Hotel help needed: usually we stay at the Hampton Inn in Milford when we visit Yale, but this time we are flying in to Bradley, and I was thinking it might be nice to stay on that other side of New Haven somewhere, instead of having to drive all the way through to Milford. Can anyone recommend a hotel off to the north side of New Haven? Hamden, North Haven, Meriden, etc. Are there any decent places over that way?
MOVE IN QUESTION/TIMELINES
So it looks as if the Frosh are scheduled to move in on a Friday. I believe August 26th. Currently attempting to plot out the days we will be there for the drop off and send off. Don’t want to over estimate time or under estimate…
Once they are moved in on Friday, what is reasonable amount of linger time as a parent? Are there events either before or after move in day that Yale has for parents?
Wanted to get a head start as the sooner plane tickets are purchased the cheaper they may be…hopefully…
@Tonymom, it might be different for you than us (since we live a relatively short drive away), but we left pretty quickly. We figure that this is one of those “less is more” situations, and we find that intermittent text communications are more natural for kids than an extended emotional goodbye. Ymmv
I’m reminded of DS’s first sleep away camp in Maine (we live in NJ). We dropped him off and after we all got his bunk organized, he started playing cards with some bunk mates. We were behind him, and mentioned something about his flip flops or similar, and he turned around and said something to the effect of: “sorry, I didn’t realize you were still here.” He had a great summer 
Maybe you want to help him get settled, give him space, and then meet up for a meal later.
You don’t want to miss watching the freshman move-in experience where upperclassmen swarm like insects to empty cars of everything that isn’t bolted down. Impressive.
Most families stay over night and attend the convocation Saturday morning, have lunch, and then leave. We left Friday night and watched the convocation streaming online in the comfort of our air conditioned home. By Saturday afternoon, parents are expected to leave and the Frosh are kept very busy after that.
Here is the detailed schedule from last year.
http://yalecollege.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/2015%20COD-text-11-PRINT.pdf
Link was on this page.
http://yalecollege.yale.edu/new-students/welcome-yale
Check back here for the current year to be added later.
We also opted to settle our guy in and leave after dinner. We didn’t stay for the freshman assembly–long speeches in crowded buildings in the summer aren’t my favorite. But move-n day is super fun if also a crazy, trafficy zoo. The reception in the master’s home that afternoon was awesome–so impressed that our son’s master already recognized him and knew his name, and great food!
This time around, I think we may drop our freshman off for one of the orientation programs and let his brother move him in on Friday since the upperclassment can move in a few days earlier.
Anticipating your next question, we avoided the whole where to stay around New Haven question and just got a hotel close to the Hartford airport. Since we only stayed one day, it ended up being more convenient than staying close to campus. We were able to drop our rental car off the night before at the airport and just take the early shuttle in.
@musicmerit @classicalmama @IxnayBob
Thanks for the helpful hints.
The agenda list for last year is especially helpful! Looks like an action packed weekend…
Luckily we have relatives to visit so will say our goodbyes and catch up with the Eastcoasters…
Much appreciated!
@tonymom
We really enjoyed the freshmen convocation and having lunch with our son in his dining hall afterwards. We left immediately afterwards so he could settle in.
RE: Drinking- although my daughter was not a drinker going into college, she has found herself in several situations where she is in a drinking environment. She doesn’t care for the taste so she said she tends to have a “glass of wine” or a mixed drink that she holds for a long time before finishing it. We talk about it all the time and she is both amused and annoyed by her friends that seem to be drunk quite a bit. She says that there is a lot of drinking but this is coming from a girl that had zero interactions with alcohol in HS. She also said that many of her friends are very well versed on different drinks and preferences and that the alcohol served is classy in its nature. I have to be honest though- her stories are NOTHING compared to what it was like when I went to college. I think that all in all its no different than any other school- probably more refined all in all. Not the “kegger bash” that many schools seem to see a lot of.
ETA-
One thing that I love about her stories is that there always seems to be a designated babysitter. I suppose it is their version of a designated driver but without the wheels. They seem to take care of each other and make sure they are all safely brought to their rooms or Froco suite. This is perhaps one of the things that makes the drinking situation easier for a mom to swallow. I have also heard of friends pretending to mix drinks when they are really just adding juice to trick the kid that is drunk to slow down. I like that too.
RE:Bulldog days-
I don’t think it would be odd to arrive early. I know that prospective students visit all the time. They are excited about the prospect of new students and they all remember what it was like to be so excited to have that acceptance letter. As for leaving early, my daughter absolutely loved BDD. She is still close to the friends she made during that time because they were her first Yale friends. That said, she treasured all of the last moments of high school and would have been very crushed to miss something big. She would feel left out and it would have made her time at BDD harder to enjoy. I would let them come home early- There are a lot of kids that leave early for various reasons.
We really liked the freshman assembly/convocation. It’s especially meaningful if you yourself are an alum.
Any recommendations for a family doctor or an internal medicine doctor in NH? We have BCBS and already have a list of participating doctors in the area, but I’d like to hear any recommendations from parents. Thanks
@Hunt - totally agree. I sat with tears in my eyes as I remembered my one freshman assembly 36 years prior. The whole move in scene was new to me, but we loved it. We stayed through lunch on Saturday and then went to the hotel. I was too tired and mentally drained to make the 5 hour ride home so we spent the night at the hotel. Actually had coffee with her Sunday morning at Starbucks and then we pulled out.
On another note, we always stay at the LaQuinta when we go, which is dog friendly. We have a 111 pound German Shepard who always loves the trip to New Haven to see his sister.
@Saona63 - we have Federal BCS shield also, so we did not get the medical hospitalization. However, I intended for my D to use Yale Health for routine stuff since it is covered by tuition. Luckily, she has not had to use it. When I was there years ago, I had in and out surgery done there and they were quite good. Don’t really know how it is now.
Should us newbies be making hotel reservations now? For move-in weekend? :-0
On a side note, @Tperry1982:
Do you leave your dog at the hotel room when you go it to dinner and must he be created? We’ve considered bringing ours to visit but have never brought him to a hotel before so I wasn’t sure about the logistics. Plus, I worry about him barking if he noises in the hall.
Also, we steered clear of LaQuinta due to bad reviews. I see it currently has a mix of good and bad reviews. It is definitely the right price for us. We just stay in the Milford area to avoid the price gouging in New Haven.
@tonymom depends on where you want to stay. We had planned to drop DD off Friday and leave that evening, since the next day the rest of us were going on vacation (don’t worry, we did a daughter only trip earlier in the summer; logistics just worked out that way with younger kid not available when she was). Anyway that plan was upended at literally the last minute as Hurricane Irene was arriving at the Jersey Shore and our vacation rental was cancelled for the weekend because the island was being evacuated. So more or less the day before move-in we decided to stay Friday night and go to the convocation (which we really enjoyed). We were (not surprisingly) unable to get a place right in NH, but had no trouble getting the Hampton in Milford 10 miles down 95. So it’s up to you (NH hotels cost A LOT more; we ended up never staying in NH as we had found the Hampton was quite easy to use instead).
Move-in weekend - We, who had never known a soul who went from high school to Ivy League, found plenty of meaning and richness in every experience we were allowed to observe. We stayed until early afternoon on Saturday. We were moved by the freshman assembly, wowed by the master’s tea and charmed by the hardwood floors, fireplaces and earnest suitemates at Welch. Expect higher hotel rates on move-in weekend, especially if you want to stay in New Haven proper. We usually stay in Milford.
Yes. Not only that, but for Family Weekend as well.
A couple of points on hotels that may have been made before–if you will have a car available, it is typically cheaper for high-volume weekends to stay outside of New Haven, such as in Milford. There’s enough parking near campus that it’s not a problem to drive in. If you want to stay in New Haven itself, the Marriott Courtyard, the Omni, and the Study are all nice and walking distance from campus. The prices at these hotels tend to be increased at high-volume weekends, especially Commencement. They also fill up for the Harvard-Yale game weekend. (There’s a newer place, too, the New Haven Hotel, but we haven’t stayed there. There’s also the Duncan, of which I have heard mostly bad reports.) Tperry mentions the LaQuinta, which isn’t really walking distance from campus.
The LaQuinta is not the fanciest and if we did not have the dog we probably would not stay there. When I am there without him I usually stay in the New Haven Hotel since it is walking distance from campus. We travel with our dog all the time so we adjust our expectations for “dog friendly” places. Since we have a huge German Shepard, there are not many places that take a dog of his size and temperament.
Yes, he has a travel crate and he is crate trained. He stays in the room while we are gone and is out when we are there. Dogs bark there, but it is dog friendly so I guess only those who don’t have dogs are not happy. While in my room I have never heard dogs barking, though I am sure it must happen. Us dog lovers just keep our furry friends from each other in the elevators. If you want fancy, don’t stay there. It is clean and has a pretty good Greek restaurant attached to it that has a pretty good breakfast. It serves my purpose which is to see my child and not have my dog cooped up in a kennel back home.