning, I have plenty of time to get ready. After the time this happened, we split evenly between who was showering at night and in the morning.
My best advice is, if there are people in the room who aren't cosplaying, have them shower in the morning if they can. Those cosplaying shower at night, gives them more time to get ready (costume, contacts, make-up, wig, etc) in the morning.

Most I've ever had in a room at once was AB 07, we had 8 people. Four people in two beds, two on the floor, one in the closet, one on the windowsill. It worked out okay. I don't think I'll ever do more than 6 people again, though. 4 would be ideal, but I like saving money...

I used to share a room with 8-9 close friends (people I trusted and respected). We were all mature about it and just took turns with everything; taking showers, getting a bed, etc. Its fine as long as you all get along. Room was a total dump by the end of it though.

The hotel (Delta) knew we had this many as we'd tell them when we asked for cots. They neither cared nor kicked us out as long as we payed the extra fee for having the max number of 4 adults.

Most Ive been in a room with was five.

Shit got awkward REALLY fast. Im only thankful it was only that first night....

I only ever keep it two to a bed, maybe one extra on a blowup bed or something.

I know the only room I could get for AN was a 1 kingsize bed, and they offered a roll in bed for me since my brothers are sharing the room.

I personally HATE stuffing people into rooms. It's unprofessional and ends up with someone breaking something.

Most I have ever stuffed in a room was 7 but we got lucky since the rooms with double beds also had a full sized couch in it so 5 were on beds/couch and two were on the floor. I had great roommates though so it was a lot of fun and everyone understood how to manage showers, finishing costumes (The dear cosplayer went into the bathroom to finish sewing her costume so that there were no lights on at night.) and changing, well with the exception of one person but everyone just ignored them.

Now that I am getting older though the idea of room stuffing is less and less appealing. Instead I just research the heck out of hotels and deals. CAA cards can get you amazing bargains.

My group of friends stuffs hotels rooms to a ridiculous degree. I can't remember a time that we had less than 8 people in a room and 10-15 if it's a suite. The worst was 15 at AWA and dragoncon. Some people just stayed out all night since there was no ground space to sleep on.

So I tried to take over managing rooms so it wouldn't happen anymore...after a $200 in damages, I let the guy who used to book rooms be in charge again. I mean, they all helped cover the cost, but it was too stressful for me trying to communicate with everyone and figuring out who was and wasn't going.

I generally don't mind all the people though, but the few times it got out of hand just scared me that it would start happening more. I guess since few of my group cosplay though, it isn't as bad.

most my group has ever done was 7 people i think 4 people on hotel beds, 2 personal air mattress and one friend who insisted on sleeping in a chair while drinking 12 year old whiskey with one eye open.

One night we had about 30 people sleeping in our room, but that was mostly just random people coming in and out to hang out, and ending up falling asleep or being too tired to go back to their room. Originally in the room we had about 20. Luckily our room was big and we had two beds and a living room/kitchen area, with a pull out couch, so technically we had three beds. We piled people on top of each other. It was kind fun because I love all the people I roomed with, but a pain in the ass to take showers and stuff.

Thinking of room stuffing, currently weighing pros and cons...Stuffing means you can't get room cleaning right? Or else they'll discover all the extra suitcases.

So question for you experienced room stuffers: How the hell do you deal with it after 3/4 nights? No matter how clean/hygenic ppl are, there's bound to be SOME funk by the last day...

I once ended up in a stuffed room unknowingly. Girl offered to provide room with very little money contributed, as long as I joined her cosplay group for the con, so I was all for it. 2friends and I went to the con and walked around the con, barely seeing her at all (she ended up wearing her group costume the day we couldn't go), and around 8 started to look for her so we could go to the room and get ready for rave. We walk outside to the place she said she'd meet us, and see a group of about 4 other people. Ends up they were waiting for her too. 8 people in a room. Someone slept in the bathtub.

It's fine if you know the people. I've roomed with 5 people before, and I've roomed with 10 people before. It comes down to how big the room is and how strapped for cash you are.

last con i was at there were 9 people in our room. we cleared off a table to put all our wigs, stressed to everyone to live out of their suitcases, and we pushed the two beds together so there was more space to fit people on beds.

we made it work, but i never want to be in a room with that many girls ever again.

most i've had to a room was 5. you people who stuff more than 6 in a standard room are stupid. those of you who stuff more than 10 are fucking crazy. i'm willing to pay a wee bit more to not be crammed in like sardines. however, i do break the rules...i've booked a room for 2 people but i'm gonna have 4. meh.

>>2676983
the suitcase thing, that all depends. if you booked for 4 but had 6, and each person had one suitcase, you could say some people brought 2 suitcases. it's not difficult to believe. if you book for 2 people and have 8 suitcases, that's harder to believe.

My group of friends are around the age where we know it's not smart to pack people in...except for one. She booked our room and tried getting extra people in so it'd be over our max of 5. We told her our concerns (basically "wtf are you thinking?!?") and the other party got butthurt so we just decided to book our own room with friends we trust. It would have been ok but all of us are cosplayers who had 3-4+ costumes each, so yeah no.

Nope, I get a room either alone or with a maximum of two personal friends. No strangers around while I sleep, nobody to cause bullshit drama.

Just as a random question, how do you guys transport styled wigs?
To make it relevant, do you keep them on wig heads while in the hotel or does that just take up too much precious space?

>>2677979
Carefully placed in the net part of my trunk, or if it's really complicated, on my lap. Always keep them on wig heads.

AX tried this last year, didn't really hold it out either.

Once I shared a room with seven other people... It was a Travelodge family room. We're all close friends, though. Sleeping sideways on a double bed instead of lengthways to fit more people on it is actually pretty good, even if you're quite tall.

I've only ever done stuffing once due to friends not having places to stay. We had a family room (double bed, pull out sofa bed) and had 5 people in there. Myself and my husband had the doube bed, two of our friends had the sofa and one used the cushions from the sofa. The rest of the time we just book a double room for ourselves. I like my privacy, I'd rather pay the extra and sleep and shower comfortably on our own than save money and be crammed in with a load of people.

>>2677979
Flat packed if the style can handle it then straight on a portable wig head (the plastic two piece ones), or if it can't be safely flat packed (lots of spikes, odangos that could break) in a box then on a head on arrival.

Attempted a small room stuff once and I hated it. The girl putting it up quoted the price wrong so I ended up paying almost $30 more for a really awful room. There were two hambeasts, one of which was a weeaboo and listened to one singular song on repeat all weekend, howling to the beat. All the girls snored and not one of them was considerate when it came to getting up; they loved early morning cons and were always throwing things, crashing about, turning on all the lights and opening windows.

TL;DR Small spaces and weeaboo hambeasts turned me off putting more than 4 friends in a room. Similar sleeping schedules are now a must.

I don't get how all you people are like "and one dude slept in the bathtub". My group regularly gets 6-8 cosplayers together in a room, occasionally even more than that, and no one has ever had to sleep in the bathroom. It helps that no one is fat and we can usually fit 3 people per bed, plus one between the beds, one between the bed and the window, or people sleeping at the foot of each bed depending on where suitcases get dropped in that particular room. I haven't had to pay more than $100 for a whole weekend in a hotel room in a long while, and as long as people don't let their shit get too out of hand (there's only one person in our usual group who tends to do that) the room doesn't get too messy.

We also usually have to "borrow" towels and toilet paper off the room service carts by the third day of four-day cons, but that's just an exercise in being quick and inconspicuous.


As long as you're not loud and not too obvious, it's really simple to get away with room stuffing.

I had a whole Westin Heavenly bed to myself (I staffed that year so it was on the Con's bill) I will never go back to stuffing rooms. *-*

You do save a lot by crashing with friends. What do you bring to crash with that won't take up 50% of your suitcase? I had to check my bag for Comic-con. :[

I've been in stuff room. Most was 14. Hated it. No room to walk anywhere.

One year was almost caught. Because an idiot roommate who wasn't listed in the room, didn't have the patience to come get one of use who DID have a room key, and went to the hotel staff and told them he lost his key. Luckily they didn't get suspicious and just told him it wasn't his room. I've gotten tired of room stuffing after so many years.

Even last year at Fanime, with just 7 people. Two of the guys were douchebags. This year, it's just me and the boyfriend. Nobody else. It's going to cost more, but fuck it, it'll be nice not to have to deal with everybody else.

>>2678106
>but fuck it

Yea, I'd bet you'd fuck your b/f. Lucky bastard.

These days I am usually the one booking the room, and I do 4-5 people per double room. Most I ever experienced was 6 cosplayers (read: tons of baggage) in a glorified closet, but that was a last minute thing for 1 night.

Also, some people don't want to have room service in to vacuum etc. because they're paranoid, but just keep your shit organized, lock your suitcases if you want.

I don't like to spend money when I don't have to, but getting decent sleep and having time to shower is worth paying the money for. Also, now we have a snoring room and a non-snoring room. I make sure to pack earplugs anyway.

Got a single bed all to myself at the Holiday Inn last year at AX. Shit, I could stuff like 6 more people in there to cut the costs.

>>2678692
hope you do, and get your shit stolen by your roommates

>>2678072

Bring your own towels and toilet paper. Beats having to sneak it off a maid cart and you can have the nice soft toilet paper.

At least that solves my group's problems. Other than that, we all know and are comfortable with each other enough to constantly room stuff.

>>2678692

Whenever I go to a con, I always get my own room. I don't really see the need to be inviting people in and causing drama. Sure it drives the price up a little as I have to pay for the room in full but I've never had anything happen yet either

I just get my own room. I have the money, and I like my space. Plus, you can't take someone up to your room if it's full of other people's shit.

My record was 12 in a regular double. We had more than that in a suite, but it had more room. We had to push the beds together and make rows of people in sleeping bags on the floor. One guy said fuck it and slept in the closet. Was a great con so now it's just a good memory.

>>2679933
the closet?!
I'm guessing the bathtub was already taken?

>>2680010
Not really. He actually just sorta wanted to live in the closet all weekend. Was a little guy who survived on just a bag of carrots and vodka all weekend. He was a sort of closet troll who was never drunk somehow. Magic powers.

My friends room stuff, usually ~6 people to a room with 2 double beds & an air mattress. My only problem is that I can't fall asleep if the lights are on, and they tend to stay up late finishing their costumes :/ If I had the income, I would rather just share a room with my girlfriend & friends who get their shit done on time

Anymore then 4 is uncomfortably hectic to me. The people I usually room with do all different things. Me and my boyfriend do the cosplay competitions so we're in and out changing our costumes. It's really awkward to continuously ask our roommates to gtfo so we can change.

>>2680040
Uhm, really? I never bother getting my room mates to leave while I change. Who cares?

>>2680046
I'm a girl and its my boyfriends fat hairy male friends.

>>2680046
It all depends on who is in the room for me. I will do a lot of changing in front of my male friends but not getting down to undies ya know. Bra isn't that big a deal. It's just... weird. I'm not an exhibitionist by any means.

I generally room with 6-7 people, but we have all been rooming together for years and know eachothers habits. Some of us shower during the morning, some during the evening, we take turns with the mirrors and beds.

>>2680046
Funny you should say that.

I have a story to tell:

Ohayo '08.
Bring a con virgin to Ohayocon and we've all been friend since freshman HS. All dudes and changing in front of each other (not stark naked. I noticed everytime someone had to change their underwear it was during a shower) was not a huge deal.

Until said con virgin did. This man had kept a secret from all of us for 6 something years.

This man had a goddamn anaconda for a dick. It was blatantly obvious and the entire room just froze with feelings of inadequacy.

From then on, we don't give a shit changing in front of strangers as long as the atmosphere isn't ZOMG CATHOLIC. We know we're small compared to Leviathan over there.

>>2680052
They want your flesh..

>>2680149 Leviathan over there.

Oh man, I lawled..
This line... so priceless.

Honestly, I don't see the appeal of room stuffing. Though that may just be because the last time I took part, I ended up sleeping on the floor on a half-filled air mattress...

I have a story.
I'm 16, going to my first con full-weekend con. My friends, a group of about 5 16 and 17 year olds, decided we should get a hotel room. I asked my parents, but they didn't allow me to stay in the hotel with them because there wasn't going to be an adult.
I ended up going into the room in the mornings when I got to the con to fix makeup and everything, and their room was a MESS. They invited extra people and only got a room with two full beds, and they had shoved the beds together in the middle of the room. There were clothes EVERYWHERE and you couldn't put something down without losing it. The bathroom was disgusting too.
I will never room stuff.

My group of friends and I have never NOT room stuffed. Nothing ridiculous. We usually get two beds. 2 people to each bed, then 2-3 people on the floor inbetween the beds. Then we switch off. And we make sure who ever is driving home on the last day gets a bed spot. We're always pretty much the same group of friends, so we've got it down to a science.
A couple people get the dresser, so that clears some of the suitcase issues. Wigs in the window sill. Each person gets an area to keep their stuff. Every once in a while, when we're hanging out in the room we have a cleaning session. When you come into the room to change, etc, hang your badge on the lamp shade to avoid losing it. (This has been a life-saver.)
Kinda sounds a little too over-the-top, but like I said, we've got it down well. And it's helps to save us from any drama later. As far as not getting caught, as long as we pick up the "beds" off the floor, nothing gets noticed. Cause most people bring multiple suitcases/boxes anyways.

I've been going to cons for almost seven years now, and I refuse to stuff my room. Two is the norm; three is the absolute max--which I've only allowed once--and that was with two people I know well. I like my space, comfort, and shower time at cons, and I'm willing to spend extra for it.

I room-stuffed once. The room ended up being a disaster area. Plus the more people in a room, the more one ends up pissing off.

I stayed in a stuffed room once (was told it would be 8 which I thought was a bit much, turned out to be 14 and I was PISSED) and after that horrible experience I'd never agree to it again! Seriously I don't know how any of you can even do that! Maybe it's because I had to share a bed with my sisters until I was 13 that I now value my personal space, but the whole point of a con for me is to relax and have fun. I can't do that with a million other people who can't be bothered to clean up after themselves. Now *I* book the rooms and I max at 5. Or I save up a little extra and get a room all to myself. Or if I'm really strapped for cash, volunteer to work at the con (which I actually enjoy doing)

When I volunteered for AX, I was in a room with 6 other girls, which wasn't so bad. I was the one who stayed out at the rave all night, so I was really the shitty roommate, but I slept in the chair to make up for it. It was actually a pretty comfy chair, and the girls I was with were pretty chill, so it was a good experience overall.

I think they were terrified of me, so that really helped avoid drama. Being a 5'10" goth is just a bit intimidating, so everyone just gives you space. It was nice.