Accomodations in Oruro during Carnival

+$450 USD for 3 nights, ticket to carnival, and snacks

That sounds really expensive.
I went to Oruro carnaval five years ago. I needed to book accommodation and pay for it in advance, and that was the only time I did it when travelling in SA (booking in advance). Stayed at Park International, one of the best in the city. At that time roughly US$50/night. That was expensive as I was used to pay a fraction of it. It was worth it though considering the number of visitors to the carnaval. Still, there were rooms available.
I met people who arrived to Oruro without booked accommodation, and they managed to find a place to stay without much effort. You can't be picky though.

Hey,

Yeah, Oruro is very expensive during Carnaval. But $450 is definitely much more than you should pay.

The trick is that most places don't have websites, or really provide a way to reserve accommodations beforehand. Places that do have these are typically nicer places, and will charge accordingly.

If you're set on booking a hostal, you could probably get away with finding a place for $150 for the weekend. This may not include seats.

Locals will also rent extra properties or rooms that they have for Carnaval. They are all over the local newspapers, keep your eyes open. The longer you wait, the better deals you may be able to get. You don't need a hostal. An empty events hall works if you find enough travelers like you.

I hope this helps!

An empty events hall works if you find enough travelers like you.

Quite a few agencies in La Paz offer packages that do this, they get a group together, provide transport and put you up in a school or college (you'll probably need a sleeping bag). These may also include seats and some snacks / water etc.

The tourist office outside the Oruro bus station usually has a list of houses / places with rooms available, and a lot of locals will wait outside the terminal to attract guests. Hard to put a finger on prices as they always jump up each year (though what you've been quoted still sounds a lot), hotels usually try and charge several times what they would the rest of the year.

You can also go from La Paz without staying the night in Oruro if you dont mind a long day and night buses. There are loads of buses between La Paz and Oruro (approx 3.5 to 4hrs) over the Carnival weekend, if you aim to get to Oruro around breakfast time on the day of the main parade (Sat) and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding seats

You can also go from La Paz without staying the night in Oruro if you dont mind a long day and night buses.

I'd still recommend at least three days during the carnaval. Coming for a day would be like leaving it at its best. The main part of the carnaval goes on day and night.

Thanks for the info guys! I'm not "set" on renting a hostel, I pretty much don't want to get fleeced by wherever I stay. So basically the consensus I'm getting is that if I don't have accommodations set up beforehand don't worry about it and show up as there will be a good chance to find a place if I do some looking around? I guess the worse thing that could happen is that I can't find a place, and just take the bus out.

Any advice on getting seats?? Is there certain areas that you feel would be better than others??

Thanks again.

Any advice on getting seats??

That shouldn't be a problem. Either at the hostel where you stay or directly from ticket office. There're different prices for different sections. Affordable either way.

If you're willing to pay more, definitely get seats in the Plaza. The closer to any large TV setups, the better. The dancers know where they are and they save their best moves for this area.

Last year I was recommended seats near the end, on Av. Cívica. Though they were nice seats, some dancers were clearly out of it by the time they got all the way up there.

I went to Oruro's carnival three times. My recommendation is that if you have that money to spend, do it. Because you don't want to be worried about looking for a place to stay or bus tickets.

normally the costs are the following:
- Best seats from companies like Paceña, Tigo, Entel: 100$us to 150$us
- A good place to stay per night, around 50$us
- Bus tickets from La Paz to Oruro, around 20$us

The most confortable to feel in this carnival, the best time you spend,

cheers!

Best seats from companies like Paceña, Tigo, Entel: 100$us to 150$us

It looks like the prices have gone high up. I paid less in Bolivianos six or seven years ago.
The hotel prices were about the same.