Hotel rooms in high demand for social distancing to be observed

Two universities and a college in Boston, Massachusetts, want to rent hotel rooms to help students maintain social distancing when they return this fall.

Northeastern and Suffolk universities and the New England Conservatory of Music have filed proposals with the city authorities to use part or all of several hotels for student housing, classroom space, and dining and office areas for faculty and staff members.

Northeastern University, which has about 14,000 undergraduates, is looking to use nearly 600 rooms at two hotels, limiting occupancy to two students per room.

It also wants to lease additional apartments in city buildings and to turn a 1,300-square-meter space at the Boston Symphony Hall into a dining area.

Suffolk University, which has about 8,000 students, wants to rent all or part of four hotels, providing each student with a room to observe social distancing.

The New England Conservatory of Music, which has about 500 students, is also aiming for just one per room at its existing campus accommodations. To achieve this target, it plans to lease part of a hotel.

Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will allow only freshmen to live on campus, while holding all classes remotely. Just 40 percent of its student body of nearly 7,000 will be allowed to live on campus in the fall semester.

The neighboring Massachusetts Institute of Technology will allow only a certain percentage of students to return to campus. In-person classes will be limited to small groups, with a "particular focus on classes that require access to labs, workshops and performance spaces".

The institute, which has 4,500 undergraduates, will give priority to seniors, allowing them to complete their degrees next year.