At Brown, falling victim to a housing crunch usually means living in a larger room at best and in a kitchen at worst. But for 15 lucky ladies at Yale, renovations on their assigned campus residence provided them with a month-long stay at the four-star Omni Hotel.
Although the hotel is located outside of the Yale campus, it is safe to say that the 15 students living there have had it pretty good over the past month. The so-called "Omni 15" enjoy such perks as complimentary weekday breakfasts on the top floor of the hotel, a wide variety of cable channels (including HBO) and chocolates placed daily upon their delicately made beds.
The group - four juniors, 11 seniors and one graduate resident fellow - was supposed to move into Yale's Weir Hall at the beginning of the academic year, but because of delayed renovations on the building, the 15 female students were temporarily housed in the hotel. Last Saturday, they moved back into their assigned dorm.
"We tried to provide the students with a living situation that reflected that which they would have had at the college," said Gary Haller, master of Jonathan Edwards College, a residential college that includes Weir Hall. "This included a personal single bed, access to laundry service and access to wireless Internet access."
Haller added that the costs for putting the students up at the Omni Hotel were covered by a Yale office that manages facilities and construction, which was adamant about providing the 15 students with the same amenities offered at the college.
Marisol Ryu, a junior in the group, said three of the other Omni students are, in fact, her actual suitemates, so to an extent, her living situation turned out as it should have.
The Yale Daily News reported Sept. 3 that the hotel, in cooperation with Yale, also offered a shuttle to and from the hotel and an escort service that the students were allowed to use until 2 a.m.
For Ryu, the move back to Yale's campus housing last Saturday was bittersweet. She said her newly renovated room in the college is gorgeous.
"Though I miss the perks of the Omni, I am excited to be back in my college," Ryu said.
