Campus Lodging
Gateway to Travel Savings and Comfort

The Campus Lodging Guide, 19th edition

Overlooked by most budget travellers, temporary university accommodation offers fantastic value.

Finding out the deals available, however, has been the problem. Have you ever tried contacting the switchboard of a large university and asking to rent a room? And, even the best budget guides frequently ignore the opportunities to save with campus housing.

When talking to a university, you will have better luck asking for "the conference centre" or something similar. Asking for "housing" will usually get you a department that handles rooms for registered students only.

In contrast to hostels, most university accommodation offers single or double rooms, which are great for lighter sleepers. Rates start at under $10, and in general compare well to hostels where sleeping is usually done in groups of four or more.

Bath facilities are usually shared, but not always. Some schools offer everything from small dorm rooms with no housekeeping to first class hotel-type rooms at prices lower than equivalent hotels.

Many campuses give their temporary guests full access to reduced cost meal programmed, organized activities, and recreational facilities. Some are like resorts. Guests at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, for example, have use of the fabulous USC aquatic centre built for the 1984 Olympic games.

Travellers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are just steps away from botanical gardens, forests for hiking, indoor and outdoor aquatic centres, music venues, and the famed clothing-optional Wreak Beach, just below the main dormitory complex. Deluxe hotel-type rooms are nearby, too.

At the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Voyageur's room looked out at the eucalyptus and redwood treed campus, San Francisco Bay, the San Francisco skyline, and-—this gets even better—the sun setting through the pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge miles away.

The cost? Around $40, including free Internet access. The cost at UBC? Under U.S.$20 for a basic room during the summer.

Coach and rail passengers in particular should check out campus housing in or near city centres. Decent budget motels cluster along major highways at the edges of cities, far from bus and train terminals, and cheap urban hotels are frequently unclean and unsafe in the U.S. In contrast, universities often have convenient and pleasant locations near sightseeing and transportation, although safety may be a concern.

Want more information? The Campus Lodging Guide, 19th edition by B & J Publications lists the schools, descriptions, requirements for booking, and contact information we need. Most listings are in Canada and the U.S., but campuses worldwide are included.

This guide is frequently out of stock, but you may find used copies available.

Check out two excellent hostel guides