As hotels see a deluge of demand for lodging at this time of year, visitors may have a hard time squeezing into a room in on-campus hotels.
With commencement ceremonies taking place at roughly the same time of year for high schools and universities alike across the city, last-minute bookings may no longer be a viable option. The past months have also seen higher bookings and prices due to a heated six-week primary and various conventions happening in the city.
Both on-campus hotels, the Hilton Inn at Penn and the University City Sheraton, are "booked solid" except for 15 vacant rooms this Saturday at the Sheraton, said Director of Communications and External Affairs Barbara Lea-Kruger.
Prices have followed suit: Rates now stand at $399 a night with a four-night minimum stay at the Inn, and $359 a night with a two-night minimum stay at the Sheraton.
Despite the recession, Philadelphia hotels have also been experiencing favorable booms in business, largely because of the primary.
According to Smith Travel Research and PKF Consulting, occupancy rates nested at 59 percent for Center City hotels in February. But a recent sampling by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau found that for 11 hotels, the average occupancy rate had jumped to 90 percent in the days leading up to the April 22nd primary.
Mass conventions also have considerable sway on hotel occupancy and pricing. During the Fourth of July period last year, a convention for the National Education Association gathered 16,000 attendees, the equivalent of 47,725 room nights - the cumulative number of rooms booked each night. This raked up business worth $37,392,043, according to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.
According to Lea-Kruger, however, such city-wide events generally do not affect the two on-campus hotels.
Only during exceptionally large conventions requiring over 10,000 rooms for attendees does business sometimes overflow into campus hotels, she added.
The Sheraton and the Inn at Penn were mainly affected by the arrival of Stephen Colbert and his crew, who collectively booked 479 room nights.
But overall, the primary did not draw more prospective students than usual to Philly - there did not appear to be any increase in visitors attributable to the political situation, interim Dean of Admissions Eric Kaplan wrote in an e-mail.
"The decision to visit Penn or other local colleges is separate from the primary although it was an exciting time to visit the area with candidates making multiple appearances in and around Philadelphia," he added.
This year, said Lea-Kruger, Penn families and alumni shouldn't expect any strong deviations from the status quo: Commencement will simply be busy as usual for this time of year.
Alumni Weekend will also create competition for on-campus lodging, with 4,100 pre-registered attendees, according to the Office of Alumni Relations. More are expected to attend on a walk-in basis.
