So, I am trying to figure out exactly where to stay in Gainesville. You obviously have the Holiday Inn, but the other area hotels appear to be atleast a mile away from the Holiday Inn. These other hotels appear to be somewhat cheaper than the Holiday Inn. Now, here is the actual question. What are the chances of actually finding a place to park somewhere near the venues? I'd rather not have to walk 4 miles or so everyday. Most likely I'll just pay the extra money and stay at the Holiday Inn, but figured I'd ask anyways.

Thanks in advance!

you should probably stay at the holiday inn seeing as it's right there and all the other hotels are some distance away, parking was nothing last year, there were prime spaces everywhere because most people fly, I'm flying this year so that's one less space taken up, so yeah holiday inn and don't worry about parking

i didn't have any problems last year with parking. we were staying a few miles away from the Fest with friends. we took the van to the festivities everyday and never had to park more than probably half a mile away.

i drive to the Fest and i live about a mile or two from the area. i just park in the parking garage downtown and walk around, or i go earlier and try to find a spot. if you stay farther away, you might just invest in a cheap ass bike at like walmart, and bike to and from.

last year I stayed at a friend's place, farther away than the Holiday Inn, but not by much. I bought a used bike early on Friday.

Sometimes it was actually hard to find a good place to park the bike, but I still highly suggest that.

Pass out on a business' roof after hours. As long as it doesn't rain, you're golden. The sun will make you get up and go see all the awesome bands you're too hung over to get up for otherwise.

I didn't have any problems finding spaces on 2nd ave during the whole Fest

Once again, thanks to everyone who has responded. I think I have a better idea of what I'll end up doing that weekend.

Check out these two threads for MANY answers to your questions:

Where have you stayed in the past?

Holiday Inn reservations through No Idea?

And at some point there should be a list of suggested places to stay on the Fest website:

http://thefestfl.com/

Here are some website for MUCH more info about Gville including things to do, places to eat, and places to stay:

http://www.visitgainesville.com/

http://www.cityofgainesville.org/

RUSH LAKE MOTEL...no fucking question.
under $50/night...cigarette burns already on the carpet...Fest the fuck outta the place and it's right down the road from Holiday Inn.

BUT...you probably won't get into any of the Holiday Inn shit this year unless you're staying there. I think they'll probably implement some sort of wristbands or something to keep it under control now that they know what they're into.

Fuck it then, let's rock the Rush Lake as the unofficial Fest hotel. I'm a cheapskate, huzzah! Unofficial is code for "cheaper!"

Fuck yeah dude...it was FULL of festers last year. They don't care at all how many people. In two adjoining rooms, we had 5 or 6 PunkNews folks, The Riot Before, Gaslight Anthem and our crew. My wife and I went down the hall to another room just to get space enough to lay down together. We left those rooms trashed and never heard anything about it later.

I've stayed at The Comfort Inn the past two years. It's rather far away from everything, but it's a good place to stay if you're looking for a quiet place to escape the mayhem.

And yeah, I drive to The Fest and I've never had a real problem finding parking. Downtown Gainesville isn't that big and the venues are all within walking distance of each other.

I second the Rush Lake Motel. Stayed there last year... spent the first night on the floor of some of my friend's rooms. Then the second night we got another room and it cost like thirty bucks. Super cheap and close enough to everything. I'll probably stay there again this year.

Plus, there is a Steak n' Shake right next door for whenever you need to get a fry fix at four in the morning.

Plus, I'll totally give somebody five bucks if they cross that swampy marsh thing that is behind it. Ten bucks if they also wrestle a gator there.

hell yeah the RUSH LAKE was the place to stay and is where im staying again this year it was $47 dollars a night and they have bottle openers in the bathroom...hella classy! and actually not a shithole.