On-Site Accommodations at St. John's University
Please read through everything on this page. Registration links are at the very bottom.
Where and What
Accommodations are available at St. John's in O'Connor Hall, beginning the night of Wednesday, June 21 through the night of Tuesday, June 27. This housing is in basic student suites (bed, dresser, desk) in a secure, air-conditioned, elevator building on the campus a short walk from the main convention sites and right across the way from the dining hall.
The suites include a large common area with table and chairs, couch, refrigerator and microwave. Off the common area are three to five bedrooms and two bathrooms. The rooms are singles, doubles, and triples. Most doubles and all triples have one bed on the floor and one set of bunk beds. Except for parents and children requesting a triple, we will never assign the top bunk. The maximum occupancy of the suites ranges from 6 to 8. Many suites include singles. We have limited flexibility. Therefore if you have a large group that wants to room together, please register as early as possible. If we cannot put your entire group into the same suite, we will try to ensure that the suites are as close as possible.
Linens are included: pillow, blanket, flat sheet, fitted sheet, pillow case, 1 towel, 1 washcloth. Complimentary laundry facilities are available on each floor. There is free WiFi throughout the campus.
You have the option of sharing your room with others or staying in a bedroom by yourself. Details are in the "Costs" section below. However, it is important to note that, in either case, you may need to share a bathroom.
Accommodations include three meals at the Montgoris Dining Hall from Friday dinner through Monday lunch. No meals are available at Montgoris on any other days. The three meals are: dinner on each night of your stay and breakfast and lunch for the next day. For example, if you are staying Friday night, dinner on Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday are included. Therefore, you do not need to purchase meals on your registration form unless you want dinner on the day you are leaving. In that case, you do have to purchase it separately on the registration form.
Free parking is available. When you collect your welcome packet at housing registration, you will be able to get a parking pass that is required only for overnight guests.
Access Card
If you are staying at St. John's, you will be required to carry a photo ID card (known as a "Storm Card") at all times. It will be included in the welcome packet that you will pick up at housing registration. This card will get you into the dorm, will be encoded with access to your suite, and will also be your meal card to get you into the Montgoris Dining Hall.
When you register for accommodations, you will be required to fill out a St. John's form and upload a photo for your Storm Card. St. John's has very specific and detailed requirements for the format of the photo. In summary:
- JPG and JPEG files only
- shoulder to head shots only
- no headwear (hats, hoods, bandannas, etc. except for religious purposes)
- no prescription glasses
- no sunglasses
- no scanned passport photos
- no black and white photos
- solid background (preferably blue)
Costs
You have the option of sharing your room with others or staying in a bedroom by yourself. St. John's charges us by bed, not by person. Therefore, if you want to stay alone in a bedroom, you must pay for the unused bed. The costs for the different housing options are as follows:
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Friday, Saturday, Sunday (with meals included):
- $110 per night if sharing.
- $185 per night if you want one bedroom for yourself.
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Other nights: Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday (no meals available):
- $75 per night if sharing.
- $150 per night if you want one bedroom for yourself.
In addition to the above, there is a one-time $35 registration fee for housing. if you register by May 20. If you register between May 21 and June 1, the fee is (special discount! still) $35; after June 1, the fee is $65. The fee covers St. John's costs for linens, access cards, and other services.
Each person must pay for his or her own meals and registration costs. This means that if two people are staying together in one room, each person must register separately. You can indicate that someone is your roommate, but you will each have to register separately. Parents sharing a room with their child or children must register each person separately. The "bedroom for yourself" category is for people who are staying alone in that room, and the cost has been calculated so that you do not pay for meals or fees for the empty bed.
If you do not have enough people for a complete suite, we will match you with others. All OrigamiUSA matching is done by gender.
St. John's Rules and Regulations
Anyone under 18 years of age staying in the dorms at St. Johns must have a parent or legal guardian staying with him or her. Further, a consent form must be signed by the parent or legal guardian when checking in to housing, even though he or she is staying there with the minor.
Only those staying at the dorms will be permitted to enter them. You will not be able to sign in guests.
St. John's University has a very strict no-alcohol, no-drugs policy for all housing areas. Please respect their rules.
Timely Registration and Refund Policy
St. John's University is not certain they will be able to expand our contracted room commitment. Therefore it is especially essential this year that all St. John's University housing forms are sent in as early as possible. We will not be able to guarantee housing for forms received after June 1. If you cancel your St. John's University housing after June 1, we will refund your money only if we can re-rent your room. We make a sizable financial commitment to St. John's University to secure housing, and late forms substantially increase our costs and volunteer effort requirement. We have therefore added a charge for forms received after May 20 — please see the housing form for details.
Last-Minute Notifications
It is not uncommon for us to have to send out last-minute notifications via email (sometimes St. John's springs suprises on us). Please check your email during the days leading up to convention! Note that if you have selected "No broadcast emails" in your Privacy settings, you won't receive these.
Checking In to the Dormitory
Here is an annotated (partial) campus map that identifies the locations and the driving and walking paths described in this section.
When you arrive at St. John's to register for housing on Friday or Saturday you will pick up your registration packet in Room 101 of O’Connor Hall, which is also the dorm assigned to us. Normal check-in hours on Friday are from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. For late registration, after 6:00 pm, you will still go to Room 101 to pick up your materials.
If you are arriving by public transportation, check the map showing the closest bus stops.
If you are arriving by car service or taxi, you will go to Gate 6 (G6 on the campus map), 170th Street and Goethals Avenue, as described in the section on parking.
If you are driving, you will also enter through Gate 6. Temporary parking while unloading and checking in is available in the parking lot directly across University Road from Gate 6.
It is a fairly short walk from there to O’Connor Hall. Luggage carts will be made available by St. John’s if you need them, same as last year.
For those who would find it too difficult to walk from the temporary parking area to the dorm, we will have one of the 5-seater golf carts (described on the Travel page under the heading "Getting Around St. John's”) available to bring you to the front entrance of the dorm. If you don’t see a cart, you can call the hotline number (646-770-4907) to ask for one. See the hours page for the full schedule of the golf carts.
Note that private cars cannot drive directly to the O’Connor Hall. Only vehicles driven by Public Safety (including our golf carts) are permitted to go beyond the barrier gate and onto the pathways leading to the dorms.
If you are planning to park overnight while staying in the dorm, you will have to request an overnight parking pass to place on the dashboard of your car at check-in. You can drive directly to the parking garage from the temporary parking lot after check-in. Head towards Gate 6 but do not exit. Turn right into the parking area just before you reach the gate.
Early Check-In
Check-ins for Wednesday and Thursday will also be at O’Connor House, Room 101. Detailed instructions will be in your housing confirmation.
Checking Out
Checkout is at 11:00 am. On Sunday and Monday you will be able to check your luggage in O’Connor so that you can attend classes and the Monday night dinner.If you are checking out from the dorms by car and you are parked in the garage, you must exit the campus and re-enter through Gate 1 (the main gate), the same as you did when you checked in.
Contact Information
St. John's University Housing is being handled by Martha Winslow-Cole. If you have any questions about accommodations, write to her at 5222 Duck Springs Road, Attalla, AL 35954, or call her at (256) 458-3947. She can also be reached via email at convention-housing [at] origamiusa.org.
Local Area Hotels
If you prefer to stay at a hotel, here are some suggested by St. John's University.
You can also check travel websites for suggestions. Be aware that there are no hotels within walking distance of St. John's. Be sure to check website ratings and reviews carefully. We have no personal recommendations or suggestions for hotels.
Registration Links
- Registration for Convention Housing is now closed.