Tag: hotel

#FCL Multi-Congress Hotel Guide: Hyatt Regency Dulles

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[Disclosure statement: As of the time of this writing, I have no direct affiliation with DC Zouk Festival other than being a loyal yearly attendee and Sami being a personal friend of mine. As of the time of this writing, I have no direct affiliation with DC Swing Fling. I have not been hired to promote either festival in any way, and everything you read is my objective advice. As of the time of this writing, I am not directly affiliated with nor have been hired by the Hyatt Regency Dulles or any other companies or organizations whose services I mention in this article – everything you read from me regarding these companies is my objective advice. Any advice in this blog does not constitute legal or medical advice and is provided as is with no liability to #FrugalCongressLife or the author.]

For yet another new series on #FrugalCongressLife, I will be writing a guide to specific hotels that are home to two or more dance congresses or festivals as of the time of writing.

The first such hotel I will be covering is the Hyatt Regency Dulles, a beautiful and large-scale airport conference hotel located near Dulles International Airport in Herndon, VA, an outer suburb of Washington, DC located about an hour’s drive northwest of the city.  The Hyatt Regency Dulles is home to both this year’s DC Swing Fling (8/9/2018 – 8/12/2018), a swing dance festival coming up in about three weeks, and the 2019 DC Zouk Festival (6/6/2019 – 6/10/2019), the DC area’s flagship Brazilian zouk festival, which also features kizomba, bachata, and, new for 2019, west coast swing.  The DC Zouk Festival, organized by DC-based promoter and DJ Sami Selo Ahmed, is returning to Dulles in 2019 after outgrowing its new downtown DC venue this year.  The Hyatt Regency Dulles will be home to the largest dedicated Brazilian Zouk ballroom in the US and will assuredly be more than enough room for the swing crowd as well.  Both of these events are well-run massive scale congresses featuring daytime workshops and all-night social dancing covering each of their respective dances.

As always, per my personal code of ethics and to encourage people to support this hotel, I will be including no information on offsite lodging options.  Offsite lodging options are plentiful and varied due to the airport location, but you are on your own for the time being if that is what you seek.  Relatively inexpensive room blocks at the Hyatt Regency Dulles are available for both DC Swing Fling 2018 and DC Zouk 2019, and rooms are clean and comfortable, as one would expect rooms at an airport hotel catering primarily to business travelers to be.

As for your pass, the usual advice of buying early or volunteering applies.  It is decidedly too late to buy early for Swing Fling, as the festival is in three weeks, but early bird passes for the 2019 DC Zouk Festival are on sale at the time of this writing in July 2018 for about $100. Buy now, the price will go up later.

As will be the case for most multi-congress hotel guides, the bulk of this guide will be on travel and food options.

TRAVEL:

DRIVING:

Driving or ride-sharing is the preferred option if possible for this hotel as there is abundant free parking around the hotel and the hotel does not have many food options within walking distance.  Be advised that the fastest road to Dulles from DC and points east is a toll road, charging anywhere from $2.50 for a 2-axel vehicle up to $8.75 for a 6+-axel vehicle in tolls to go from the DC area to Dulles, but if you have some extra time to spare and set your GPS to avoid toll roads, you can get around the toll road by using parallel local roads instead.  Prepare to add an extra 30-65 minutes on average to your trip if you go this route.

FLYING:

This goes without saying, but try to fly into Dulles International Airport (IAD) if you can.  The hotel is located a very short distance from Dulles Airport, and the other two airports are too far away from this particular venue to be practical.

IAD is also at the time of this writing the only airport to not be served directly by a DC Metro station.

Any money you may save by taking Spirit or any other airline to BWI or DCA will be offset at least somewhat by the cost of transporting yourself there, particularly from BWI.

Once you land at IAD, the Hyatt Regency has a free shuttle that will transport you the 4.5 miles from the airport to the hotel.

FROM DCA:

From DCA, take the DC Metro blue line (make sure you are on a blue line train as the yellow line will add extra time and transfers) toward Largo Town Center to Rosslyn, then transfer to the Silver line toward Wiehle-Reston East and take an UBER to the Hyatt Regency Dulles from there.

FROM BWI:

If you must come from BWI, try to get there during the day so you can take the MARC train to Union Station.  Once at Union Station, take the Metro red line toward Shady Grove to Metro Center, then transfer to the Silver line toward Wiehle-Reston East and take an UBER to the Hyatt Regency Dulles from there.

BUS/TRAIN:

Take any bus or train line to Union Station in DC and follow the above Metro directions for BWI from there.

See my DCBX Survival Guide for detailed info on both MARC and the DC Metro.

Information on the DC Metro system can be found here: http://www.wmata.com

A map of the DC Metro system can be found here: https://www.wmata.com/schedules/maps/upload/2017-System-Map.pdf

There will undoubtedly be multiple private rideshares going from the DC area to the Hyatt Regency for both Swing Fling and DC Zouk – I will post info on groups that can connect you with these rideshares as I get it.

FOOD:

There are some food options close by this hotel, but many of them are decidedly driving distance from the hotel, with the exception of the hotel restaurant and the Reston Town Center options, which can be reached via the Hyatt’s airport shuttle.

For your frugal grocery shopping, Walmart Supercenter is located about 12-16 minutes up route 28, at 45415 Dulles Crossing Plaza.  A Giant (1228 Elden Street, Herndon, VA), Harris Teeter (12960 Highland Crossing Dr, Herndon), and Safeway (413 Elden St, Herndon) are all located within a 15 minute drive of the hotel.

Whole Foods is located about 20 minutes east (no tolls but the toll road is faster) at 11660 Plaza America Dr, Reston, VA.

Aside from the hotel restaurant, an upscale bar eatery called Elements On Level One, a Spices & Beyond located right next to the hotel (which also doubles as a convenience store for last-minute staples), and Padella, the nearby Westin Dulles’ hotel restaurant, most of your immediate food options for your daily meal out are located in the airport, and include a Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck, Smashburger, District Chophouse, Wendy’s, Au Bon Pain, Bar Symon, Pei Wei (Chinese), Chef Geoff’s, and two different Subways.  Elements On Level One is a bit pricey but good, and will be a popular option given that it is the only one you don’t have to drive to.

A 15 minute or so drive into the nearby town of Reston, VA (whose town center can also be reached via the Hyatt’s free airport shuttle) yields several other options, including Pollo Peru, a casual Peruvian-style chicken place (1675 Reston Parkway), Hibiscus Thai Cuisine, a Thai eatery (11790 Baron Cameron Avenue), and a Silver Diner (11951 Killingsworth Avenue).  Also to be found in Reston is Midtown Kabob (11990 Explorer Street), Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food and Lucky Lounge (11927 Democracy Drive), Big Bowl (11915 Democracy Drive), and sweetgreen (11935 Democracy Drive), among others.

Parking is a little tighter at Reston Town Center, but there are several parking garages located directly nearby that are all free after 5pm on Friday and all weekend.  Info here: https://restontowncenter.com/parking/parking-rates/

That’s all the info I have for this guide, let me know in the comments if you have anything else to add and happy dancing!

– Owen

#FrugalCongressLife Survival Guide: DCBX

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[Disclosure statement: As of the time of this writing, I have no direct affiliation with DCBX other than being a loyal yearly attendee and Lee and Kat being personal friends of mine. I have not been hired by them to promote DCBX in any way, and everything you read is my objective advice. As of the time of this writing, I am not directly affiliated with nor have been hired by any other companies or organizations whose services I mention in this article – everything you read from me regarding these companies is my objective advice. Any advice in this blog does not constitute legal or medical advice and is provided as is with no liability to #FrugalCongressLife or the author.]

For the very first survival guide covering a specific dance congress on the #FrugalCongressLife blog, we are covering one of the very best dance congresses out there – DCBX!

DCBX, or the DC Bachata Congress, is, if not the single largest dance congress in the United States, one of the largest dance congresses in the United States, with attendance of 7,000-10,000 people expected if previous years are any indication. The event, held at the gigantic, beautiful, and upscale Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel located at 999 9th Street NW in Washington, DC, is a massive-scale dance congress featuring international artists for a variety of Latin and African dance genres (including zouk, kizomba, and salsa – DCBX is not just a bachata congress!) teaching a variety of workshops, the biggest bachata ballroom in the US playing a mix of all bachata styles as well as two other dedicated bachata ballrooms for traditional and sensual bachata, along with separate ballrooms for salsa, kizomba, and zouk, several concerts, social dancing from midnight to 8AM each night, and even such unheard-of-elsewhere additions as a food festival and a film festival.

DCBX, the brainchild of husband-and-wife DC Latin event promotion juggernauts Lee “El Gringuito” Smith and Katherine “Kat La Gata” Aguilar-Smith, and further supported by an outstanding team handling everything from social media to artist relations, is a massive festival and the top choice of many dancers who can only go to one or two festivals a year.

DCBX 11, the 2019 edition of DCBX, takes place from August 22nd-August 26th, 2019 at the Renaissance.  New to the festival this year is a staggering THREE different bachata ballrooms!  A mix of urban, sensual, and traditional bachata will be played in the grand ballroom, and there will also be a dedicated sensual bachata ballroom and a dedicated traditional bachata ballroom!  Additionally, there will be salsa, zouk, and kizomba ballrooms.  

A partial and in no way complete list of the featured artists for 2019 includes Alien Ramirez, Maxi Solis, Bri Jones, Jonathan and Jorge (as seen on World Of Dance), De’Jon and Clo, Leo & Jomante, Ivonne Pronovich, Ferocity Dance Company, Codari Pro, Kadu & Larissa, Ry’el and Jessica, and many others.  A partial list of featured DJs for 2019 includes DJ Emerzive, DJ Soltrix, DJ Chapa, DJ Alejandro, and DJ Manuel Citro, among others.  The 2019 festival will also feature live concerts by Los Adolecentes, Los Cantantes Originales, and Luis Vargas!

More general info on DCBX can be found at http://www.dcbachata.com, and more info on the DCBX company and other DCBX events can be found at http://www.dcbx.org.

The festival is located in the very heart of downtown DC, and DC, being a coastal metropolitan city, is very expensive by every possible metric. It’s not as expensive as NYC, but all the same, those of you coming from anywhere other than a metropolitan city should be prepared for everything costing much more than you are used to as a matter of course.

Fear not, for we at #FrugalCongressLife are here to help you attend this congress, have an outstanding time, and leave with your wallet intact.

A NOTE ABOUT DC STREETS:

DC often has two or more streets with the same name, each located in the northeast (NE), northwest (NW), southeast (SE), or southwest (SW) quadrants of the city, and distinguishes between the streets by putting NE, NW, SE, or SW at the end of the name to identify which quadrant of DC it’s in.

Pay special attention to the quadrant initials at the end of street names when planning trips or consulting your GPS for directions — if you accidentally type in L Street NE when you meant to go to L Street NW or 7th Street SE when you meant to go to 7th Street NW etc., you could wind up in an entirely different part of the city from your intended destination.

This is something us DC natives take for granted from living here for so long but can really trip up those unfamiliar with the area.

PASS:

Buy early, that’s your best option. A VIP early bird pass goes for $150 and an early bird full pass goes for $125 when passes first go on sale about a year out from the festival.

Otherwise, follow the standard #FCL procedures for getting your pass as cheap as possible legitimately. The passes become more expensive closer to the festival.

TRAVEL:

The city of Washington, DC and all surrounding areas are supported by Citymapper via their DC/Baltimore package. Additionally, UBERPOOL, UBERPOOL Express, Shared Lyft, and Via are all available in DC. Via is currently available only within the DC city limits, Arlington, VA, and Alexandria, VA.

DC METRO INFORMATION:

Since the DC Metro system did away with paper farecards a while back, a SmarTrip card will be essential for paying the fares on the Metro system and parking at Metro lots (see below). A SmarTrip card costs $10 for the initial purchase but can be refilled as many times as you want at designated SmarTrip kiosks, but prepare for this initial expense. Try and keep your SmarTrip card if you plan on visiting DC again in the future.

Information on the DC Metro system can be found here: http://www.wmata.com

A map of the DC Metro system can be found here: https://www.wmata.com/schedules/maps/upload/2017-System-Map.pdf

FLYING:

For those of you flying, your most frugal travel option for this congress is, naturally, Spirit Airlines. The closest airport served by Spirit Airlines to the congress is Baltimore-Washington International airport (BWI) in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, about 40 minutes north of DC.

An UBER/Lyft or cab from BWI to the hotel is VERY expensive, around $60-70 or possibly even higher than that, so try to avoid this if possible or split the costs with another festival attendee if you must go this route. Although UBER and Lyft’s pool/shared options are available in DC, they are NOT available in the Baltimore area, including the area around BWI, making UberX and regular Lyft your only options for travel to and from BWI.

Directions from BWI:

If you are able, try to get into BWI during the day when the MARC train is still running. Take the MARC train’s Penn Line from BWI to Union Station in DC. Tickets for the MARC train can be purchased at a kiosk at the BWI train station near the airport for about $8.

Directions to the hotel from Union Station: Once in Union Station, take the DC Metro red line towards Shady Grove two stops to the Gallery Place-Chinatown stop and the hotel is a short walk away. Exit the Metro station from the Gallery/9th & G St. NW side; you will see signs around the station pointing out which exit is which. Once out of the station, walk down G Street NW toward 9th Street NW (if you see 7th Street NW you’re going the wrong way, turn around) then make a right on 9th Street NW and the hotel will be on your right two blocks up at 999 9th St NW. It’s hard to miss.

If you’re taking any airline other than Spirit, you will either fly into BWI, DCA (Reagan National Airport), or IAD (Dulles). DCA is the closest airport to the congress and therefore the most practical if you are flying any airline other than Spirit. Try to avoid flying into IAD if you can; not only is IAD far from the congress without the benefit of being serviced exclusively by a budget airline, but there is no Metro stop or train that services IAD directly as yet, which will force you to take UBER/Lyft, a cab, or a bus part of the way.

Follow the above directions if you are flying into BWI.

DIRECTIONS FROM DCA:

If coming from DCA, take the Metro yellow line from the Ronald Reagan National Airport station at the terminal towards Greenbelt/Fort Totten to the Gallery Place-Chinatown metro stop and follow the above directions from there. The yellow and blue lines share the same track and the blue line’s route is very different and will add extra time and transfers to your trip, so be sure the train you are getting on is a yellow line train. Follow the walking directions from Gallery Place once you get there.

DIRECTIONS FROM IAD:

If you must come from IAD, take an UBER, Lyft, or cab to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro stop on the silver line, take the silver line toward Largo Town Center to Metro Center, then transfer to the red line towards Glenmont, take the red line one stop to Gallery Place, and follow the above directions from Gallery Place.

BUS/TRAIN:

Megabus, Bolt Bus, Greyhound, and Amtrak all go to Union Station and the above directions to the Renaissance from Union Station can be followed from there.

CAR:

The Washington, DC area is unfortunately home to some of the most notoriously relentless rush hour traffic in the nation, and this must be accounted for when planning any car trip using the highway system, as it can add anywhere from 1 to 2 hours to your trip.  Rush hour in Washington, DC takes place on Mondays and Fridays from 5am-11am and noon-9pm (not kidding), and at various completely random intervals on Saturday and Sunday.

The streets with in the DC city proper itself, built in the late 1700s by Pierre L’Enfant with the express purpose of confusing and deterring invading armies, are very confusing and difficult to navigate for out-of-towners, even with a navigation system.  Use of a good GPS and concentrated focus is recommended if driving in DC.  

Parking is, as you would expect, very tight as well.  Do not count on street parking to be available, especially overnight.  

You have a few different options for overnight parking.

The first, closest, and most obvious option is your baller option, which is parking directly at the hotel at a cost of $35 per day for self-parking or $53.10 per day for valet parking, which some people may want to do for convenience, but which is definitely not the most frugal option.

A slightly less expensive option close by is the parking garage at Union Station, which offers overnight parking at a cost of $72 for a 48-72 hour period (about $24 per day), and is a short trip from the hotel via the directions from the station listed earlier in this entry.

DCA’s economy lot, at $17 per day with no hourly rate, is a good frugal option reasonably close to the Renaissance.  Park in the economy lot, take the free shuttle to the terminal, and hop on the Metro from the terminal and follow the metro directions from DCA to the hotel.  Make sure you keep your economy lot ticket with you and do not lose it if you utilize this option.

BWI’s economy lot, at $8 per day, could also work if you came from points north and have some time to spare.  Arrive during the day before the MARC stops running, take the free shuttle to the terminal, then take the MARC from the terminal to Union Station as described above (another $8 one way).  This will cost you about $50 total for three days and is the cheapest airport parking option.  Again, keep your ticket if you use this option.

The absolute cheapest option, if it is available, is parking your car at a suburban Metro lot and taking Metro to the hotel.

Overnight parking is available at four area Metro stations: Greenbelt (green line), Wiehle-Reston East (silver line), Huntington (yellow line), and Franconia-Springfield (blue line).  Each of these stations have 15-17 parking spaces allotted for overnight parking for up to 10 days available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Parking is $4.75 per day on weekdays and free on weekends and is charged to your SmarTrip card on exit.

You can take the green line toward Branch Avenue from Greenbelt or the yellow line toward Fort Totten from Huntington directly to the Gallery Place-Chinatown stop.

From Wiehle-Reston East, take the silver line toward Largo Town Center to Metro Center,  transfer to the red line toward Glenmont and take the red line one stop to Gallery Place-Chinatown.

From Franconia-Springfield, take the blue Line toward Largo Town Center to the Pentagon station and transfer to the yellow Line toward Fort Totten/Mount Vernon Square to Gallery Place.  Do not miss your transfer at Pentagon, otherwise your trip will take much longer and you will have to transfer at Metro Center to the red line per the above directions.

Expect your Metro ride to be about 20-30 minutes.  Once at Gallery Place-Chinatown, follow the above walking directions to the hotel from there.

LODGING:

Your best frugal bet is, of course, a room share at the event hotel. DCBX currently has an active room block at the event hotel featuring rooms that can accommodate up to 4 people for as low as $155 per night, or about $45 per person per night for a four person room-share when taxes and fees are included. A link to book your hotel room online can currently be found here or at DCBachata.com under the hotel section if that link doesn’t work. Rooms at the event hotel are clean, comfortable, luxurious, and aesthetically pleasing, and are well liked by the festival’s regular attendees.

Per my personal code of ethics, and to encourage attendees to support the event hotel, I will be posting no information on offsite lodging options until the event hotel fully sells out, if that happens. If the event hotel fully sells out and no DCBX room block is available at an overflow hotel, I will write a separate entry detailing offsite options then.

FOOD:

For the frugally-minded traveler wanting to get groceries near the congress, you have many options. The closest is Walgreens, located at 7th & H Street NW near the Gallery Place Metro stop, but this is not the most frugal option.

There is also a Safeway (east coast chain grocery store similar to Vons on the west coast) located at 490 L Street NW, a 5 minute UBER/Lyft ride or 9 minute walk each way from the hotel.

If you want to grocery shop as frugally as possible, the Walmart Supercenter at 99 H Street NW is your best bet. It is a 9-10 minute UBER/Lyft ride or 15 minute walk each way from the hotel. Expect the DC Walmart stores to be slightly more expensive than suburban and small-town Walmarts, because they have higher operating costs due to their location. However, Walmart will still be your most frugal option in the immediate area of the congress for staples.

For those wanting to go to Whole Foods for specialty items, the Logan Circle Whole Foods at 1440 P Street NW is a 9 minute UBER/Lyft Ride or 20 minute walk each way from the hotel.

There is also a Smoothie King located near the Gallery Place metro station at 703 7th St. NW. A good #FCL strategy for those who don’t want to grocery shop at the congress but still want to save some money on food is to walk to Smoothie King in the morning (about a 5 minute walk) and get a 40 oz Strawberry Hulk smoothie for $9.99. The Strawberry Hulk, as I discussed in my NYC survival guide, is a 1000+ calorie meal replacement smoothie which provides a large portion of most people’s daily calorie and macronutrient requirements and should last you until dinner. I would allow some time to digest before being active in any way if you go this route. [Disclosure: Smoothie King has been a DCBX sponsor in past years and may be again this year, but this has no bearing on my recommendation, I honestly think the Hulk smoothies are a quick easy way to knock out a good chunk of the day’s calories and macros in one fell swoop for a relatively low cost.]

For your coffee needs, the Starbucks located directly in the event hotel’s lobby is your best bet.

As far as options for your one restaurant meal, there are hundreds of restaurants directly around the hotel, most of them chains, and writing about all of them would be at least one whole separate article.

The restaurant I’m looking forward to having at least one of my daily meals out at is New Big Wong, an underground Chinese restaurant located at 610 H Street NW, a short walk from the hotel. They have some of the best General Tso’s Chicken in the city in my opinion.

Located directly next to the Renaissance at 777 Eye Street is Taco Bamba, a delicious and excellent rock-and-roll-themed taqueria owned by chef Victor Albisu that is a favorite among DCBX attendees.  

Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar, the former site of area Latin event promoters the Bachata Brothers’ now-defunct Viva Fridays event, is a solid option for Cuban food located just down the street from the hotel.  

I’ve also heard good things about Oyamel Cocina on 401 7th Street NW, which I have never been to but which was featured on a TV show I worked on several years ago. They serve grasshopper tacos (no kidding) for those of you with adventurous palates.

For those of you with less adventurous palates looking to eat out frugally, good old McD’s can be found at 601 F Street NW near the Metro, with Chipotle located right next door.

A small selection of some of the other restaurants located a stone’s throw from the hotel include City Tap House, Nando’s Peri-Peri, Farmers & Distillers, DBGB, Fig & Olive, Fruitive, Capitol City Bewing Company, and Zaytinya DC.  

Otherwise, like I said, I could write a whole other article on the staggering amount of food options located a short walk from the hotel – this is just some of the highlights!

That’s all the info I have… sound off in the comments if you got anything else to add and I’ll see you at DCBX!

– Owen

Quadforce of Dance Congress Expenses #3: Lodging

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[Disclosure: As of the time of this writing, I am not directly affiliated with any of the businesses whose services I describe in this post nor have I been hired to advertise for any of them. Anything written in this post is my objective advice. Any advice in this blog does not constitute legal or medical advice and is provided as is with no liability to #FrugalCongressLife or the author.]

Now for the big king daddy of the Quadforce of Dance Congress Expenses. Lodging. Hotel… Motel… Holiday Inn. While attending a dance congress, you will need a place to sleep (for a few hours most likely), shower (you had better be showering regularly at a dance congress!), and keep your stuff after all, especially if you are out of town, but even if you are local. Dance congresses are basically weekend-long dance camps for adults and having a place to lay your head and keep your stuff will make or break the experience. However, lodging will probably be your single biggest expense while attending a dance congress. Fear not, however, for I, your #FrugalCongressLife practitioner, am here to help you mitigate this gargantuan expense as much as legitimately possible and have a frugal dance congress that is still a good experience. This is going to be a long post with considerable meat on it, so be ready.

But first…

PSA that shouldn’t be necessary:

Don’t sleep or nap in the common areas of the hotel — this means the lobby, hallways, or any other public area that is not a paid-for hotel room. It’s seriously a bad look and could actually hurt the event. People sleeping in hotel common areas has caused at least one local salsa/bachata festival here in DC to lose its original hotel. In addition to being a bad look and hurting the event, it is extremely dangerous to sleep in public, as you could be robbed, kidnapped, or worse (do I even have to say what “worse” is?) while taking leave of all of your senses in public. Safety first!

A word about commuting, whether from home or an offsite hotel/motel:

Commuting to dance congresses, whether from home or from an offsite hotel/motel, is certainly the most frugal option, but it honestly is not the best or most optimal one. Commuting can cause you to miss workshops you wanted to take, be inconvenient on many other levels (you’ll have to go home or travel to and from your offsite location to shower between workshops and night activities), seriously take you out of the immersive dance congress experience, and may even be dangerous if you’re driving home or back to your offsite location tired after a long night of social dancing.

Any offsite options, including commuting from home, will ideally be a maximum of 15 minutes driving one way from the event hotel or less – the less the better, preferably walking distance. A commute any longer than a 15 minute drive one way will throw a serious logistical monkey wrench into your operations, spoil the congress experience at an unacceptable level, and add extra expense that will offset your savings on the room. This is a theme I will repeat when describing offsite options.

Also a philosophical/ethical point to consider – staying offsite (whether at home or another hotel/motel or AirBNB) is withdrawing financial support from the event on some level, as you are not staying at the event hotel, and sometimes the event organizers promise (explicitly or implied) the event hotel management a large amount of people staying in rooms at the event hotel. Additionally, much of the time, the event organizers reserve a block of rooms in the event hotel at a lower cost just for congress attendees. For these ethical reasons alone, staying offsite is not the best option. Event organizers, let me know in the comments how people staying offsite impacts your event if it does at all.

With that said, some people’s specific circumstances, which I will get into later in this post, call specifically for offsite lodging, and this IS the #FrugalCongressLife blog after all, so it makes sense to take an honest look at ALL major dance congress lodging options. Much like buying a party pass to the event, as I discussed in a previous post, I’m sure any event organizer would rather you commute to the event from an offsite location than not attend the event at all if you are really that up against it. With that said, in the rare occasions that I do stay offsite at a dance congress, I do not advertise this publicly or advise others to do so out of respect to the event organizer and the event hotel, unless the event hotel is completely sold out. Staying offsite should really be considered a last resort for those with a specific set of circumstances. Supporting the event as much as possible by staying at the event hotel, whether by yourself or in a room share, should always be your first resort.

With that PSA that really REALLY should go without saying and that important note about commuting from offsite locations out of the way, I’m going to discuss the various congress lodging options in order from generally most desirable to generally least desirable (#2 and #3 may be switched around based on individual space/privacy preferences) with a $ rating of 1-4 indicating its level of frugality (1 most, 4 least):

Solo room at the event hotel: ($$$$)

This is the platinum option, and the one that will likely be quickly discounted out of hand by #FrugalCongressLife practitioners. It is exactly as it sounds, a room to yourself at the event hotel, and will easily be the most expensive option, often well into the hundreds of dollars per night. If you are really particular about your living conditions (even your temporary ones for a weekend) and/or you want the maximum level of privacy and (at least a feeling of) security, are uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a room with your fellow dancers for any reason (people have different comfort levels, don’t judge), or are likely to clash with roommates for any reason, but you also want the immersive dance festival experience, a “home base” to shower, sleep, and keep your stuff, and for your “commute” to and from the festival to be a simple elevator ride or walk up the stairs to your room, then this is your option. Sometimes I have done this option, particularly when times are good and rooms at the event hotel are $80 or less per night, but it makes the least financial sense from a cold economic standpoint for anyone who wants to be frugal.

Room-share with roommates at the event hotel: ($)

This is the most popular option with the majority of dance congress attendees and can be a very effective frugal option. Many dance events even have dedicated pages and group chats for helping prospective congress roommates find each other. You get all the advantages of having a “home base” to shower, sleep, and keep your stuff a short elevator ride away from the congress proper, while spending as little as $20-40 per night for your room. However, obviously you will be sharing a small space and a single bathroom with 1-4 other people you may or may not know all that well and may even be sharing a bed with someone you don’t know well depending on how many people you are in a room with. Not everyone is comfortable with this for a litany of reasons (again, don’t judge, different comfort levels for different people). Some people like privacy and a feeling of security too much to share a small space with casual acquaintances, some people are very particular about room conditions, and some people aren’t good at sharing space with others. If this is you, consider other options. Also, not everyone wants their hotel room for the same purpose – some people want a party room, some people want a quiet sanctuary to retreat to after going TO the party, and it is best to room with people who want the same things out of a congress hotel room. If you can navigate the challenges and pitfalls of a congress room-share, you can save a lot of money while still having the best logistics possible and possibly make some new friends as well. To read about how to navigate the particulars of congress room-shares in more detail, see Laura Riva’s post on how to Be A Better Congress Roommate here.

Solo room at a nearby budget hotel or motel: ($$/$$$ – varies)

This is the primary budget option for those who are particular about privacy/security, are uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a hotel room with fellow dancers for any reason, or are likely to clash with roommates for any reason. How much money you save depends on how much cheaper a room at the hotel or motel you choose is than an equivalent room at the event hotel would be. This option will provide you with the “home base” for showering, sleeping, and keeping your stuff as described above, albeit a bit farther from the event hotel for a reduced price, but will introduce a litany of other logistical issues, not the least of which is an extended commute between your “home base” and the event, as well as some removal from the immersion of the dance event and some social isolation from your fellow dancers (not a good thing), as well as the philosophical/ethical issues I described earlier. If you are out of town or not driving for any other reason, the obvious extra expense of public transport or UBER will offset your savings to some degree. To have this option hamper your festival experience as little as possible, look for budget options that are no further than a 15 minute drive one way from the event hotel and preferably as close to the event hotel as possible. Needless to say, check online reviews thoroughly for your chosen budget location before booking, as many budget motels in particular are dirty and sketchy places where you could be robbed or assaulted, get very sick, or other possible negative outcomes.

Room-share with roommates at an offsite hotel or motel: ($)

This is kind of a “worst of both worlds” option, but it is potentially one of the most frugal options on this list if you can find an offsite location that is significantly cheaper than the event hotel and close enough to not have too much of a commute (15 minutes away one way or less), as well as roommates willing to also deal with offsite location issues. You get all the upsides and downsides of living with roommates alongside the logistical/ethical downsides of staying offsite, although having a roommate can offset the social isolation aspect of staying offsite somewhat. Also, honestly, good luck finding someone to do this with you as it’s not a popular lodging option for dance congresses.

[NOTE: per my personal code of ethics, when profiling specific dance events in future posts, I will provide no information on offsite lodging until the main event hotel fully sells out, if that happens at all. You’re basically on your own if looking for offsite budget lodging.]

AirBNB: ($/$$ – varies)

This could be a good last resort option depending on the circumstances – particularly for smaller dance festivals and weekenders happening in non-hotel locations such as dance studios. It is easy and convenient to book – all booking is done through a smartphone app – and unlike hotels or motels, you can pre-pay in advance for an AirBNB which is honestly very good peace of mind to have. I still would only recommend AirBNB as a extreme last resort, and with much caution. I have done AirBNB for dance congresses a few times, mostly early on in my congress life, and most of my experiences were either pretty good or passable, and one of them was very bad. For those curious about the very bad incident, I stayed with an individual whose landlord did not know they were hosting AirBNB guests in their apartment, he found out during my stay and kicked me out, and I had to leave the congress early. The host apologized profusely and refunded my money in full, but the incident ruined that congress for me and greatly eroded my trust in AirBNB as a platform.

Even if your host is fully on the up and up, there are issues with any AirBNB you will stay at. All the logistical and philosophical/ethical issues related to staying at an offsite hotel or motel apply to AirBNB as well. Keep in mind also that an AirBNB is somebody’s home and your ability to continue using AirBNB is directly tied to how well your hosts rate you based on a number of factors including cleanliness and quiet, so unlike a hotel or motel, you have to clean up after yourself and you can’t be as fast and loose with throwing parties, leaving towels on the bathroom floor etc. Make sure your AirBNB is no more than a 15 minute drive one way from the event hotel as you would with any other offsite option. Be aware that AirBNB’s vetting system is very easy to get around with fake information, and make sure you only book with Superhosts (a status designation assigned by AirBNB denoting an experienced and established host) or hosts with a large number of positive reviews… some unscrupulous AirBNB hosts have their friends write them fake positive reviews, but positive reviews in the hundreds or more and/or an official Superhost designation from AirBNB are very hard to fake.

Commuting from home: ($)

Honestly this is a last resort for those who are really up against it preceding a local congress and can not justify even a room share due to budget, or those with ideal logistics for commuting to a dance congress from home and wanting to save the most money. Obviously this is the most frugal option if you live nearby, but it is also the worst option logistically and obviously not even an option at all for out-of-town congresses. Ideally your conditions for commuting from home would be as follows: you live 15 minutes or less one way from the congress location, you don’t plan to take many workshops and/or are willing to sacrifice some morning workshops or social dancing time, you are ok with being somewhat removed from the immersion of a dance congress, and you can realistically walk or take public transportation or UBER to and from the event (not having to drive yourself after social dancing all night).

Best practices for booking hotels frugally, if you are booking a room yourself:

– Most dance congresses have their own reserved room block at the event hotel with a heavily discounted rate that is booked through their website or Facebook event page. This is generally your least expensive and best option at the event hotel, but you generally have a limited time to do it and once the block is sold out you’re out of luck.

– If booking outside of the congress room block or offsite, call the hotel or motel directly to get the best possible rate. If you are a member of AAA, ask for the AAA rate, it is generally the best room rate outside of the congress block or at an offsite hotel/motel, and you have the best chance of getting the best rooms and perks such as early check-in and late check-out.

– Become a member of as many hotel rewards programs as you can… most of them are free to join and it is absolutely worth it given how often you will be staying in hotels as a regular attendee of dance congresses. You can earn free hotel stays as you accumulate membership “points” and as you elevate to higher levels of membership by staying at participating hotels frequently, you begin to get the perks of such higher levels of reward membership, which can include but are not limited to food and beverage amenities, free WiFi, guaranteed late checkout, and even experiential rewards such as free private tours of a local landmark.

– Using a third party booking site such as Trivago or Booking.com is not recommended. Hotel staff know when you are using such sites to book and the treatment you receive, while not outwardly terrible, will be quietly less than preferential… you will get the worst rooms and getting perks such as early check in or late check out will be an uphill battle.

Conclusion:

That’s all I got for lodging. You know what to do by now, if you got anything else to add, sound off in the comments! Next up… FOOD!

– Owen