How to Go "Luxe" for Ole Miss Graduation

A regular weekend at the Chancellor’s House in Oxford will cost you around $200 dollars a night, but for graduation weekend, a room there may cost four times as much.
Manager Clifton Odom said he wants guests visiting for graduation weekend to feel at home and that means taking care of them from the time they walk in to the time they checkout.
“Staffing, staffing, staffing. In a luxury hotel we want to make sure that everyone is attended to in the appropriate manner,” Odom said. “Across the board we need everyone trained and prepared, so the weekend can run as smoothly as possible.”
Odom also said other parts of the hotel need to be ready to go, too.
“And since we’re located right here by the Square, we want to make sure that our parking garage is ready to go because it’s going to be at full capacity.”
Going luxe is about convenience, but it’s also about going to the popular spots. City Grocery is a restaurant located on the Square that has garnered multiple dining awards over the years.
Ralph Taylor, a chef at City Grocery, says that graduation weekend is “definitely busier than what we normally do. There’s lots of big tables, lots of families coming in.”
Manager Catherine Scott thinks she knows why.
“We like to treat celebrities like they are locals and locals like they are celebrities,” Scott said. “We try to maintain that standard throughout the year, but definitely during the time where we have more people in town and higher expectations.”

City Grocery does fill up very quickly around graduation and they have no more open spots right now.  Scott says they begin taking reservations, “almost a whole half a year in advance.”
At the Chancellor’s House, they are also fully booked.
“We take reservations one year in advance,” Odom said. “They [guests] will check out and say ‘Can I book for next year?’ so that’s always a good sign.”
So if a 2019 graduation splurge is in your future, be sure to mark your calendars for May 13, 2018 so you can pick up phone and make your reservations.

Story contributed by Brianna Bynum, Abbie McIntosh, Madison Scarpino and Jack Newsom.
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