Hotels near Jacksonville University

My husband and son will be visting Jacksonville University in August, and I wanted to know of a good hotel or motel near the campus. We have visited Miami, Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Tampa, but never Jacksonville. Is Jacksonville University near downtown and the river area? Your recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Hotels near Jacksonville University

Hi,

JU is a nice university!

There aren%26#39;t any hotels in the immediate area of the university. There might be one 3 or 4 miles away but I can%26#39;t think of any. Some universities will let visitors stay in student housing on campus if it is available. Staff at the university can probably give you suggestions for where to stay.

JU is 10 or 15 minutes by car from the downtown area on the river, and 25 minutes from the beach. The St. John%26#39;s River comes up from the south, meanders through town, curves around and passes JU, and then goes on out to sea. JU is on the river.

Generally, there are two areas of town where visitors like to stay: downtown on the river, and at the beach.

Hotels downtown on the river are the Hyatt, Omni, Crown Plaza, and Wyndam - all expensive. A couple blocks back from the river are two less expensive hotels: Hampton Inn and Extended Stay America, both on Prudential Drive.

At the Beach, the hotel I recommend is The Seahorse Oceanfront Inn in Neptune Beach. Other hotels are One Ocean in Atlantic Beach (expensive); and in Jacksonville Beach there are the Marriott Courtyard, Quality Suites, Best Western, Casa Marina, and Comfort Inn, as well as a Fairfield Inn which is not on the ocean. In Ponte Vedra Beach is the Inn at Ponte Vedra (expensive).

Have a nice visit!

Spirit

Hotels near Jacksonville University

Hi. The closest, safest bet would be the downtown area. We have several establishments I would recommend that would be your best bet. The majority of these hotels are about 10 minutes away.

The zip code area is 32207 in Jacksonville. I would not recommend the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk Hotel @ 1515 Prudential Drive. Although they have completed their renovations, and it does look nice....well...they%26#39;re just not there yet. It%26#39;s like a newley painted house with termite infestation if you get my meaning. We%26#39;re in our rainy season here and between the plumbing backing up constantly, the widely spread leaking ceiling issues....it%26#39;s not worth the aggrevation.

Your other choices are the Omni, Crown Plaza, Hyatt. I think there%26#39;s an Extended Stay in the area as well.

I live in the Arlington area where J.U. is located and I most recently worked in the downtown area as well. It%26#39;s really a quick ride. They%26#39;ll be 10 minutes from the Regency Mall as well. ';The Landing'; is the tourist and local draw. Hooters, Mongo%26#39;s (Mongolian BBQ grill...pretty good, ask for Michelle) American Cafe and a host of other eateries. You might want to Google it.

Good luck.

J-ville mom.

Hi,

I think the downtown area is your best bet as well as far as proximity, but the beaches are so much fun! If you don%26#39;t mind a little bit of a drive (less than 30 minutes) they would probably have a lot more fun at the beach.

As previously stated, JU is on the river and is a beautiful campus. I%26#39;m a bit biased because I%26#39;m a JU grad (both undergraduate and master%26#39;s degrees). I also live very close to the campus (about 5 minutes).

The Hampton Inn on Prudential Drive may be more cost effective than most of the others in the downtown area.

There really is nothing at all near the campus as far as hotels go, because the campus is largely in a residential sort of area.

I know you didn%26#39;t address this in your question, but I can absolutely recommend JU. It%26#39;s certainly not for everyone. It%26#39;s much smaller than the state universities, and that has both positive and negative sides. I really loved the campus, and the small class sizes. Professors were likely to give you their home phone numbers saying, ';Just don%26#39;t call after 11pm.'; There were very few %26#39;bubble in%26#39; tests because classes are typically small enough that the professors can give written tests with essay questions to determine a student%26#39;s critical thinking skills. In other words, no one can sail through.

What is your son%26#39;s major? With your name of %26#39;theatremom%26#39; is he a theatre major? I can certainly give you some info about the fine arts college - that was pretty much home for me because I%26#39;m a music person.

I hope they enjoy their visit. And do call the campus and see if they could put your guys up in one of the dorms. I%26#39;m not sure if they do that or not, but it would be worth asking. If so, we can give you some restaurant recommendations or info close to the campus.

Vicki

Thanks for the helpful replies. My son hopes to major in Business or Education (maybe a combination). He has already visited the University of Tampa, Eckerd, and FSU. On this trip he will visit JU, Flagler, UCF, Florida Southern College, and St. Leo%26#39;s. As you can tell, he wants to attend college in Florida as opposed to the north. He plans to apply to a few colleges in Pennsylvania, maybe South Carolina, but he really has his heart set on the sunny state of Florida.

That%26#39;s great. Let me know if I can answer any questions. I can%26#39;t remember if I mentioned that my master%26#39;s at JU is Integrated Learning/Educational Technology (basically a master%26#39;s in Education). So I%26#39;m pretty well acquainted with the College of Education as well.

We%26#39;re here to help if you need us!

Vicki

Downtown is definitely your best bet.

You can find really great weekend rates at the Crowne Plaza.

Welcome to Jacksonville!