Paul; Lots of convention-goers are comped at other properties ... and I don't think that anyone would expect them to pay for a room at the host convention site if they had free accomodations somewhere else.

However, having said that ... those who think they are saving money by staying at another property in town for $10 - $20 per night less, are only fooling themselves. It's well worth the additional money by staying at the host convention hotel simply for the ease of coming and going and being able to store your "stuff" in the convention hotel and being able to retrieve it at will and being able to freshen up and change clothes rather than going cross-town in the heat of the DESERT in mid-summer and bucking all that traffic BOTH WAYS. Plus, there are activities at the host hotel that occur AFTER the bourse floor shuts down for the day.