Every May, hotels in Syracuse are flooded with families and friends of students graduating from Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF. But booking a hotel room for Commencement is not as easy as making a phone call — it’s a competition.

The senior classes of SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will graduate in a dual ceremony on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the Carrier Dome, but local hotels and businesses are already preparing for the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2016.

The on-campus Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center is a clear choice for reservations during commencement weekend. Rather than conventionally booking rooms for commencement, the Sheraton instead has a lottery system that randomly assigns rooms to those who sign up, a Sheraton hotel representative said.

The lottery takes place the first Monday in December or January of a student’s junior year — nearly a year and a half before commencement even takes place. At the end of the following February, the names are drawn and reservations are announced.

The Parkview Hotel, located on East Genesee Street in downtown Syracuse, does not use a lottery system for commencement weekend reservations, but its room booking method is also fairly competitive.

The Parkview Hotel sets a date, which is usually in the first two weeks of June, and a time for potential guests to make a reservation, a hotel representative said. Parkview only accepts direct calls made to the hotel, and reservations are booked on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“We usually fill up within the hour,” the Parkview representative said.

Other local businesses are also preparing for commencement weekend. Sabry Langford, a manager at Faegan’s Café & Pub, said the restaurant is prepared for the crowds it will attract this weekend.

Langford said that Faegan’s has twice as many staff members compared to a typical day because of commencement. She added that the restaurant has stocked up on food supplies and that the kitchen staff will be doing more preparation than usual.

Faegan’s hours of operation will remain the same and its weekly events, including Tuesday Beer Tour, Wednesday Flip Night and Thursday $3 drafts, will continue as usual, Langford said.

The pub is accustomed to busy nights when there are big events happening on campus, Langford said, such as the NCAA East Regional Tournament and the Billy Joel concert, which both took place in the Carrier Dome in March.

“When anything happens at the Dome, those nights we are really busy for, and obviously SU games we are really busy for as well,” she said.

Published on May 7, 2015 at 8:00 am

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