<p>Daughter is graduating college end of spring 08 (my, how time flies!) She goes to an out-of-state school, so when I went in to reserve a hotel room during graduation weekend in May 08, I see that hotels/motels are already mostly booked up! Out of about 15 nearby places, only one had an opening. So just wanted to remind you folks with graduating students at not-so-nearby schools--you may want to reserve your rooms now if you have not done so already!</p>
<p>I know! My son graduates from Northwestern next June, and the hotel we wanted to stay at set a date of July 1 (this year) for taking reservations. I called that morning, and it must have taken 30 minutes on hold before getting through. The woman I spoke with said people were trying to make reservations for graduation in 2010. </p>
<p>The worse part of it is that we had to prepay the rooms, nonrefundable. I told S that, no pressure, but we were attending graduation in June and hoped to see him there.</p>
<p>No kidding! This is our first one in college, so I was blissfully unaware of this little detail we needed to handle in a timely manner. 2010?? I thought hotels didn't let you book more than 1 year in advance.</p>
<p>I am hoping to have <strong>three</strong> graduations next spring (two grad and one undergrad, fingers crossed) and I have arranged hotel reservations in all three areas - the prices are spiked sky high and one is also non-refundable. Seems to me there's a little bit of "taking advantage of the captive audience." But by all means - make your reservations now. What about air tickets? I haven't purchased those yet (I'm a little superstitious - don't want to count all my chickens...)</p>
<p>Thankfully, we will be driving.</p>
<p>I also have a kid graduating next May. I called as soon as hotel reservations were allowed to be made and it was nonrefundable and also about double what I have paid to stay there in the past. I feel like I need a financial aide loan just to attend graduation! :eek:</p>
<p>We checked in for Freshman move-in weekend and the hotel had a nice little "congratulations" letter for us on the table - inviting us to register for graduation 2011. Fortunately, DD is in a 5 year program so I get a year to check out our options before joining the 2012 masses.</p>
<p>How far in advance can you make reservations at major chain hotels? We are always staying at a Marriott near my D college, but thought we couldn't make grad reservations till 12 or 13 months in advance.</p>
<p>From my experience in the city where my D will graduate, none of the hotels seem to take reservations more than a year in advance. I tried online and this was the case at them all (were chain names). So, this past May, I was able to finally make reservations for graduation next May, after the shock at the rate!</p>
<p>I'd double-check the "one year in advance" policy by calling the hotel directly. The hotel we're staying at has a one year policy but when I called, they had said they would likely open up graduation weekend about 3-4 months earlier than that as they'd done in years past. For this year, they revised that policy and waited until July 1 to open the reservations for that weekend.</p>
<p>Hotel room availability varies depending on the size of the town/city where the college/university is located. We didn't have much of a problem when S graduated in 2005 b/c hotels were plentiful, but with D (in 2009) it'll be a different story. I'm already strategizing! :)</p>
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The worse part of it is that we had to prepay the rooms, nonrefundable. I told S that, no pressure, but we were attending graduation in June and hoped to see him there.
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<p>LOL kharts - my laugh of the day. And we're returned D to school tomorrow (leaving the house at 4:30 am. And is she packed? Don't ask - you can guess the answer) so I really needed a laugh.</p>
<p>Our D will be graduating (not this coming May, though) the same weekend as our S graduates law school. She graduates on one coast on Friday and he graduates on the opposite coast on Sunday. Thank goodness it's not the same day or I don't know what we would have done.</p>
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We checked in for Freshman move-in weekend and the hotel had a nice little "congratulations" letter for us on the table - inviting us to register for graduation 2011.
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<p>Us, too -- even though we were staying in a motel in a different town, about 25 miles away from the university.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the heads up. As a result of this thread, I just booked our reservations today for 4 rooms. While I'm normally a planner, I don't think I would have reserved them THIS early without your warnings.</p>
<p>We received one other bit of info. about graduation yesterday affecting our plans. I think this is an unusual situation, but thought I'd post in case anyone else might have a similar set-up and not even realize it. My daughter's school graduation is on a Friday, but she was informed that her departmental graduation ceremony will be held on Wednesday. Glad we hadn't made our plane/hotel reservations yet! </p>
<p>Also, I checked to see how the departmental graduation date overlaps with this year's AP exam schedule for my son (a senior in hs). There's one conflict which I'm glad to have discovered early, as I was able to call the hs guidance counselor to get some assurance that absence to attend my daughter's graduation will be considered sufficient reason to allow my son to take the AP test on an alternate date.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion. Some colleges offer a limited number of dorm rooms to parents and friends. Info about these isn't mailed il a few months before graduation. I found out about this from someone else and ran the risk. Got the letter and sent an express mail package with the application out immediately. Got the room. MUCH cheaper than a hotel and, for me, more fun. No airconditioning. Shared bathroom...etc. But you couldn't beat the price or the convenience.</p>
<p>^ This is what I did, except I stayed in DS dorm room. It was a lonely three nites, undergrads out previous week, graduating seniors out partying, no TV, lounge full of garbage, no food that wasn't petrified, no liquor, no other parents.</p>