Group venue for about 50 people to sleep

[AgaPanthers]

Any ideas? We'd make some noise, acoustic guitar + singing, but not rock concert level.... Need it for about 3 nights, low budget...

Try school halls, Scout or Guide huts, village halls, that kind of thing.
Usually available for very reasonable rates.

There are dozens of Girlguiding owned and Scouting owned campsites around the country that could accommodate.

Youth hostels? I went to a weekend party in Shropshire one year where we hired the whole hostel.

I should say, we've got people coming from overseas, so we are looking Home Counties. I called YHA, they said the only thing they have is in Minehead, which would be a logistical nightmare.

Would camping be OK or do you need a hall?
Could everyone just have a sleeping bag on the floor of a hall, or do you need bedrooms/beds etc.
Self catering is OK I assume?

google camping barns.

Yeah we are self catering, got a couple of chefs!

We have found a camping place with attached hall, which is nice but as a lot of people are coming from overseas it would probably be a lot of work if we had to organise all their tents, camping beds & such like.

We may still go for sleeping bags on the floor of the hall of the camping place, if we can't find somewhere with beds.

I spoke to Cold Blow which is the nearest Camping Barn to London on YHA site (and the only one probably close enough) earlier, and they could accommodate us, but they say no noise at all after 11pm, and no fires, both of which would be problems for us.

Sounds like a stupid question, but why do people from overseas need to go to Home Counties? We got married in a youth hostel in Derbyshire - 30 mins from Manchester airport (guests from all over Europe and USA), had it fri-sun just to ourselves and I don't remember any restrictions on noise/timings. (But no fireworks allowed).

We have about 10 British families potentially attending, and all live in Home Counties (mostly south of London) or West Country, and logistically we are arranging it probably need to make a reconnaisance visit as well, and don't really want something that's three hours+ drive away, we might have a lot of stuff to bring.

Manchester Airport does seem to have a good choice of flights to Europe, but London would definitely be easier for people to fly into (our guests would come from Germany, Holland, Sweden, France, Denmark), plus there is the possibility to drive via tunnel/ferry, which is much less practical oop north.

Halls of residence? They rent them out over the summer in towns and cities. If you want lovely countryside instead you could try

www.shuttleworth.ac.uk/Shuttleworth/Accommodation.aspx

No idea if they do rent them out over summer though.

Downe scout camp is just down the road from me on the Kent/London border, I'm fairly sure that you can stay there without doing the whole scouting thing, I'd give them a call.

Good luck, sounds like it'll be a fun get together!

You can hire out whole Youth Hostels. Have you tried YHA?

We rented the bunkhouse at Marwell Activity Centre last year, basic but good fun

What about a static caravan park? They do self-catering, very cheaply, and if it's the off-season then you lot will be the only ones on-site. There's loads around the country, so look on tripadvisor for one in the location you want. You have to take your own bedding, but it's still a lot more comfortable than camping outright.

Or you could go for a mass booking at somewhere like a De Vere conference centre. I've stayed at the one in Sunningdale near Windsor for £22 (room bought when they had a sale), which has rather student digs-like accommodation, although clean, but really huge, lovely grounds - you could go be acoustic all you like there, I bet! There's a list of current deals for various of their venues here, but seriously, if I were you, I'd be tempted just to ring up and haggle: www.deverevenues.co.uk/en/special-deals/summer-lovin/ Don't be put off by listed prices as full price tends to be huge, but then they have sales. I've stayed in their £200+ central London rooms for £44, etc.

Same with Premier Inn - find one which isn't so popular, and check when the room sale is on, or call and haggle.

Or - there's self-catering rooms in universities, if your gathering isn't in term time. Massive list of participating universities here: www.universityrooms.com/en/countries/GB

our budget is no more than £20 ppn I think. Have called Downe, but they've not called me back.

Actually, forget all my sensible advice above, sod the Home Counties, too, and go here: snowdoniahostel.co.uk/accommodation.html

Absolutely gorgeous, self-catering in Wales. Sleeps 59. Exclusive use of the entire place for £1000 a night (£17 per person).

This place is in Dorset, they may be full but you can try them

Osho Leela ( type in google )

If you insist on being sensible, though, a list of independent bunkhouses in south England here: www.independenthostelguide.co.uk/map-of-hostels-in-south-and-south-east-england.php

Like this one: www.independenthostelguide.co.uk/selected-accommodation.php?hostel=524&s=212

(I think I'm living vicariously, looking at these, but I still think you should go to the gorgeous cheap-as-chips FIVE STAR hostel in Snowdonia.)

I looked at that last one, SmallPress, I was a bit put off by this:

"This is a quiet camp site, so sorry not suitable for those that wish to party."

I'm not sure what that means, but maybe I will call them. Campfire singalong makes SOME noise, and our group would want to singing and playing (acoustic) guitar till about 3-4am.

Also:
"Camp fires by arrangement only."

I think I'd look at booking up a couple of b&bs. If you can book a whole hotel far enough in advance, for a couple of nights, you'd probably come in at less than £20pp.
Or travel lodge type place - you'd get discount for a big booking.

I think you are going to have to compromise on something agapanthers. no one is going to want to share a site with a group of 50 people partying and singing until 3am with an acoustic guitar. similarly unless you are absolutely in the middle of nowhere no site owner is going to let you disturb their neighbours like this. this is why licencing laws say no noise after 11.30pm or midnight. if you wouldn't do this in your own back garden for fear of upsetting your neighbours then you aren't going to be able to do it to someone elses neighbours. good luck but I think personally you are trying to achieve the unachievable.

I agree with mummymeister

I was first going to suggest Great Escapes, from YHA - but, in order for you not to bother any neighbours, you'd need a remote one. It's exclusive use of the building, but some still have neighbours which is why the rules are in place.

Same with campsites - Somewhere like Here have a tented village you can use - ie the tents are permanently up and there are bunkbeds in them, but if it were a normal camping weekend, you'd have to be considerate of other campers. Of course, if you wanted to go at a time no-one else was on site, you'd have a better chance of negotiating, but that depends if you are fixed to particular dates. (eg midweek might have some days not being used, but at the weekends, you've got no chance)

Nowhere is perfect for sure.

Would you consider sleeping in a marquee on private land? It may be entirely possible to find someone to do this.