{"id":6165,"date":"2012-11-26T10:27:13","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T15:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=6165"},"modified":"2014-01-25T18:10:03","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T23:10:03","slug":"extended-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/?p=6165","title":{"rendered":"Extended stay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
A typical room in The Element by Westin (above) and The Courtyard Marriott (below), where students are staying this year while Cromwell Hall is renovated. Photos (c) TCNJ Office of Residential Education and Housing website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year, in an effort to mitigate an on-campus bed shortage caused by Cromwell Hall\u2019s closure for needed upgrades and renovations, the College contracted with two area hotels to provide overflow housing for students.<\/p>\n

In August, the 100 students who signed up to live the \u201csuite life\u201d for one year checked into The Element by Westin and The Courtyard Marriott. The hotels are located about three miles from campus in Ewing.<\/p>\n

The students, each of whom requested placement in the hotels, are paying $150 more per semester than their counterparts in campus dorms, said Ryan Farnkopf \u201903<\/strong>, director of housing operations for the College. In return they receive shuttle service to and from campus, a campus-parking permit, and the option of purchasing a less-expensive meal plan (since some hotel suites have kitchens). They also have wireless Internet access in their rooms, en suite bathrooms, access to hotel amenities, and once-a-week maid service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big plus, because I\u2019m a messy person,\u201d joked Element resident Kirpa Chohan \u201913 about the cleaning service.<\/p>\n

Chohan said several factors led to her deciding to live in the hotels. She wanted to move off campus, but also enjoyed being a community adviser; she could do both in one of the hotels. Plus, \u201cBoth hotels looked really nice.\u201d And she figured this would likely be her only opportunity to live in a hotel for an entire year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Asked earlier this semester if she was happy with her decision, she had this to say: \u201cThere\u2019s a pool, there\u2019s a gym, the rooms are really big, I\u2019ve got a queen bed that\u2019s more comfortable than my bed at home. I have a kitchen. Who wouldn\u2019t want to live here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Like on-campus residents, the hotel students supply their own sheets and towels and must vacate their rooms during extended breaks when TCNJ dorms are closed (although the hotels agreed not to rent the students\u2019 rooms during those periods).<\/p>\n

\u201cThose were some of the things we negotiated to make the deal as cost-effective as possible for the students,\u201d Farnkopf explained. He added that there have been some \u201coperational challenges,\u201d as was expected, but for the most part things have been running smoothly.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents\u2026have reported some minor inconveniences, but at the end of the day they say it\u2019s worth it for access to the [hotels\u2019] amenities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The renovations to Cromwell Hall include a roof replacement; a complete plumbing system upgrade, including new bathrooms in each suite; new interior finishes in the lounges and multipurpose room; and upgrades to the building\u2019s mechanical and electrical systems, William Rudeau<\/strong>, director of campus construction, said. The work is scheduled to be completed by summer 2013, allowing students to move back in for the fall 2013 semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life is \u201csuite\u201d for the students being housed in two local hotels, a move necessitated by the yearlong closure of Cromwell Hall for renovations and upgrades. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-december-2012","category-on-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tcnjmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}