Despite facing some difficulties in the process, the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center is still on track to complete renovations on time.

Updates on the last few of the 235 guest rooms will be completed Friday, said David Heymann, the general manager. Renovations initially began on the top floor, and a few rooms on the third floor have yet to be completed. All 235 guest rooms were expected to be completed by April.

‘So we were pretty true, give or take a few days,’ Heymann said.

The ongoing renovations have not come without issues, however. The Sheraton has recently experienced problems trying to accommodate prospective students and their families for Syracuse University’s Spring Reception for accepted students, Heymann said. But this will not be a problem for the hotel once commencement rolls around, as all rooms will be available by then, he said.

‘We’re accommodating as many as we can right now,’ he said. ‘After this week, when we have all our inventory back, we’ll be able to accommodate more.’

The hardest part of the renovations — which cost between $3 million and $3.5 million — has been getting the materials, Heymann said. All of the materials are ordered from overseas, and sometimes come in broken or damaged, he said.

The rest of the renovations in the hotel are scheduled to be completed by December. The hotel plans to begin renovations on the bar, Seasons at the Hill, in July, and renovations will begin on Rachel’s Restaurant in November, Heymann said. The fitness center phase of the renovations is already completed, he said.

The Sheraton lost one guest room during the renovating process, knocking the total number of guest rooms down to 235.

One floor of the newly updated Sheraton guest rooms will be available for SU undergraduates as part of the SU housing process for the 2011-12 academic year, Heymann said. The 235 rooms received all new features and fixtures, including furnishings, lights and shower walls. Carpets and lighting in the hallway were updated as part of the renovations as well.

Students can begin choosing housing in the Sheraton during the sixth phase of the housing reservation process, which begins Tuesday, said Sara Miller, assistant director of SU News Services, in an email. No incoming first-year students can live in the Sheraton, Miller said.

Rooms in the Sheraton are part of an expansion of on-campus housing options for students. Students are also able to live in the Parkview Hotel on East Genesee Street, the Park Point Syracuse apartment complex and University Village Apartments.

The rate for students living in the Sheraton next semester is $4,100, Miller said. Students must also check out before the 2012 commencement if they stay in the hotel next year, according to the Housing Reservation Booklet.

The floor available in the Sheraton will house 68 students in open doubles. Heymann said he expects to fill these rooms.

‘The rooms that are earmarked for them, we’ll fill,’ he said. ‘We’re not booking rooms for the students, the university is handing us a list.’

An open house was hosted in the Sheraton on Monday with more than 50 students touring the facility, Miller said. Attractions to living in the Sheraton for students include having the bathroom cleaned once a week, access to the fitness center and pool, and living in a safe location, she said.

Said Miller: ‘We expect them to be very popular.’

medelane@syr.edu

Published on April 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani