Suggestion for places for parents to stay?

<p>There are lots of places to stay in Williamsburg and surroundings, but can anyone suggest the best places in terms of proximity to campus and, hopefully, somewhat reasonable price? Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>You are IN Colonial Williamsburg....lots of places but I've never really found anything reasonable....at least by my cheap standards! We hope to try Grey Wolf Lodge sometime when visiting daughter.</p>

<p>Orbitz is a good place to look. It has maps of the locations, and they rent blocks of rooms from the motels and rent them to you at prices that are often lower than you can get from the motel.</p>

<p>When we went in February we stayed at the Best Western, 1600 Richmond Road, for $48 a night - but rates vary greatly by season since Williamsburg is a tourist town with in-season and out-of-season rates. The Best Western is a few miles from campus and nothing special, but clean and well kept.</p>

<p>Depends on what you mean by reasonable - but I've occasionally been able to get a room at the Hospitality House for $99. I really love the place, primarily because the location can't be beat (across the street from the stadium), and there's no need to hunt for campus parking. The hotel itself is nice - our rooms have always been spiffy, though there's no breakfast included and the elevators are S-L-O-W. Prices go way up for parents weekend, move-in, and graduation.</p>

<p>Lately we've been staying at either the Springhill Suites or Residence Inn about 2 miles down Richmond Road. I find we're a bit less dysfunctional if we have more room, and I can usually get a decent rate or use Marriott points. I strongly advise staying away from the Crowne Plaza on Pocahantas Trail. We liked it when it was a Radisson, but had an unpleasant stay after it switched hands in 2005. </p>

<p>D and her friends, who are more budget-minded, will often stay at the Governor's Inn when they visit campus. It's run by Colonial Williamsburg (their value option) and fairly conveniently located.</p>

<p>Can anyone suggest what hotels might be close to Amtrak?</p>

<p>We have stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton near campus. What makes this hotel special is that it consists of two buildings: one is the standard hotel building; and the other is a converted apartment building. We had a two-bedroom unit in the converted apartment building, complete with a living room, kitchen, and two full baths. There is also an indoor pool. It was great for a family.</p>

<p>Google Maps shows you businesses near addresses.</p>

<ol>
<li> Go to Google.</li>
<li> Hit "Maps" at top.</li>
<li>Type in address (here Amtrak station address from Amtrak site is 468 N. Boundary St., Williamsburg, VA 23185).</li>
<li> Hit "Find Businesses" underneath where you typed in the address.</li>
<li> Now type in "Hotels" for the business.</li>
<li> Google will not only show you the hotels on a map, it will give you the addresses, links, and some limited reviews.</li>
</ol>

<p>Governor's Inn is within a couple hundred feet of the Amtrak station, there's a Days Inn and Williamsburg Hospitality House on Richmond Road and aren't too terribly far away. Most of the hotels are further out on Richmond Road and along Bypass road.</p>

<p>If you're staying for a few days, you might want to consider renting a timeshare condo, there are a lot of units in the area, and sometimes, you can find a good deal (a little more work to find, though)</p>

<p>We have a timeshare at Colonial Williamsburg. It is right by the College of William and Mary, so it is also a way to visit your kids for free. There is a one visit per year clause, but once is better than nothing. </p>

<p>I would NEVER buy into one again, but we get a discount on maintenance if we recommend others to visit for 4 days/3 nights & listen to the 90 min. sales pitch. Depending on the season, they will put you up in one of their 2 bedroom suites or something smaller. They will tell you that when you schedule.</p>

<p>The good:

  1. The location is beautiful. Colonial Williamsburg, great accomodations, indoor pool for winter, whirlpool in room. It really is nice.
  2. Beautiful accomodations and amenities.
  3. Free visit w/great accomodations & kitchen. You get to choose among weeks of your choice.</p>

<p>Suggestions:

  1. Schedule your viewing later in the day. Check out the sites first.
  2. Set your watch so you and they are aware when your 90 minutes have ended. You don’t have to buy anything.
  3. NEVER buy into a time share. There are many other less expensive options. There are ALWAYS timeshares at rock bottom prices if you do ever choose to buy. When all the maintenence and fees are added, you do not save the bundle they say.
  4. If you ever do buy, you have 3 to 7 days to cancel your purchase (depending on the state). </p>

<p>Email if you have any questions or see the craigslist post
[4</a> day/3 night weekend for free](<a href=“http://raleigh.craigslist.org/vac/2518503559.html]4”>http://raleigh.craigslist.org/vac/2518503559.html)</p>

<p>I always try the Governor’s Inn first. It’s clean and close. Since it’s owned by Colonial Williamsburg I feel like I can count on it being consistently decent. It’s definitely no frills, but I don’t care about amenities as long as the place is clean. It usually runs around $70-$100 a night depending on season. It has a free continental breakfast which is convenient during busy weekends like move-in. It’s around the corner, maybe 2 blocks total, from the Amtrak station.</p>

<p>I always stay in the econolodge on 2nd street… but I am a poor grad student. It is fine but the walls seem pretty thin.</p>

<p>There are tons of hotels in Williamsburg. I’m sure you can read lots of reviews on a site like yelp or tripadvisor</p>

<p>frazzled1 - is it possible to move in my son into Dupont by foot if we are at the Hospitality House??</p>

<p>We always stay at the Williamsburg Lodge.</p>

<p>BurgMom, No, you are not near DuPont itself. You must drive onto campus to get to DuPont. If you were just walking to the dorm it wouldn’t be too far, but there’s no possible way to move in from any hotel without driving. Move-in is very efficient and well planned, though. You will drive up close to DuPont and quickly unload all your stuff onto the grass. The driver will have to move the car, probably to William & Mary Hall parking lot just down the way and walk back to where you unloaded. You don’t have a choice on that matter because everyone needs to get up to the dorm to unload. There are plenty of people directing you where to go and student volunteers with bright T-shirts on who will help you carry. You can take all the time you need to get your student’s stuff into DuPont. Bring a tarp to put the stuff on in case the ground is damp or to cover it in case it starts raining. Traffic is pretty bad, so plan to be in line at 8:00 (I think that was the time–double check that). They won’t let you unload until then, but be ready or you’ll be in a long line of cars.</p>

<p>thanks a bunch Bayberry</p>

<p>We stayed at A Williamsburg White House B&B which is directly across the street from the business school entrance to campus. It has ample easy off-street private parking lot, luxurious & quiet sleeping quarters with private baths, a fantastic breakfast, pleasant relaxed hosts, and afternoon wine & snacks. They have an array of room/bedding configurations. The hosts have lots of helpful advice for the area and are SO NICE! Price is more than you’d pay of course for standard hotels, but this we found is well worth the upgrade and so much more enjoyable than a hotel, and if you consider the price difference with the superb breafast and afternoon treat for 2+ persons for room rates, it is money well spent.</p>

<p>Before making the switch to this outstanding B&B, we had stayed at a Country Inn & Suites on the bypass road. It was ok but kinda noisy at night. Breakfast hostess was lovely & excellent (won a national award for customer service too!), but breakfast room seating capacity was too small for the hotel volume during peak periods. Has an indoor pool & hot tub. It is near large stores & a Cracker Barrel restaurant. I would stay there again as neeeded.</p>

<p>In any case, a car is recommended for move-in so that you can drop all your belongings curbside in front of your dorm. It is not feasible to move-in easily without a car, as the campus is quite large with many of the dorms being on the interior of the property. Arrive early, unload in front of your building, then go park your car in the large lot across from the frat houses and return to your dorm on foot to finish moving in. W&M helpers in colored T-shirts help with EVERYTHING from parking directions, room check-in, starting your curbside pile, carrying things as needed. There is usually a nearby table with complimentary water and food. </p>

<p>Bring money for your room damage deposit and for a voluntary collection for hall fund (RA’s manage funds for group activities).</p>

<p>Freshman parents should stay for the welcome orientation presentation at the arena…it is a rally of sorts, and leaves you with a great sense of comfort for good things to come…we LOVED it…and the college president is an EXCELLENT speaker. </p>

<p>Other things you’ll need to do are to get your photo taken for student ID, get your mailbox at the Sadler Center, and load money onto your student express account for discretionary spending.</p>

<p>The Days Inn on Richmond Road is right next to campus; it has excellent parking. It is clean and comfortable, but not fancy. The location absolutely rocks! It has a pool and is pet friendly.</p>