Accommodation help needed

[venta]

A request for information from people who know Oxfordly areas...

Early in April, I have to act as host to Boojum when they all come to play in Oxford. Unlike other members of the team, I do not have a large and commodious house in which to put them. I could possibly fit eveyone if i evicted my housemates and pitched a tent on the lawn, but Frances and Andy might object to being so summarily lobbed out of their own house.

Last year, I borrowed the hall which belongs to the Sea Cadets, just under Donnington Bridge. This is feasible, because it has cooking facilities and enough floorspace for everyone to sleep on. And a wooden floor, so we can practice. It is suboptimal, however, because it has no showers or anything nice like that.

Ideally, I want a large hall which will allow "indoor camping"; that is, to let us bring our sleeping bags and curl up on the floor. Most places aren't too happy about this, as you can get into a real tangle of health and safety regulations about the wisdom of letting people stay overnight unattended. In order to better the Sea Cadets' hall, it needs to have showers which we can use.

It has to be within easy distance of Oxford.

So, does anyone know of such a location ? Does anyone have a contact with a local school, rugby team, studio or such which might be willing to come to an arrangement ?

Things not to suggest: the colleges. Yes, they do cheap guest rooms, sometimes. Where cheap in this case is often £15-20 a night. This isn't an option when I'm putting up 10 people for a couple of nights, it's just too expensive. Given that they offer guest rooms, they won't let people doss down on floors anywhere.

Ditto the backpackers' hostel.

To maximise our use of a small amount of time, we do really all need to be in one place, so any split-site solution is out.

I tried talking to the Tourist Information people last year, in the hopes they could suggest a self-catering house we could rent or similar, and they had no ideas at all.

For reference, we often hire a wonderfully insane building in Burton on Trent which belongs to the Guides. That has bunk-bed dormitories, a massive (and well equipped) kitchen, a huge hall and costs us about £100 for a weekend. If anyone can suggest a similar location, that would be wonderful. But I fear unlikely.

Comments

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

You might want to phone around the dojos, perhaps? I don't have a contact per se, but they might be ok about renting the space if they don't have a course on over the weekend.

[venta.livejournal.com]

That's an idea - quisalan or _yakumo_ if you're passing, do you have any advice ?

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

Ask zorac. He's in Oxford and very well connected. Tell him I sent you.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I have dispatched an enquiry.

[triskellian]

I believe there's a scout camp signposted off the Seacourt roundabout on the ring road. You could try them? I'm afraid I can't remember what it's called, though.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Aye, I believe that's exactly what it says, though - a campsite. I'll check it out, though, in case I'm wrong.

Lots of conditionals...

[beckyl.livejournal.com]

IF we've got everything sorted and IF we don't have a huge event or two planned for that particular weekend, then the two flats above my shop would certainly be available as basic 'crash space' at a small rental fee. They've got bathrooms, although not showers, and the shop is directly opposite Reading train station. I can't offer much for wood floors for practicing on though.

Re: Lots of conditionals...

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for the offer, but sadly we do need to be rather closer to Oxford. People have commitments at the Oxford folk festival that weekend which will necessitate trundling backwards and forwards, and also getting home rather late.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

Things not to suggest: the colleges. Yes, they do cheap guest rooms, sometimes. Where cheap in this case is often £15-20 a night. This isn't an option when I'm putting up 10 people for a couple of nights, it's just too expensive.

This suggests you would be expected to foot the entire bill yourself. Would that really be the case? If I was one of your visitors I'd quite understand that as you've not got room yourself you'd done the next best thing and found low-cost accommodation. And I'd rather pay £40 for two nights on a proper bed than have two nights for free on a floor.

[venta.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not expected to foot the bill. But the people in question are either less affluent or less fussy than you, and would rather sleep on a floor cheaply than in a bed for £40 :)

I guess the difference is that the £40 comes on top of other travelling and general expenses for the weekend. Plus some people are in several dance teams and do this kind of thing on a very regular basis, thus making them very used to floors the length and breadth of Britain.