Desert Trip 2 or not, local businesses may still capitalize

Desert Trip is a hot topic all over — with rumors of whether the festival will return to the Coachella Valley this year. Zak Dahlheimer has been looking into the rumors and has more information after speaking to one concertgoer who says hotels are already being booked.

Kelly Koczkur said she remembers making the trip from around Santa Maria, California out to the desert last fall for a weekend of rock and roll at Desert Trip.

“The experience really made it for my year last year,” she said. “It was just like a big giant community of music fans who came together, for a party we may never have again. At least not with those artists.’

But Koczkur said she and her friends already had a plan in store after last year’s festival.

“Of course, there’s no news about it, and my friend had a good idea, ‘Well, why don’t we just go ahead and book the room,” she said.

Shortly after booking her room for next fall, she said others started following suit, and hotels started catching on.

“There were no rooms available, and that was back in February,” Koczkur said. “I just did a search on Hotels.com, and half of them have already caught on to the fact that people were banking, or they were already banking on it coming back. Because the prices were, for like a Motel 6, for $300. Or close to $300 by the time you add the fees in.”

Hotels across the Valley said they’ve noticed a recent spike in bookings for this fall.

Especially with rumors swirling on social media of Led Zeppelin potentially performing at the festival this year, and a message found on the website homepage of the band’s lead singer, Robert Plant, saying, “Any time now…”

Some hotels hope to continue to bank on the festival audience.

“(It’s) something for the Stagecoach crowd obviously, something for the Coachella crowd and the Desert Trip crowd,” Robert Green, CEO of the Robert Green Company and the developer of Montage La Quinta hotels, said.

Management at the Holiday Inn Express in Rancho Mirage said they sold out within a couple of hours after the announcement of weekend 1 of Desert Trip this time last year, and within a day after the announcement of weekend 2.

Those like Koczkur are hoping to come to the polo grounds again this fall, with a room good to go.

“If it happens in 2017, I’ll be closer and at a better price,” she said.

KESQ and CBS Local 2 has reached out to Goldenvoice, but they have not gotten back to us.

Indio city leaders said in a statement they have no indication that a Desert Trip will happen, and that the city needs a 90-day notice for special events, including music festivals.

Goldenvoice earlier this year announced a new music festival to take place in Pasadena this summer.

Stay with KESQ and CBS Local 2 for the latest music festival news.

Follow Music Festival News for updates on the potential return of Desert Trip How much longer will triple digit heat stick around? Check your First Alert Weather Forecast Read: More Top Stories around the Coachella Valley