A semester-long stay at the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center awaits 66 Syracuse University students for the fall 2013 semester.

After not housing SU students this school year, the university-owned hotel will reopen its doors to accept 66 students. The university last housed students in the Sheraton during the 2011-2012 school year.

Students will be able to select the hotel rooms in the lottery starting in the sixth round, which begins April 8. All 32 rooms will be located on the same floor and will function like a residence hall community with two resident advisers and a residential security agent station on the floor. The 32 rooms can be selected by either gender, meaning there might not be an even spilt in the number of boys and girls who live in the hotel, according to the university’s housing website.

The students will be housed on the fourth floor of the Sheraton due to the positive experience students have had at the hotel in the past and the need for additional housing, Kelly Rodoski, communications manager in the Office of News Services, said in an email.

“The hotel option has been very popular in the past,” she said.

Sheraton general manager David Heymann and Rodoski both said the hotel was re-accepting students due to an overflow in population.

“The hotel really opened its doors out of necessity for extra housing space,” Heymann said.

In utilizing this opportunity, the housing office is also able to help preserve the student lounges in each residence hall so that in the future, fewer have to be converted into living spaces, Rodoski said. There were no problems with adding the Sheraton housing option to the lottery, but students should be aware of the selection time, she said.

All rooms will be large open doubles, which will cost $4,200 a semester, according to the 2013-2014 housing lottery overview. The rooms will come furnished with baths and contain a full bed, desk, dresser and wardrobe for each resident. SU meal plans will not include hotel food, but residents of the hotel will have access to a fitness center, pool and laundry facilities, according to the website.

The Sheraton works to uphold its image as an alternative luxury living arrangement, Heymann said.

“The rooms this particular year were added more as a luxury-type living experience, as an alternative to regular dorms,” he said.

The students won’t affect the daily operation of the hotel, Heymann said, but will limit the capacity of the hotel.

“Taking on students again makes the hotel function differently since you are operating with 38 less rooms in your inventory,” he said. “The students will be out by commencement, but we’ll be forced to accommodate less visitors on other busy dates such as Family Weekend and homecoming.”

Jordan Riddick, an undeclared freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said the amenities of living in a hotel would make up for the lack of a residence hall atmosphere.

“Having your own bathroom would be a nice change from dorm life,” Riddick said. “By sophomore year, I feel like you’ve already found your friends, so if I were to room there, I wouldn’t really care about it not being a dorm.”

For those not interested in living in the hotel, the next round of the housing lottery will take place at midnight on March 25 with the selection of three-person housing options, according to the university’s website.

Published on March 20, 2013 at 11:32 pm

Contact Kelvin: kbread@syr.edu