College graduation is supposed to be a time to watch loved ones walk under pomp and circumstance to receive their ever-treasured Duke diplomas. But they may have to drive a long way before arriving at a festive Wallace Wade Stadium.
With the mid-May graduation rush into Durham, local hotels fill up quickly and raise their prices sharply.
"[My parents] reserved rooms last fall," said Trinity senior Reed Ogrosky. "They didn't get anything close to campus."
Seniors are not the only ones who have to be concerned with booking rooms for graduation: Some hotels take room reservations years in advance and sell out almost immediately.
Perhaps the first hotel to take bookings for graduation weekend is the Washington Duke Inn.
"We take our reservations four and a half years in advance and sell out in about an hour," said Stephanie Reynolds, reservations supervisor for the hotel.
She added that the hotel may eventually allow reservations only a year in advance.
Trinity senior Charlotte Shivers said her parents area already on the Washington Duke waiting list for her sister's graduation in 2002. "My parents have been on the wait-list for [my graduation] since I've been a freshman," she added.
But the on-campus hotel is not the only one without vacancies. "We've sold out for the current Duke graduation.... We sold out two moths ago," said Jessica Colleen, the front desk supervisor at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Durham.
La Quinta on Chapel Hill Boulevard and Regal University Hotel on Campus Walk Avenue are also booked.
Even though it may seem like there are no rooms to be had, Reyn Bowman, president of Durham's Convention and Visitors Bureau, said only 17 of 58 lodging properties are sold out for the weekend of May 12. Bowman noted that there is more space this year than there has been in the past because there is no conflict between graduation weekends for Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, North Carolina Central University's graduation is the same weekend as that of the Blue Devils.
Rooms might be available, but they're probably not cheap-even hotels with hiked prices are booked.
For example, while a double room regularly costs $87 per night at La Quinta, graduation weekend prices will leave pockets $199 lighter each night. Similarly, Washington Duke rooms average $175 per night, but will cost $275 on graduation weekend.
Although most students clearly don't enjoy paying more for a room-or being forced to stay for the three nights that many hotels require during graduation weekend-they generally dismiss the rate changes as good market economics.
"I wouldn't say this is the fairest way to do business, but I don't blame them," said Trinity senior Angela Calapa. "I have 15 people coming from my family and they wouldn't miss it, so they'll pay what they have to."
Jim Hobbes, president of the North Carolina Hotel/Motel Association, said that because price hikes are classified as event pricing, they are not illegal as long as the hotel declares the price. However, a hotel may not charge a price higher than originally advertised.
"If they do something to deceive the customer, then we have a problem," said Hobbes, who remarked that some of these specific price jumps seemed high.
For parents interested in experiencing dorm life, Housing Management opens Blackwell dormitory. Rooms are available at $33 per night per person.
The University began this policy when several area universities held graduations on the same weekend and some parents were forced to stay in Virginia, said Director of Housing Management Fidelia Thomason. Forty of Blackwell's 98 rooms were occupied last year-twenty have been taken to date this year.
Bowman said Duke and NCCU's graduations will bring the region just over $1 million in spending. "It's a huge weekend economically, but it's even bigger logistically just to make it all work," he said.
The issue is made more complex because many employees-who are also graduating students-will not be working in Durham's hotels and restaurants. "The challenge is providing premium service when you are short-staffed on a high occupancy weekend," Bowman said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.