Our location in relation to the Glastonbury festival site is, without doubt, one of our frequently asked questions. Potential guests want to know, understandably, where we are and how that get to the festival.
There are a number of reasons why our location in relation to the Glastonbury festival site, which is a 10 minute flat walk away from festival gate D, is actually a benefit. Here are, in our opinion, the top 5 reasons.
1.Because being ‘in the action’ isn’t necessarily a benefit
Anyone who has ever said ‘It’ll be fine – how bad can it be?’ regarding staying ‘in the action’ on the festival site has usually regretted it. If you’re the type of person who needs to be rested, fed and washed as a minimum in order to get the most out of this once in a lifetime opportunity then think carefully about your accommodation choice.
2.Because of wet weather challenges
If it’s a wet year then the conditions in the festival itself are challenging. After a particularly wet festival in 2016 we were described by guests returning from their day in the festival as ‘their haven away from the festival’. They fell through our entrance into our welcoming bar and restaurant (complete with TV corner to watch the highlights) and onward to their cosy dry rooms – usually via a nice hot shower. Obviously when it’s wet we’re not immune to the weather, or the resultant mud, but we have far less foot traffic on our site in addition to well versed processes to prevent the worst and deal with the inevitable. For all you ‘detail bods’ out there these processes include not allowing any vehicles to drive on our site during the build / set up if it’s raining. If you listen carefully you’ll be able to hear our contractors / suppliers ‘being vocal’ about hand-balling their kit across the site! When it stops raining no-one drives on your walkways until they’re dry meaning they are in the best condition possible when you arrive.
3.Because of hot sunny weather challenges
Obviously (hopefully) 2023 is not going to be a wet year but being British means that all weathers bring challenges. In 2019 it was super sunny and warm. You’d think this would be the dream but spending long days out in the sunshine with little or no shade in the festival was not fun for guests. On the Saturday afternoon the majority of our guests chose to stay on the hotel site and enjoy the bar and fan cooled restaurant until the very last minute. We didn’t have a pool in 2019 – we won’t make that mistake again. In the equally warm 2022 our guests checked-in and headed straight for our full sized pool. I suspect that many of them spent equal time enjoying the hotel as they did the festival but we certainly won’t complain about that. Another hot weather challenge is that people want to shower more frequently. In 2019 the festival battled with a number of water supply issues – we don’t have those – our dedicated water (pillow) tanks mean that we are independent of the local water supply which is, during the festival, under attack.
4.Because, actually, a shuttle isn’t a benefit
With our location in relation to the Glastonbury festival site being off-site we are often asked if we run shuttles to the festival. There are a couple of reasons why we don’t. Firstly, for safety reasons the festival quite rightly do not allow anyone to operate any type of vehicle to run across the festival car-parks (your route to the festival). Secondly, if we took you via the road (as some off-site sites do because they’re not walkable) then the point at which you’d be dropped off (gate A) would mean a longer walk for you than from the hotel to festival gate D. Therefore a pleasant flat 10 minute walk (shorter if you don’t dawdle) with no waiting around for a shuttle bus and a nice cold drink grabbed from the bar to help ‘festival planning’ along is actually the best option.
5.Because you can stay at The Pop-Up Hotel from the Tuesday evening
We haven’t, necessarily, saved the best until last but it is a goody. To save our guests from sitting in festival traffic on the Wednesday morning and / or from getting up at silly o’clock we offer our guests the opportunity to book an extra night with us on the Tuesday before Glastonbury AKA GlastoEve. Not only is it the opportunity to miss the rush / traffic jams / sleeping in car-parks we also offer guests the opportunity to join us for a very special evening of food and live music. We’re busy planning what / who at the moment but previous GlastoEves have been a huge success so it’s sure to be popular again.
As always – get in touch if you have any questions.
