Travel Guest Post: Luxury Festivals

Now that the music festival season has finally kicked-off with Coachella, you might be thinking of all the incredible bands you could see in a single weekend. But if you’ve done festival camping before, you might be reminded of three days of exhaustion, lack of hygiene, and incessant bongo drumming. Isn’t there a better, more luxurious way to experience music festivals?

Of course. From lavish, five-star hotels, to a $20 air mattress, I’ll go over the myriad of ways to make your festival-going experience live up to the dream.

For the real jet-setters

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If you’ve got the money to spend, you can rock out to your heart’s content without missing a single amenity of modern life. Let’s take Coachella for example! Set near Bermuda Dunes, Palm Desert, and La Quinta, some of Southern California’s most exotic resorts are just a shuttle ride away from the main event. The Marriott Desert Springs villas have fully-equipped kitchens, huge living areas, private balconies, and even a clothes washer and dryer. A little closer to the venue is the absolutely enormous La Quinta Resort. You can choose from 41 pools, 53 hot spas, and five championship golf courses.

Unfortunately, not every festival takes place a stone’s throw from world-class resorts. In cases where you’re far from a temperature-regulated pool and really need a way to relax, festival organizers are showing that camping can be made into a tempting alternative to a hotel. It even has a fun, glamorous name: glamping!

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In the UK, Tangerine Fields provides decked-out mini yurts for a whole new sort of festival camping experience. They’ll fit two people comfortably, they’re eco-friendly, and you get access to amenities like hot showers and hair straighteners. Better yet, they start at a mere $600 a night, and you’ll never have to leave the festival grounds! (Just make sure you pack a pair of earplugs if you really want some sleep). If there aren’t yurts, keep an eye out for other fancy tents; Coachella had two-person safari tents that they were pairing with an all-access festival pass for $6500. The tents were also located in a private area of the camp, so once you’ve had as much fun as you can take, you’ll have a (relatively) calm place to pass out in.

Luxury on a budget

There are a lot of inconveniences to festival camping, sure – but what if you’ve got a tight budget to stick to? There is definitely room for improvement, and it can be pretty affordable. Let’s say you only have $100 to spend: where should it go? Here’s a shopping list of the little things that will make your campsite a whole lot more comfortable:

Air mattress – $20: After a day of adventures and a night of straining to get a view of the stage, you deserve a comfortable place to lay your head. Skip the electronic pump if you want to save a few dollars and the hassle of hunting down a power source.

Folding chair – $35: You can’t walk around all day, can you? The ultimate folding lawn chairs are comfortable, have built-in footrests, and won’t fall apart when drunken revelers tumble.

12V cooler – $40: If you do have a car, make sure you’ve also got a free 12-volt plug for your drinks. The best coolers will only sip your battery and keep your drinks cool, but make sure they’re cold to begin with.

Baby wipes – $5: Sounds odd, right? But you’ll inevitably end up covered with BBQ sauce, sunscreen lotion, or margarita mix, and you’ll wonder why on earth you didn’t bring pack the cleaning, moisturizing power of baby wipes.

So that covers it: luxury isn’t an unobtainable ideal when you’re at a music fest. With a bit of forethought, you can find the accommodations that you’ve always wanted, no matter your price range.

Andrew is a Community Coordinator at Appliance Help and Parts, and he can’t wait to build up a stack of wristbands from this summer’s festivals.