Where to stay for R day

jl123 said:
  1. Best place to stay is the Thayer Hotel, if budget accommodates. Costs more, but convenience is unbeatable.
  2. Outside the gate, Holiday Inn Express is very convenient
  3. Coming from the North - Newburgh area. About 15 miles/30 minutes to West Point. Several brands of chain hotels in the vicinity - Marriot, Hilton, etc.
  4. Coming from the South and NYC Airports - Nanuet area. About 25 miles/30 minutes to West Point; proximity to Palisades Parkway makes for easy drive. Good options - Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Hilton Garden Inn
Reserve well ahead. Hotels fill up very fast around USMA events - R Day, A Day, Parents Weekend, Football games, etc.
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For future visits on special dates, (A day, Parent weekend, PP weekend etc, fully expect that there is plenty of price gouging for local hotel rooms in the area. We have had good luck with local Air Bnb's. R day, we stayed in Fishkill, once you get used to the road through the mountain, it's a breeze. Not so much fun the Sat night of A day, when your cadet wants to be away from post for as long as possible, but you find yourself driving back to FK at 12:30 in the morning..
 
Allyoop said:
I just booked the Thayer. There aren't any rooms available on website; but if you call, they have rooms. VERY pricey, BUT being that R-Day is going to be very stressful for the cadets and families, I felt the convenience of the location was worth it. When we come back for A-Day, will stay someplace else.
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Well worth it in my opinion. No worries about traffic or any other travel factors.
 
txfwindian said:
why is that?
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Because they are just tired and want to get out of their uniform and sleep. While on pass that weekend they have to be in uniform while in public. We stayed at the Thayer for Aday as well as RDay. The only downfall in my opinion would be if you could find an air b & b, that way you could cook comfort food for your cadet. However with the recall times I would still want to be close to post.
 
txfwindian said:
why is that?
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By A-Day they have been under relentless scrutiny from the Beast cadre. Additionally, a deluge of upper-class cadets returning from summer assignments has little else to do other than welcome New Cadets to their academic year companies.

In reality, an upper-class cadet is not going to make life difficult for a Plebe when parents are around, but just the sight of a more senior cadet will increase anxiety in a Plebe that early in the process.

Expect the Plebe to do little else but eat and sleep. Sleeping will occur in the most unusual and comical situations - at the dinner table, in the car in mid-sentence, in full uniform immediately after sitting down in the hotel room.

Also, plan for laundry, lots of it - another reason The Thayer is not the optimal A-Day choice, although there are plenty of laundromats in the area.. Great to have a hotel with its own washers and dryers.
 
A memo from the previous year states that the Cadet must stay within 75 miles of the base for A day.
 
I love the Thayer. I try to stay at the Thayer for everything because your cadet can be there with you most of the time--and nap and everything--and you are always inside the gate. Also, your cadet can walk to your hotel room on other visits (like A-Day and like PPW). Love that.
 
The Thayer has taken great care of the whole family many times now. For R-Day, convenience can't be beaten. A-Day makes it convenient as well but the New Cadet will want to GET OFF POST. If I could change the one thing so far it would be staying at the Thayer for A-Day. Not a slam against the Thayer by any means but the others are right, they just want to curl up in a comfortable spot and sleep and veg-out. For the most part, it seems that they do not want to be reminded of WP and need a respite.
And then they get hungry.....
 
txfwindian said:
why is that?
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I don't have the answer but I assume we as parent assumed all plebes want to be away from post on the A day. Many plebes enjoyed visiting their family at the Thayer during the A day. My plebe (now yuk) did not care where we stayed for A day ( we stayed at the Thayer by chance) because plebes are not allowed to stay overnight on A day. Of course we took our plebe in to NYC and went shopping in Nanuet and back to the Thayer to rest then drop him off at the Grant turn around. We actually spent more time shopping and going out than staying at the hotel. As for upperclassmen, they wore cadet casuals or civilian clothes in the weekend we could not tell their rank and so my plebe. DS did not run into his cadre during the beast when we visited him. We also was told about laundry but DS already took care of that before the A day. Basically it is up to parents and plebes where to stay for A day. An 2023 mom told me that after they dropped off their plebe, it was raining heavily that driving on the road was dangerous at night. She wished that she would stay close to WP if possible. She booked the Five Star inn for up coming PPW next weekend.
 
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We have stayed at the Courtyard in Newburgh. It has just been renovated. About a 20 minute ride to West Point. No bridge to cross either. You can also go see Orange County Choppers. Right down the street.
 
Adopt3 said:
I am familiar with R day. What happens during A day? Is it at the end of Beast?
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The New Cadets march onto the Plain followed by the Corps. The Corps does on open ranks and the now Plebes march into their companies symbolizing their "acceptance" into the Corps. The combined Corps then marches off the Plain. Plebes then get the weekend off though they have to be back for taps each evening.
 
Flyarmy92 said:
I know the area very well since my DH went there eons ago. You can check local hotels (Holiday Inn Express and Thayer) but most have already booked up. AirBNB and HomeAway are good options. There is also https://visitbearmountain.com/. They still have availability and are very reasonable. A good 10-15 minute drive to West Point. Good luck!
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Thanks for that tip just booked rooms at bear mountain. They allow you to cancel within 24 hours of check in so I booked..even though we don’t know yet if DS is accepted.
 
pedromom said:
Thanks for that tip just booked rooms at bear mountain. They allow you to cancel within 24 hours of check in so I booked..even though we don’t know yet if DS is accepted.
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That was what prompted us to reserve there also. Easy to cancel if need be. Better to be safe than sorry. Good luck to your DS!
 
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