On August 24th, 2014, Hyatt Orange County cemented their reputation to thousands of convention guests as a hotel that does not welcome nor have any idea how to host fan conventions.

Hyatt Orange County failed miserably at understanding the event that was booked at their hotel, and/or communicating any dress code policy to organizers and guests before the event. Cosplay has become an extremely popular activity that occurs nearly every weekend in the area. It has almost become a mainstream event. Hyatt has absolutely NO EXCUSE for not doing homework and expecting what Cosplayers bring or what one might see at such an event.



Incidents included repeated harassment from hotel security regarding Cosplay outfits, gathering places and photography. Even worse, there were several incidents of non-convention guests harassing and abusing convention guests where security personnel stood by and did nothing. Just one example of cosplayers being verbally abused by hotel guests while hotel staff stood by and did nothing. www.youtube.com/embed/kX8BpvOrfKE



To the disgust of hundreds of convention guests, the hotel security staff treated convention guests as second class, "pond scum" (quoted from an actual complaint), making it clear that we were not welcome in any public space at the hotel. To make matters worse, the attitudes of ALL security personnel were nasty, rude and bluntly abusive.



We were told we could not congregate in the public lobby, so many of us moved outside of the hotel to the fountain area. We were then told we were not allowed to congregate there. We were told we could not loiter in the main hallways. Security staff actually came through and told everyone (upwards of 100 people) sitting or standing against a wall they had to "find somewhere else to go" in order "to keep the aisle clear" The aisle in question having more than 15 feet of clear traffic space, NOT impeded by the crowd (The hallway was approximately 20-30 foot wide in total). People in Cosplay which had even a little skin showing were told to find a shirt or go to the pool. When we went to the pool we were told we could not loiter in the pool area, and that the convention-organized event there had been canceled. Where were convention guests supposed to congregate? What did Hyatt expect of this event when they were told more than 4000 people in Cosplay would attend? Did they expect that we would all buy a room and hide within them all weekend?

Cosplayers dressed as opposite genders were told by security staff that they were being inappropriate and told to leave. Non-Convention guests were witnessed telling opposite-gender Cosplayers they should be ashamed of themselves and "...how dare they be so inappropriate around their grandchildren?!" Other reported incidents involved non-convention guests screaming at Cosplayers to "get a life" and to "go home".



So we ask again: Where exactly were we welcome? Hyatt Orange County accepted (and I assume, cashed) a very large check for this event from organizers, and promptly went on a rampage shoo-ing guests away from the hotel. It was clear to us that event staff were just as frustrated with the hotel as we were, reporting the hotel canceling contracted convention events and moving events to other venues.



We have an apology from Anime California organizers, virtually promising to never use Hyatt again for future events. Honestly, the apologies should not be coming from them. That is not what we want. For a first-year event this was an amazing event. All of the problems and issues experienced came directly from Hyatt staff.



We don't want a limp, phony, PR spun apology posted on twitter or some blog.

No, what we as convention guests want is ACTION.

We want a promise that Hyatt will take this mess seriously and fix it.

We want to know what Hyatt will be doing to prevent such terrible experiences in the future?

We want to know what TRAINING will be mandated for security personnel to handle events like this properly.

We want Hyatt Orange County to issue this statement THROUGH Anime CA event organizers, directing their guilt and regret where it belongs, to the event organizers who risk losing everything on this first-year event because of the negligence and abuse of the hotel.

We have nearly reached 200 complaints. We encourage you to send this petition AND your complaints to Hyatt Regency Orange County, Tweet, Share and talk about it! Their contact information is below:





Corporate Information:

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