<p>Need the Bama parents’ help! DD, DH, and I are going to Honors College Preview Day on 10/25. Since there is a home game 10/26, all the hotels were either booked for Friday night or want outrageous prices. I originally booked just Thursday night at the Microtel and figured we could stay further out Friday night on our way out of town, but everything on the way to Birmingham is either sold out or outrageous too, so I just booked two nights at both the Cottondale Microtel and the Centerstone Inn. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?</p>
<p>Option 1- Stay Thursday night at the Microtel in T’town and head back towards Atlanta after dinner Friday night? This doesn’t give us much time in town and if the game is early Saturday, we will miss all the pre-game fun.</p>
<p>Option 2- Stay at the Microtel in Cottondale both night, and hopefully get back to campus Saturday am before we have to hit the road at noon.</p>
<p>Option 3- Stay at the Centerstone Inn and also get back to campus for Saturday am.</p>
<p>I have read the good, bad and ugly about both of these hotels…HELP!</p>
<p>Option 1 is the Microtel by the university. Option 2 is Cottondale, not Cottonwood. (going to fix my previous post!) Says it is about 6 miles from the University on Interstate Drive.</p>
<p>I would stay for the game day activities for sure. </p>
<p>I think I’d stay Thursday at Microtel in T-town and then Friday elsewhere, if that’s possible and not too much of a hassle. I haven’t stayed at the Cottondale Microtel or the Centerstone, so I can’t help you choose there. </p>
<p>I would also suggest having your D stay with a student Friday night. There are probably some moms on here whose daughter would welcome yours - if your D would be comfortable with that. I might know a girl who would host her, too.</p>
<p>Stay as close as you can in town. Bring some Lysol and your own blanket, just in case.
You do NOT want your daughter to miss out on any time on campus and to be on campus for the pre game fun (especially since it is Bama and Tennessee)will be worth a night in a bad hotel!!
Just make sure you plan for parking on game day!
Is your daughter interested in joining a sorority? If so, make sure to go by the houses on game day. We were able to tour a house last year when we were on campus.v</p>
<p>^thanks for the advise! She does want to join a sorority. What do we need to do to park Saturday morning? We have 6pm flights out of Atlanta so we need to leave town by noon. I am tempted to change our flights to Sunday and trybtonget tickets to the game, but I need to be in Dallas for a conference at noon Sunday.</p>
<p>NCMom~when we made our tour request we asked if we could tour a sorority. It was nice because we were given a tour of a house by a member and she talked to us and answered questions about not only Greek life but about her experiences and thoughts about UA.
We paid for parking, $20, a week prior to the game so that we could be on campus. There is free parking in the downtown area but you need to watch your time.
Tennessee would be an amazing game to be at since its an SEC game, but you will have to pay a higher amount for that game.
I am not sure of my daughters schedule that week but if you have had no offers or luck getting a sorority tour I will ask her and perhaps you and your daughter can meet up at her house. Make sure to stick around on campus Thursday night because that is she the swap parties are and as my daughter says its the funniest thing to see, 100’s of girls in various costumes walking around sorority/fraternity row!</p>
<p>Do you know any other families that might be interested in going to T-town that weekend? If so, look on vrbo for condos to rent. We found one on vrbo for Parents Weekend just a shy 3 weeks before that week. It was right across from Bryant-Denny so we could walk to everything. It was a 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 bath and the price was very reasonable. Less than most were paying for hotel rooms in town. Maybe there is a classmate your D goes to school with that is thinking about UA and the other family would love to visit as well that weekend. Never know</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! We did a sorority tour last year. DD is definitely going to go through recruitment. But i appreciate the offers for help in getting into a sorority house. I am going to look into staying for the game. And thank you for the VRBO suggestions. I just assumed they would all be taken for a game weekend, but I will check further!</p>
<p>Cottondale is just barely north of Tuscaloosa…it’s really a suburb. Not far at all. I’d stay there both nights. It’ll save you the hassle of moving. You won’t be in the room that much anyway.</p>
<p>FYI…if you have a sorority daughter and want to help out NC Mom make sure she clears it through her house panhellenic rep (especially if you think you might want her to spend the night.). Although it is not “no contact” time panhellenic has some rules about hs seniors and members (it seems these change every year)… better to check than get a fine for your house. DD spent 2 nights in Tut while visiting for Preview ( that was back when you could stay with a sorority member during Preview…now it’s a “no no”). It was a valuable experience for her :). If you want to see the Swap costumes (they are very fun!) you will need to be on campus pretty late. While pregames may start earlier Swaps generally don’t start until 9 pm or later. Have fun…game day Saturdays are the best!!</p>
<p>THanks for all the advice!! Looked at Stubhub for tickets and it looks like the game starts at 1pm, which is great for our timed departure back to Atlanta. Where do we buy the game day parking? And thank you Alpimommy for the sorority reminders!</p>
<p>You can often purchase tickets for less from the licensed vendors on the street up and down Paul Bryant Drive and University Boulevard. You will recognize them from their lanyards. Tickets are often available for less closer to kickoff if you can stand the wait.</p>
<p>I would wait until the TV schedule is announced to purchase your game tickets. That is a weak SEC matchup weekend and the game could be anywhere from 11:20 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST depending on TV coverage. Stub Hub lists 1:00 as a general time. The game time has not been set for the Tennessee game yet.</p>
<p>Thanks All! I am booking an extra set of return tickets for Sunday morning in case we are able to stay for the game. Thank God for Southwest’s liberal cancellation policy, and for the Bama parent who suggested the Sluthwest credit card. I am using my points for these tickets! </p>
<p>I checked out the VRBO site, but for just three of us, I don’t see anything affordable that weekend, so I decided to keep my reservation for Thursday night at the good Microtel and we will be braving the second night at the Centerstone Inn. Will be getting my parking pass for game day and keeping our eyes out for the ticket vendors. Anything else we need to know?</p>
<p>I really appreciate all the advise and PMs to guide us! So happy to be a part of the Bama CC family!</p>