More than 6,800 students are eligible to graduate from Cal Poly this weekend — a record-setting number for the university. Local hotels and restaurants say they are ready for their busiest time of the year.
Hotel Cerro manager Matt Wright says preparation began months in advance.
“The preparation for Hotel Cerro and every hotel downtown began a year ago when the juniors were becoming seniors and the hotel began to sell out,” Wright said.
This weekend, staying a night in Hotel Cerro could cost up to $900. Hotels in downtown sold out a year in advance and, in most cases, within hours of the rooms going up for reservations.
“Every restaurant and hotel and anyone who’s serving the community sees this weekend as one of the busiest,” Wright said.
Restaurants like Luna Red began taking reservations for this weekend around January. Saturday night alone, Luna Red employee Collin Russell said they are expecting more than 500 people.
“You’re trying to maximize how many people you can get in, trying to maximize just every capacity of the restaurant,” Russell said. “It’s operating at I would say peak, peak capacity.”
He said planning for this weekend, down to the glassware, started months ago.
“All that has had months and months of planning one into it just to figure out where everyone is going to be,” Russell said. “Down to the specific table so we can have a perfect game of Tetris.”
According to the university, more than 53,000 people are expected to attend the graduation ceremonies this weekend.
