<p>A friend (walking buddy) mentioned today that she’d rented a house in Vermont for her son’s graduation from Middlebury next May. She said many local places were booked and since she’s got a big family, she decided to look for a home rental and was successful. That got me thinking and I started looking for hotel rooms for my D’s graduation in May (Bryn Mawr–Philadelphia area). My H is a hotel snob and prefers to stay in one of three places downtown–those are booked as well as several others downtown. The hotels closest to Bryn Mawr are booked too. Our immediate family isn’t that large, but if my stepson and stepdaughter and their spouse/significant other and kidlets decide to come, we could rent a house. I contacted a few owners who advertised on a home vacation rental website, but there weren’t that many options. Question–Are there resort areas near Philadelphia (I wouldn’t want to drive more than 35 miles) where we could find a rental? Friend of mine mentioned Lambertsville, NJ? Too far? I’m usually a spur-of-the-moment person, but it seems like that isn’t going to work this time. I’d appreciate any suggestions for lodging.</p>
<p>Possibly the BMC Alumnae Association could with this. Do you know any alumnae who could help get you in touch with the right people?</p>
<p>I think Lambertville, NJ is doable, though not terribly convenient. My online mapping tools say it’s about an hour from there to Bryn Mawr without traffic; allow more time for a big event like a graduation. Lambertville is right across the Delaware River from New Hope, PA, a well-known Bucks Co. ¶ destination for antiquing, gallery browsing, etc. Lots of charm. Travel time would be about the same from Lamberville or New Hope, but personally I’d feel closer, psychologically speaking, if I were in the same state as the graduation, so I’d probably look on the New Hope side. Problem with a house rental in a resort area at time of year is some people are going to want a full week’s rental, others at least a 2-night minimum. The 2-nighter may make sense for graduation weekend, but it may also limit what’s available to you.</p>
<p>Might also be few vacation rentals in the Brandywine Valley, west/southwest of Philly, a little closer to Bryn Mawr. I’ve had good experiences with a couple of on-line vacation rental sites. Probably not appropriate to advertise them here, but you can PM me if you like.</p>
<p>The Lambertville, NJ/New Hope, PA area is nice but it’s probably about 40 miles from Bryn Mawr so I’m not sure if you want to be that far. A nice hotel in that area is the Inn at Lambertville Station, which is right on the Delaware River and has a very good restaurant.</p>
<p>Did you look at the Poconos? It’s probably an hour’s drive to Bryn Mawr–but not so bad.</p>
<p>New Hope would also be a possibility.</p>
<p>(I went to HS across the street from BMC. I bet there’s more than a few parents at those high schools (there are two of them) who would like to rent their house for a few days, too. You could call the two schools.)</p>
<p>Try [url=<a href=“http://www.vrbo.com/235884]vrbo.com[/url”>http://www.vrbo.com/235884]vrbo.com[/url</a>]. For my son’s graduation next May, we found a great house for both sets of grandparents, godfather, maybe more family, for much much less than the cost of hotel rooms.</p>
<p>And let me know how you make out, as S2 will be graduating Villanova in 2014, and we would absolutely rent a house again.</p>
<p>Wilmington, Delaware is about 30 minutes away and you could take the train to Bryn Mawr. Also, tripadvisor now has house rental listings - [Philadelphia</a> Vacation Rentals: Reviews for Rental Homes, Condos and Apartments in Philadelphia - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentals-g60795-Reviews-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania-Vacation_Rentals.html]Philadelphia”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentals-g60795-Reviews-Philadelphia_Pennsylvania-Vacation_Rentals.html)</p>