Students anticipating graduation and inviting their families for the occasion will soon be able to make reservations to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn on Circle Road in May as the hotel’s construction nears completion.

“There’s a lot to do in the next few weeks, but we’ll get it done,” Jeannine Lang, director of sales for the Hilton Garden Inn at Stony Brook, said.

According to Lang, the earliest date that guests will be able to stay at the hotel is Feb. 14 and conferences have already been scheduled to be held at the hotel for this month.

There will be a Stony Brook discount on room rates available that will shave off approximately $30 from the normal rate, which has yet to be determined, Lang said.

One concern of the hotel management is how guests will be able to drive onto campus after 11 p.m. The main entrance remains open, but driving onto campus requires an SBU ID card.  Lang said that she was unaware that the entrances closed, but she added that hotel management have been meeting with the University Police Department to work through the logistics.

The Hilton will not be featuring university accents in its decorations, Lang said.

“Unfortunately, we were hoping for a little more red,” Lauren Ullman, sales and catering manager, said.  The decorations are “brand standard” through the Hilton Corp., and the hotel on campus will serve as a model for all future Hilton Garden Inns, Ullman said.

Ullman added that SBU paraphernalia will be sold at the hotel and that the hotel’s bar and restaurant, which will be open to students who are not guests, will feature a ‘Wolfie Burger.’

Ullman also said that there are currently discussions about starting an internship program for SBU students to work at the hotel.  The hotel does not have any open positions, but has partnered with the Career Center to advertise future job openings on Zebra.net, a job listing and recruiting site, according to Ullman.