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Tampa Hyatt Doubles as a College Dorm

Where: 211 North Tampa Street [map], Tampa, FL, United States, 33602

If you're booking a vacation to Tampa, you may want to steer clear of the Hyatt Regency there.

That's because 250 University of Tampa students have taken three floors of the hotel as their dorm rooms, since on-campus housing is full.

The students are staying two each in standard, double rooms. They can use their own bedding but can't hang anything on the walls. Like all guests, they have access to the rooftop deck, hot tub and fitness center. The Hyatt is less than a mile from campus, and a shuttle connects the two.

There are also Resident Assistants staying in the hotel to make sure that the students abide by both university and hotel rules and respect other paying hotel guests.

Seems like the students got the sweet end of the deal here as they get free cable, housekeeping twice a week and they are spared the experience of walking down a long hallway to the bathroom in their towels and flipflops and carrying a shower bucket.

But if I were a guest, I would be careful when laying out by the pool as the "dorm" windows overlook this area. Just because they are in a hotel, doesn't mean they aren't still college kids.

Related Stories:
· Dorm Depressed to Hotel Happy [Tampa Tribune]
· Hyatt Regency Tampa reviews [TripAdvisor]