Our kids only graduated from each degree program one time. It was well worth it to us to stay nearer to the campus so we could easily attend honors awards, the large and departmental graduation events without lengthy drives. Once in a life time.
I realize we are fortunate we could afford to do so.
ETA…my DH was a business traveler with a ton of points at the Choice Hotels, but none were as convenient or as nice as where we chose to stay for graduations. So…we used those points for other kinds of trips…not college related ones.
For drop off…in both cases, we had friends we stayed with.