re: Any advice on where to stay in BR

WHERE TO STAY

There are plenty of places to stay near campus and slightly further away from campus. Airbnbs and other rental properties are located around town, with a lot of them in the downtown area. Downtown BR also includes several hotels, including:
- The Watermark by Marriott
- Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center
- Hampton Inn By Hilton
- Origin Hotel by Wyndham
- Hotel Indigo by IHG

There are a few casinos in the area that are available to stay at as well:
- L'Auberge Casino & Hotel
- The Queen
- Belle of Baton Rouge

The Capital Area Transit System (CATS, our bus system) has a service during football season called Touchdown TRAX for gamedays that offer a $10 round trip from the following sites to their respective locations:
L'Auberge
I-110 Underpass at Florida in Downtown BR
Hotel Indigo

Tickets need to be purchased ahead of time/before the game. The transit starts three hours before a game and will run for one hour after the game ends.

If you plan on being a bit further out from campus, there are a couple major hotel chains nearby:
On I-10/College Drive, you have
- Crown Plaza
- Embassy Suites
- Holiday Inn
- Courtyard, Embassy Suites, and Baton Rouge Marriott
- Double Tree
- Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites, and Tru by Hilton

Further down the road but not too far down, you have the following (located in the hospital district):
- Hyatt Place
- Renaissance by Marriott
- Comfort Suites

Siegen Lane offers a Home2, Holiday Inn, and Tru by Hilton. Closer to I-10, there are several chain motels if that's what you feel like choosing.

As mentioned, rental properties are available in the downtown area. You should be fine with any property that's within the true downtown area. Since most of those maps do not show the exact locations, it might be best to ask tRant if the area is something worth staying in. There are also a lot of properties near the LSU Lakes are that great as well.


DINING

Restaurants options are plentiful, from casual fast food to fine dining. Local Louisiana cuisine will include the following nearby:
The Chimes (next to campus)
Parrain's (on Perkins Road near Acadiana Thruway, five minutes away)
Mike Anderson's (on Lee Drive and Nicholson Drive, five minutes away)
Walk On's(on Burbank Drive and Nicholson Drive, two minutes away)
Sammy's Grill(oh Highland Road, five minutes away)
Mansurs on the Boulevard(on Corporate Blvd, seven minutes away)
Rouj Creole (on Perkins Road, ten minutes away)
Louisiana Lagniappe(on Perkins Road, ten minutes away)

If staying in the downtown area:
Capital City Grill
The Gregory (located inside The Watermark)
Cocha
Poor Boy Lloyd's
Cecelia Creole Bistro
Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar
Stroubes
The Little Villager - Downtown

Other local places that are fun to eat at as well with mixed cuisines:
Elsie's Plate & Pie
Overpass Merchant
City Pork (on Jefferson Highway)
Superiori Grill - Highland (located next to Sammy's Grill)


GAMEDAY PARKING
Below is the map created by LSU. Everything that's in GREY is free. These spots include the UREC, West Campus & East Campus Apartments, Parker Coliseum, and most of Gourrier Avenue along the old LSU Golf Course. All other lots require payment. If you purchase a gameday parking pass, you are good for any spot in that section. Ideally that would be best used if you are tailgating on campus with your own setup for easy assembly/tear down. On the outskirts of campus (specifically the Northgates) you will find people selling parking spots in their yards/businesses for cash.

Note: 3-4 hours before kickoff is when free parking gets tight on campus. The outer free parking locations usually have space, but are a farther walk. The bigger the game, the quicker these spots fill.


WHAT TO DO ON GAMEDAY

Campus is vast and there is a lot to see on campus. The tailgates setup throughout the entire campus are incredible in itself. Most people are pretty solid cooks. If you're wearing opposing team colors, you will more than likely hear "Tiger Bait" throughout the day, but the fans themselves are harmless. If you plan on going near the Parade Grounds, just be wary of the fraternities that setup there. They come the night before and lay claim to most of the Parade Grounds, and we all know that young adults and alcohol mix like oil and water.


LSU is one of the few universities that has a live mascot, and we have Mike VII. He used to be pulled around the inside of the stadium before kickoff, but that stopped in the early 2010s. He's usually napping under the shade in his cage, which is located next to the LSU Sports Shop across the stadium.


The LSU Indian Mounds are a manmade structure that are older than the Egyptian Pyramids, and also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


The LSU Memorial Tower is located across the Parade Grounds. LSU used to be a military school and this tower was built in dedication to Louisianians that died in WWWI. The names of the fallen are featured on bronze plaques on the rotunda walls. The tower itself chimes every quarter hour, while playing the LSU Alma Mater everyday at noon.


The Golden Band from Tigerland does a march down Victory Hill which is fun to see. The march starts at the Greek Amphitheater on campus. They also do most of their pre-march warm ups there.


How you spend your gameday is up to you. LSU fans are extremely hospitable on gameday, especially to first timers. I'm just over 7,800 characters and almost at the 7,900 character limit, so please feel free to ask questions if my post didn't address something you needed to know.