Freshmen expect extended stay in Wyndham

Erik Brown’s parents dropped him off at the Wyndham Hotel on Wednesday morning. He slid his… Erik Brown’s parents dropped him off at the Wyndham Hotel on Wednesday morning. He slid his acoustic guitar under his full-size bed, set up his CD tower and filled the hotel room’s dresser with his clothes.

“It doesn’t feel like home yet. I feel like I might be going home tomorrow or something,” he said.

Though many students book hotel rooms to make the move-in process easier, Brown is ready for an extended stay. He’s one of the 48 Pitt freshmen who will stay at the Wyndham Hotel on McKee Place this school year. This is the first year that Pitt has resolved an overflow housing dilemma by contracting a floor of a hotel.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said the University set more rigorous standards for its applicants this year. The stronger candidates tend to have more options and are less likely to accept admissions.

“In the case of the University of Pittsburgh, the quality of the admitted students improved, but the yield increased!” he said in an e-mail.

As a result, Pitt has about 140 students in overflow housing. In addition to the 48 freshmen and two resident assistants living in the Wyndham, there are about 80 students living in lounges in the Litchfield Towers and Lothrop Hall and 10 students in the dental hygiene program living in Carlow University’s Dougherty Hall.

Brown said he got the impression he shouldn’t talk about the specifics of how much Pitt charges him to stay in the hotel, especially because students are living in the lounges.

“We made a mistake, and we’re getting some good stuff,” he said.

Brown and all of the other students living in the Wyndham and lounges sent in their housing contracts late, so they weren’t guaranteed housing, Fedele said.

Brown thinks he sent in his housing contract about two weeks late. He said he got letters from the University that sounded “super hopeful” that he’d get into Tower A, his first choice for housing. In mid-July, he found out he would be staying in the Wyndham Hotel.

The students in overflow housing will pay rates corresponding to their number of roommates.

Students living in lounges with three or four beds will pay the respective Holland Hall rates of $2,095 and $1,850 per semester for a triple or a quad. Students living in the Wyndham will pay the Towers double rate of $2,750 per semester, and the students staying at Carlow will pay the regular Carlow rate of $2,250 per term.

All of the students living in the Wyndham are men. Of the 80 students living in the lounges, 18 are women.

In place of a shirt that reads, “Tower A / Your Journey Starts Here,” Brown sports an ambiguous “Orientation 2010” shirt. Despite the distance from campus, Brown said he was “pumped” about living in a hotel.

Though the Wyndham staff won’t be turning down Brown’s bed or cleaning his room, he will have other amenities that many dorm rooms don’t have. His room comes with a 32-inch flat-screen TV, a small refrigerator, a microwave and air conditioning.

Brian Matous, director of sales and marketing for the Wyndham, said the staff had to bring in an extra armoire, desk and Internet jack for each room. He said universities commonly place students in hotels and in alternative overflow housing, so he’s used to making accommodations for students.

The hotel will offer a special menu of lower-priced food items that are more appealing to students.

The students can order room service and eat in the hotel restaurant, but they’ll have to pay for the services like other hotel guests.

Resident assistant Corey Black said that since all of the double bedrooms have restrooms, there isn’t that extra excuse to venture out of their rooms. He encourages the students to keep their doors open and to utilize the hotel lounge, which includes a round table for studying.

The students staying at the Wyndham will have access to the Forbes Hall patio, which is typically reserved for the Honors College students living in the residence hall.

Brown said his living situation feels more and more like a dorm. It helps that all of the people on his floor are Pitt students. There’s a security guard on duty 24 hours a day, laundry machines that accept Panther Funds and the same name tags on the doors to make it easier to meet neighbors.

And he still has to try his room key a few times before getting in.