Mercy College offers a variety of living for students. There are the typical and classic dormitories and then we have the hotels that are available for students to live in.

We have three different hotels this year since the Extended Stay caught fire. We have the Hampton Inn, The Westchester Marriot and The Renaissance. Students can live comfortably in a hotel room, with a huge bed and a private bathroom. The hotels come with maid services two times a week and the luxury of waking up every morning in a hotel room. This luxury isn’t as convenient as many people may think. Students are accompanied by a shuttle bus in order to get back and forth to and fro campus.

Besides the shuttle bus, each hotel room has a personal bathroom and a thermostat to cool and warm the room at any given time. This is a positive reinforcement for students in Mercy College because recently we have suffered a time span of no heat and no hot water in the dorms.

The dorms may be very convenient because you could talk right into Main Hall for your classes; you don’t have to wait for a shuttle bus to get back to your room if you forget a book or something. Your room, on campus, is a 5 to 10 minute walk from anywhere on campus. The down side? We have to share a shower and a bathroom with several other students in the dorms and we don’t get the luxury of a maid coming to clean our room twice a week. We have to keep our own rooms clean or they stay the way they are.

We were deprived of hot water and heat for a day and had absolutely no water (for the toilets or the sinks) for a couple of hours. This is the down side of living in the dorms but also the reality of it. Not all colleges may be set up like Mercy, yes there are a lot better colleges but there are also a lot worse college dormitories. Some colleges such as University at Albany and Troy college, where some of their dorms look like they come from the ancient times. The windows won’t open and the walls are still wooden paned.

I lived in the Double Tree hotel last year (Mercy no longer has that hotel due to severe damages—I was told) and I live in the dorms this year. There is a huge different from the different ways of living. The hotel is very luxurious and very independent because you away from all the drama that is located on campus but I feel like it is very unrealistic. I am not going to graduate Mercy College and live in a hotel room for the rest of my life; I am more likely to live in a place that has the same struggles and is the same size of the dormitories in Mercy.

Another huge downfall for the hotels would be the other residents that are actually paying for the hotel room nightly that live right above and below you. You should always be courteous but as a college student who is just trying to have fun, it’s hard to understand that there are other people who aren’t Mercy College residents that are around you.

The dorms are a lot more convenient to live in, in my experience but the hotels do make me feel more independent and feel like an adult. I don’t know what to say my favorite it but I would want to live in the dorms again next year because it is easier. I don’t have to wake up for class earlier and I am accessible to the campus at any hour of the day.

MY ADVICE:

–          Don’t only choose the hotel because it is luxurious, there are down parts to it.

–          Don’t only choose the dorms because it is convenient, there are down parts to that too.

–          Speak to someone who has gotten the best of both worlds—not someone who is biased.

–          REMEMBER! The hotel only has doubles! There aren’t any singles, triples or quads.

–          Keep in mind any health issues [if there are any]