The
Morris Burner Hotel is a recently purchased historic hotel along E 4th Street, formerly known as Highway 40 (Lincoln Highway). This hotel and hostel specifically caters to any and all Burning Man attendees and has listed itself as being the world's first 'Burner Hotel'. The following claim is taken from the hotel website and reads:
“Jungle Jim” Gibson
Owner
In 2011, Jim “Jungle Jim” Gibson joined the Burning Man community and was profoundly moved and changed by the experience.
In the summer of 2013, Jungle Jim and his brother Don purchased the classic, loving, and wonderful piece of Reno history, the 43 room Morris Hotel. Their vision was to transform the hotel into the world’s first “Burner” hotel, supported by the ten principles that are the foundational basis for the Burning Man event and culture:
Radical Inclusion • Gifting • Decommodification • Radical Self-reliance • Radical Self-expression • Communal Effort • Civic Responsibility • Leave No Trace • Participation • Immediacy
During autumn of 2013, Jim and 2011 Temple of Transition project lead Chris “Kiwi” Hankins and the amazing Morris Crew worked feverishly for both the Reno and Burner communities to transform the building into The Morris Burner Hotel. In the midst of renovations, Alon “Vision” Bar, the crew lead for the 2013 Burning Man Israel Core project stood out as exceptional while also spending his spare time volunteering at the Morris, and Jungle Jim appointed him as acting Manager of the Morris Burner Hotel.
There is also an article on the Burning Man website that highlights Jungle Jim's vision regarding being the world's first Burner Hotel and reads:
The Morris Hotel: The First Burner Hotel in the World
Posted by Will Chase
If you’d like to see Burning Man’s 10 Principles in action in the real world, just head down to 4th Street in Reno, and have a look at the Morris Hotel. Recently purchased by Jim Gibson (aka Jungle Jim on the playa), The Morris will be the first Burner hotel in the world.
Communal effort, radical inclusion, radical self-expression, gifting, civic responsibility, participation, leave no trace, immediacy — they’re all here in spades, and in a way that makes for an inspiring alchemy.
The hotel boasts 43 rooms, each of which will be designed and decorated by Burner artists. There’s a back lot for fire performers to practice and hone their craft. There are hopes of establishing a community garden to support the local homeless population. And of course, as happens with Burners, there are a slew of other ideas percolating. While the hotel is technically open right now (and will be hosting a small number of international Burning Man artists before this year’s Burn), Jim hopes to have it all spit-and-polished by the end of the year.
They have a long way to go, but Jim sure seems like the kind of guy — together with the incredible Reno community — to make it happen. Jim says he’s fallen in love with Reno and its artists, and we suspect that love will not go unrequited. We’re excited to see how this experiment unfolds.
If you're wondering what the Burning Man arts and cultural festival is about, you can read about it on the Burning Man website here. The Burner Hotel has a more-frequently-updated page regarding events/hotel status on Facebook here.
Finally, there is an online article on the newsreview.com website here that highlights the dream and vision behind this hotel/hostel.