Europe meet-up. Would you be interested?

Post Reply New Topic

Ah, to dream . . .

Z

I can pretty much go anywhere in EU, as long as the meeting takes place on a weekend and I have enough time to book a cheap flight.

I am generally interested, but my the circumstances of current situation are quite unstable and therefore I am not in the position to make any statements or even commitments.

Please take into consideration that hotels are not an option. We need a place where we can hang all day leisurely as a default. With occasional outings nearby that don't require extra expenses of transport and entrance fees. And minimal overwhelming sensory input.

Also, please let's try to keep flexible. Eg, I don't like the idea of public toilets and bathrooms, but if it need be, oh well, the goal is to meet the people. And it'll only be a couple days.

Small university campuses rent out student rooms over the long summer holidays.

Some campuses are beautiful, set in parks with lakes and nature trails and with 17th century halls and bell towers, like Keele University, ( I know because I went there a few centuries ago ; ) ), which is set in green rolling countryside next to a small village with a pub, between Manchester and Birmingham, in the UK.

2000 single rooms, 800 of them en-suite, plus meeting rooms, are on offer. No idea how much they charge for them, but I have just submitted a request for info to them.

.

I don't know about that renting a house business, I might just grab a tent and go sleep in the woods

yeah, how about a tent camp deep in some Scandinavian forest?

hmm, north of the Arctic circle during winter.. its pretty much dark 24/7

hmm, where abouts did you have in mind?

if I remember correctly I quite liked the forests on the east coast of Sweden, loads of lakes and free camping everywhere... but I'm open to all suggestions (I'm not an expert in Scandinavian flora :p)

ouinon, what you mention would be perfect, in my opinion.

ive never been in Sweden, but it seems nice...they talk funny and so it would be great either way:)

I think so too.

I looked at some other UK campus universities, East Anglia near Colchester, Uni of Kent near Canterbury, and Sussex, near Brighton.

The only one that I could find prices for online was Sussex, which charges between £32 ( single room with bathrooms in corridor ), to £47 ( single room en-suite ), for bed and breakfast. Meeting rooms cost extra, depending on size required.

I submitted a request to Nottingham's University Park campus, which sounds lovely, ( like Keele maybe ), too, asking for prices for a gathering of about 50 for 2-3 nights over a weekend in early August. That may be optimistic, but who knows how many people might become interested.

I would like it to be Keele, if not too expensive, because I remember how beautiful the campus is. And there is the Peak District nearby for more adventurous people with access to a car. But Nottingham, Brighton/Sussex, and Canterbury sound nice too.

I do hope this comes off.

.

That'd be US$70 for room and breakfast. It's quite a lot. I hope you can get something cheaper and a bulk discount.

What do the others think of such a venue?

Only if it's in Birmingham

The UK is still an option and Birmingham might even be one too.

Do you mean the "en-suite room" price?

I don't think that you will find anything below £26 for a room, ( with bathroom in corridor, as in the Formule 1 hotel in Coventry that I already mentioned ), anywhere in the UK. Rooms with bathrooms start at £31/£32 in chain hotels, breakfast not included, and at around £35-£40 in most B&Bs, ( which also tend to be small so there wouldn't be room for many of us ), and you probably wouldn't get the same facilities for pleasant/peaceful cheap/free hanging out together as on a campus.

Those prices are "conference"/"big group" prices, that is to say they are already based around large bookings. I suspect that you'd have to have a very very large number of people to get that reduced. I am hoping that other universities will be less expensive than Sussex which may be pricy because of being on the south coast, in a site of "outstanding natural beauty"!

It will probably have to be mainly at the weekend because of people's jobs/studies etc, and it looks as if the largest, ( for 10 or more people ), and "cheapest", weekend house rentals may already be booked up for this summer. Does anyone know of any large houses, ( +10 bedrooms! ), for rent for a week or less, that are still available?

Otherwise you're talking camping. Which in the UK is a less than sure-fire glorious prospect because the weather, even in the summer, even in Cornwall, can make camping a deeply miserable experience. And tents don't insulate from noise so somebody snoring nearby can make it impossible to sleep, ( and going to the toilet in the night is even worse than in a corridor ).

So not only do we need to know just where people are prepared to travel to, but also how much they are prepared to pay, and for how many nights, before we can organise/book/commit to anything.

I would pay the £32/night with bathroom in corridor and english breakfast, ( eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, etc ), but would not be willing to pay much more than £35/night, especially as I would have transport from France to pay. And then only if it is a sizeable gathering too.
.

Last edited by ouinon on 07 Feb 2009, 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.