Hotel life not ideal for some students

It looks like the normal freshman’s college dorm room: two beds, two desks and an array of… It looks like the normal freshman’s college dorm room: two beds, two desks and an array of Xbox 360, PS2 and other video games and movies strewn across the floor.

But then there is the 32-inch flat-screen Philips TV, the complementary microwave and refrigerator and double beds instead of extra-long twins. Above the bathroom there is a plastic “No Smoking Permitted” sign.

These living arrangements aren’t unique for the 48 residents of the third floor of the Wyndham University Place Hotel, who, along with two resident assistants, are some of the only students housed by Pitt off campus.

The entire third floor of the eight-floor Wyndham is dedicated to these Pitt students through a one-year contract Pitt signed with the Wyndham in fall 2010, after realizing their enrollment rates far exceeded expectations.

Pitt spokeswoman Patricia Lomando White declined to comment, and directed further questions to previous news stories on the subject.

“We had a larger number of students in temporary housing this year,” White said in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We knew there would not be enough attrition to get them into a regular room early on in the semester.”

Because of these high matriculation rates, Pitt had to come up with alternative housing options for students.

According to one of the hotel’s residents, freshman Taylor Keane, part of the group calls themselves the “Wyndham 50.”

“For a while we were known as sort of celebrities on campus,” he said. “Everyone that I talked to had heard of our situation, and there were a few articles about us.”

Pitt offered the “Wyndham 50” housing in the hotel the summer before the start of the fall 2010 term. All 48 residents paid their housing deposits late and do not have guaranteed housing at the University.

Besides the students in alternative housing at the Wyndham, there are 92 students living in converted lounges in Lothrop Hall and Litchfield Towers. There are nine additional students who do not even live in a Pitt dormitory — they live in Carlow University’s Dougherty Hall.

Students in the Wyndham live two per room, pay $2,750 per semester — the same price as most doubles on campus — and have a guard on the floor for security.

Unlike other Pitt freshmen, the hotel residents have a bevy of hotel amenities available to them.

“Students can use anything in the hotel except room service,” said Dezirae Stephan of Wyndham guest services. “They can use the hotel shuttle to go to places other than class or on campus. For example, one girl took it to the train station before break.”

Stephan said that room service is restricted because only managers and maintenance are allowed access to the third floor.

Other perks of Wyndham living include access to the hotel gym facilities. There is also a third-floor student lounge with a treadmill, elliptical, abdominal machine, rowing machine and exercise bike. Students travel from the third to sixth floor to utilize the two washers and dryers.

Stephan said the room sizes vary on the third floor, but estimated the average room size to be 12 feet by 15 feet. A room in Litchfield Towers is about 17 feet by 11 feet.

Though living in a hotel might sound like a luxury, Keane and his roommate Jon Nighswander are not so keen on the situation.

Last Friday, the two found out from Panther Central that they, along with all other Wyndham student residents, would not be able to choose their roommates for the coming year.

The students understood that because they had paid the housing deposit late, they would not receive guaranteed housing for their first three years at Pitt. However, they did not realize that this also excluded them from rooming with students who do have guaranteed housing.

Nighswander and Keane had planned for several months to room with friends on the guaranteed housing list next fall.

“The University didn’t do a good job of informing us about that,” Keane said. “They made no effort to say you can’t room with people who are on the list.”

He added the University could do a better job of reaching out to students in the Wyndham to make them feel more like a part of Pitt.

“It’s not as glamorous as everyone thinks it is,” he said. “It really does suck. We’re here because we don’t have housing contracts.”

Nighswander said their floor lacks social unity and Keane is unsure if he is getting the “organic” freshman experience. Both said they would have liked to live in a normal dorm.

Pitt officials declined to comment on whether or not it would place students in the hotel next year or whether it would renew its one year contract with Wyndham.

There will be a 155-bed addition to the Bouquet Gardens apartment complex that will house students next year, and the University has plans to build another residence hall.

When asked why the Wyndham originally agreed to this short-term contract, Stephan said with a smile, “Because it makes us a lot of money. Having Pitt students here helps to keep our occupancy up. We have guests paying to fill the third floor for 9 months straight, which helps during months when occupancy in the hotel is slower.”