Now is the time to look for housing in the block if you want a room or a room closer to the convention center!

Not really.  Anything that goes up is taken within 2-3 seconds.  There simply isn't enough time to get there.  Someone has a program going that is buying up the rooms faster than a human can.  They may have a scalping operation going.

Nah, that's wild speculation. People are getting downtown rooms today.

I confirmed these rooms were available. I would not have posted if they were not. 

There is no one buying up rooms in mass. There are safeguards that prevent this.

Mike

Could you keep an eye on genconhotels.com and time how long they last?  It has been my experience that even if you are hovering on the page with the "Change Hotel" button, clicking from there to the next page, scrolling to the desired hotel and putting it in the cart, it takes much longer than the 4 to 7 seconds that the downtown rooms seem to stay in the listing.

With hundreds of people looking for rooms today, it’s no wonder they go quickly.

I was able to book a double queen room at Union Station early yesterday morning and I can confirm that I am a meat popsicle, not a computer program.  Another friend was able to get a king room at the Marriot Downtown but I'm less sure of his digital/organic status.

The issue you are having is that the change hotel option doesn't temporarily reserve the hotel when you select it. It stays available until those that don't currently have a room select it and then gets removed from availability. You would have had to cancel your current hotel first to have a better chance at getting a room. Also you could have a friend without a reservation try grabbing one first and then cancel your less desired hotel. Although that is a bit more expensive to do now.

Yesterday morning, I managed to reserve a double queen room at Union Station. I can verify that I am a human, not a computer program. cookie clicker 2

Just amazing