USF St. Petersburg students are paying over $900 more to live at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront hotel for the fall semester because Residence Hall One has hit capacity. The university wanted to provide overflow housing for those looking to live in RHO, but it came with a price tag for the second year.
“There were ongoing discussions about continuing the partnership into this year,” said Kay-Lynne Taylor, director of Student Services. “We monitor the data of Admissions.”
Talks with Bayfront Hilton to provide more student housing began in December 2010.
The cost of living in a shared room at the Hilton is $932.50 more than a single room in RHO.
The price for rooming in the Hilton for the fall semester this year—111 nights—is 4,717.50. Rooming in RHO during the fall semester is $3,785, Taylor said.
Some students required to live with unnecessary accommodations are less than enthusiastic about it.
“I will not be able to afford living in the Hilton all semester long,” said Maria Almeida, freshman criminology major and Hilton resident.
Two students live in each double-occupancy room and receive more services for the higher price tag, including access to the outdoor heated pool, 24-hour fitness facility and lower prices at Tangerine, the hotel’s restaurant. They also receive weekly linen service, in-room trash removal and a “flat panel television with all of the channels received in all other rooms in the facility,” Taylor said.
Even with the extra amenities, Almeida would rather live in RHO.
“I feel I am being a bit cheated out of the traditional college experience with the multi-level living facilities,” Almeida said.
She is disappointed in the lack of a full kitchen, which she would have if she lived in RHO.
“I either have to purchase food or just eat snacks,” she said. “The additional distance is not ideal when I intend to be on campus until the late evening for a few days week.”
Increased student interest in living on campus is “an indicator that more students want to become a part of the fabric of the growing residential community within a young residential education and housing program,” Taylor said.
She said there is a sense of community for students living at the Hilton, equivalent to the students living in RHO.
“They were able to create a successful community and get involved with programming and the community building that was occurring in residence hall as well,” Taylor said. Some students who lived in the Hilton last fall semester returned to live in student housing again this year.
The current partnership will continue through the end of the academic year.
