Marriott to House Mercy College Students

This academic year, 200 lucky Mercy College students are trading in bunk beds and community bathrooms for 37" flat screen televisions, an indoor pool and housekeeping.

While college campus housing is generally equated with cramped space and minimal amenities, undergraduates have expressed an increased interest in living on campus, causing an overflow of applications for housing at colleges like Mercy. 

As a result, Mercy reached out to the Westchester Marriott, a large Tarrytown hotel located on Route 119, to provide additional housing for its students earlier this year.

According to Joseph Schaefer, the Dobbs Ferry-based school's chief operating officer, this isn't the first year a Tarrytown hotel has hosted their students.

"Last year we were at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown," he revealed, adding the hotel accommodated 50 of the private college's students during the 2009-2010 academic year.

In the event that the Marriott fills up this year as well, the college will likely turn to the Doubletree, a smaller hotel, to host up to 50 students again.

And despite all the extra perks that come with hotel life, students living at the Marriott won't be breaking the bank to enjoy them.

"We are offering the same rates [as on campus]," said Schaefer.

According to the Mercy College website, double occupancy dormitory rates run at $7,480 per year or $3,740 per semester for non-bunk bed rooms, not too shabby for a nine-month-long hotel stay.

And the Marriott's staff was more than happy to oblige Mercy's requests and work within the school's standard rates.

"We definitely were interested in creating a partnership," said Kathleen Doyle, an account executive at the hotel.

Given the economy's unstable state, Doyle said having a large group of guaranteed extended stay guests was very attractive to the hotel and the staff is in the process of creating an ideal environment for the students.

Theresa Mariani, a junior at Mercy, lived at the Doubletree last year and enjoyed perks like pool and gym access at the hotel and a 10 percent discount at Bistro Z, the hotel's restaurant.

"Their restaurant was great," she recalled.

Mariani, who is in training to become an on-campus RA (resident assistant) this year, shared a room and bathroom with only one other student, and embraced the semi-independent lifestyle that came with hotel life.

"We had an entire wing to ourselves," she said. "I loved it."

Like the Doubletree, students staying at the Marriott this year will fill two entire floors, secluded from regular guests.

"It's great for them," said Schaefer. "We will have staff that live there, along with programming and RAs."

He stresseed the importance of keeping the feel of the hotel's arrangement as similar to campus life as possible, and RAs will play a role in maintaining a safe atmosphere.

Mariani and the other RAs are currently in workshops focusing on CPR certification, suicide assessment, conflict management and more, making them suitable to handle potential dilemmas even away from campus. For extra protection, the college will provide a security guard at the hotel from 8 p.m. - 8 a.m.

"We provide the security guard so the parents can have a peace of mind," said Schaefer.

Additionally, Mercy will again provide a complimentary shuttle from the hotel to the campus throughout the day, allowing students easy access to classes and on campus activities.

"The shuttle came every 15 minutes," recalled Mariani. "It was about a seven minute ride; the Marriott is between 11 - 15 minutes."

Though students don't begin moving into the dormitories and hotel for another week, Mariani said she's previewed the Marriott rooms and thinks they are "really nice."

"We wanted to keep it as secluded as possible so that they have that dorm-like feel," said Doyle. "We're treating them just like guests."