Bonnaroo and getting a Hotel?

You can get a tent for $20 or less. Getting a hotel room means that you are not really doing roo. You can probably get away with a tent and a chair and make some friends on the board who have shade and other stuff with whom you can camp.

Hotel packages run about 600-800 for the festival if I remember correctly. Also as of last year there was no shuttle service provided, so you had to drive in and out.

my BF had never been camping before our first Bonnaroo 4 years ago, he has since gone camping in the mountains every year... since we didnt have camping gear, we borrowed a tent, borrowed a cooler and bought a pop-up(bringing shade is a must). We also bought a grill($20) but that was just bc my BF eats every 2 hours and since that first year we don't take the grill anymore. He did a "dry-run" and set up all the camping supplies in the courtyard of our apartment with his buddies (since he didn't want to learn the ropes from a girl) and we were set from then on. He also had a camel pack that was a company gift that was a life saver! This past year we went to Voodoo Experience in New Orleans and got a hotel and we decided we will never hotel festival ever again, we will find a campsite close to the festival saving the money is worth it.

**&& nobody on the board can instruct you to not go the hotel route, but since the two things you addressed are hotel price and never camping then that's why everyone will be commenting in on those. personally, my BF had no clear plan on camping before his first Roo and it was a life changing experience for the better! Hope this helps

Good luck with this crowd here. They will feed your head with silly things like "you aren't really doing Bonnaroo if you stay in a hotel". Will you miss certain elements of the festival atmosphere if you stay in a hotel? Possibly. But if you're a huge music fan and still get to see plenty of great acts despite where you sleep, then you are "still doing Roo". Everyone's experience is difference. Don't let any snarky, elitist mentalities tell you otherwise.

You will see plenty of hotel offers over the next few months anywhere from a few miles to 30+ miles away from the farm. Keep your eyes open. I suggest doing a google search of "Bonnaroo hotels" a few times a week.

Good luck and welcome to the forums!

I would listen to someone who has been a part of this community longer than a few months. They tend to know more and be more helpful.

When I first joined I had tons of questions. The people that were the most helpful were the ones that had been around for a while.

Hope that doesn't sound "elitest". Whatever.

The biggest issue I have with hotels is the driving in and out part. If I found one relatively close that ran a 24 hour reliable shuttle I would consider it. The other side, (and this is just a general observation that does not apply to everyone) is that having a hotel can make you lazy and skip music. It takes a lot of discipline to get up off your butt and drive an hour in to see music when you have AC and a shower. When you are hot as balls at camp going in seems like the smart thing to do.


Edit


That being said if you do not have any camping experience let me also invite you to join in at camp inforoo. It is a group environment, and will take a lot of pressure off of camping noobs. You will have to haul some stuff to tent only but once you are there it is pretty nice.

Yes it does!!!

I can also give you some tips on what to bring as far as food. You don't want to have to much or to little.

There are tons of little tips out there to make camping at a fest easy, cheap, and fun.

You're even worse since you have an actual house (and a 1.5 mile walk each way). Another hotel option might be to get one, but also set up in camp inforoo so you do not have to leave every time you want something.

im sorry I didnt mean to come off as meaning something like I was too good to camp. The whole not showering and not enough sleep thing doesnt bother me. I just thought it may be cheaper than having to buy all the camping materials but apparently not. Im new to this whole thing.

any tips on how to do this on a budget or tips and trips on food like mentioned above would be greatly appreciated. thank you guys for all your help, just send me a pm! also, what is this camp inforoo?

thanks!

The only food I bring is snacks, and fruits meals in centeroo are around 7-12 dollars and two a day should do you. Camp inforoo is where a group of us get together and stake out space in the tent only area up by the entrance. You will have to carry stuff on thursday but with a big group a lot of stuff can be communal as well. I did camp inforoo last year and to me it was the best way I have done Bonnaroo yet in 5 years.


2006 Car camping by myself, no shade but somehow I ended up right upfront so not too shabby.


2007 Huge group we ended up in the back end of nowhere and since we had a nice camp I did not go in as much as I wanted to


2008 VIP I had a good time, but overall did not feel it was worth 300 dollars for a shorter line to get in to the fest and a shorter line for centeroo.



2009 Went with a small group GA we were right by Bushy Branch so not terrible, but none of us spent any time in camp that year.


2010 Camp inforoo I hauled my stuff to camp and was less tahn 5 minutes from everything and could easily sneak back to camp to pound PBR's instead of buying them. Plus the company was nice.




I have not done a hotel yet, because the odds of me leaving late night sets in driving condition are pretty negligible.

"the odds of me leaving late night sets in driving condition are pretty negligible. "

This. I'm a big fan of the stumble into camp and the dive into the tent.