Has anyone booked a cheap hotel for the Sheffield gig? I'm not fussy as long as it's nearish to the venue and CHEAP. I have stayed in an Etap hotel there before which was just £35 and did the job nicely, so I just went to book it again, only to find it's now an Ibis 'budget' hotel, and double the price. Well fuck that, their idea of budget and my idea are no longer at one. Have I been spoilt by Etap hotel prices and need to get a grip of the real world of hotels, or are there cheaper places to stay out there?
Oh that's bad business. I booked ages ago and it said it would be becoming an Ibis, but I presume they'll be honouring bookings made before the change - otherwise I'll have to buy a tent. The Park Inn just by the Wicker is very central (to the city, not the venue) and good value for money if you get lucky - not cheap but nice for the price. I just tend to search Laterooms and see what comes up, but you probably won't get Etap prices without heading into the B&B market, I'd say.
I just had a search on the Formule 1 site to see if there was anything in Sheffield and it came up with the self same Ibis (formerly Etap), £25! So I wondered if you booked it there it would give you that rate, but once it had a specific date, £69! Maybe it is all priced variably according to demand, like Easyjet being 3 times the price on the school holidays. A significant proportion of 14,000 other people may have had the same idea.
I have got used to French hotel prices when driving on holiday and chains like Formule 1 that make combining cheapness and efficiency an art form. English hotel prices are ridiculous in comparison. A few years back, I heard the boss of Travelodge on In Business on Radio 5 talking about their new (at the time) no frills business model, rooms from "only" £50/night, incredibly cheap and I wrote in, saying that was not remotely cheap compared with chains like Formule 1 that were starting to move into the British market, more like £15/night at the time. He did actually have a reasonable response in that their market research indicated people in UK were not generally disposed to putting up with some of Formule 1's setup, he particularly highlighted the lack of ensuite bathrooms, F1 just have these sci-fi self-cleaning loos in each corridor.
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We'll use the one thing we've got more of, that's our minds.
If you don't mind talking to people a bit, you could try to find a room at airbnb.com. They are not perfect, but I stayed in Camden for 35 euro per night this September and was quite happy with it.
Thanks for responses. To be honest I don't really mind what the hotel/room is like - it's literally somewhere to get my head down for the night. I'll keep trying!
I was thinking about staying there too, but I'm a little concerned about getting to sheffield arena from there and back, as the transport connection according to google maps doesn't seem so good. Have you found how you're going to get there?
Well there's 7 of us staying there in total (I'm very good at convincing friends to see Pulp) so I was thinking we'd maybe get a taxi. I think it's walkable - but probably about 45 minutes.
I'm sure there will be a fair few Pulp people there to share cabs with...
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If you didn't come to party then why did you come?
Etap prices have not changed now they are Ibis budget, they have always been owned by the same company. Much like accor all seasons have now become Ibis Styles. It just depends on how busy an area is, it can push the prices up to something well not worth it.
I was thinking about staying there too, but I'm a little concerned about getting to sheffield arena from there and back, as the transport connection according to google maps doesn't seem so good. Have you found how you're going to get there?
6 minutes walk from the tram stop according to their website!
