@pickledginger Funny, I was gonna mention that missing “not” but I thought maybe you were referring to the actual campus itself, which is a self-contained bubble of beauty…(seriously, campus is gorgeous, not being sarcastic, haha)
As for surrounding area, they are working on it. In Silver Spring, I would recommend Copper Canyon Grill (actually ate graduation dinner there!). So approaching UMD from Silver Spring, you will be coming from the South, so keep driving up past the first campus entrance you will see. The light immediately after passing The Hotel (on right) will be the entrance (on the left) we are all talking about (Campus Drive/M circle/Iribe Center construction). If you are using GPS, it will likely take you a back entrance to campus, so input the address for The Hotel (7777 Baltimore Ave) to make sure you get routed to the entrance we mean.
FYI, if you want to use Marriott points, another location which is actually closer to campus (but in opposite direction of campus compared to Silver Spring) would be Greenbelt, MD. There is a Residence Inn in Greenbelt. Greenbelt itself is not beautiful, but is faster to campus. I’ve stayed there often as well and enjoyed that hotel. I typically tell people Hampton Inn because it’s a straight shot down Route 1 to campus compared to having to get off one road to exit on to Route 1, but just wanted to put that out there as an option for you. The Silver Spring location is fine, and as I said, convenient to a very nice restaurant (nice as in really good food not as in fancy shmancy) but Greenbelt is just a bit closer.
If you do opt for Greenbelt, still input The Hotel into GPS but just note that it would come up before the “arrived at destination” signal and The Hotel would also be on far left side of the campus entrance, immediately on right at Iribe Center construction