Hotels pick up UCSB housing slack

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

Hundreds of University of California, Santa Barbara students have something in common with the fictional characters in Eloise At The Plaza and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

They are being housed in hotels.

Drew Wakefield, Ramada by Wyndham's Director of Sales and Marketing, said they made rooms available and put a Welcome Gauchos sign above the lobby door.

"The Ramada by Wyndham Santa Barbara has two Gaucho owners the General Manager is a Gaucho our Assistant General Manager is a Gaucho and we are here for all UCSB Gauchos."

Students can enjoy large rooms, Wi-Fi, free breakfast, and the hotel pool.

They can also feed the hotel's Koi fish, ducks and turtles in a pond full of water lillies.

"They came on the property and they thought they hit the lottery, and even if they don't get the A's they actually scored an A-plus staying with the Ramada," said Wakefield.

UCSB guarantees housing for freshman and transfer students who sign up by a Spring deadline, but a long waitlist grew when students realized UCSB would return to in-person instruction on campus.

Joseph Jacobs of Santa Cruz is a transfer student who just moved into his own room a the Ramada.                                                                                                                                

"My experience, so far, has been a positive one. It was a blessing itself to have found housing even though it is the overflow variety," said Jacobs.

Miguel Leon is a third year student who hopes more housing will be built in the future.

"We've got to figure out, you know, a way to accommodate all the students and that is like the only option we really have, and fortunately I was able to find housing, but in Santa Barbara, about a 20 minute drive to campus, but I'm just grateful that I have somewhere to live,"said Leon.

It's not clear how many quarters students will call hotel rooms home.

"I had some mixed feeling at first, it was a good thing I found any sort of housing, because at the last minute I was scrambling, and today I feel it has all worked out for the best," said Jacobs.

Wakefield said they will help UCSB as long as rooms are needed.