The Empire Hotel is located on the Upper West Side, a convenient location if you're heading to the Juilliard School.

You’re just getting around to cleaning up the remnants of the full-blown graduation bash and it feels like the big “move-in” day is eons away. But in actuality, you have just a couple of months left to buy a futon, pack up the car, and remind your soon-to-be freshman what’s really going on college boys’ minds. It’s easy to leave hotel reservations ’til last minute, but the time to do it is now–orientation week is a field day for New York City hotels and rooms book up early and fast. Fortunately, we here at zzdtravel have done the leg-work and have found the best hotels near a handful of NYC colleges. So whether your pride-and-joy is Ivy League-bound or about to join the swarms of hipsters who make up the NYU student body, we have a hotel where you can stay as you move them in and say your goodbyes.

The Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side

The Lucerne3.5 Upper West Side, New York City

On the relaxed, upscale Upper West Side, the 250-room Lucerne is within close proximity to Columbia University and its all-female sister school, Barnard College. The hotel offers small but classically styled, comfortable rooms (all renovated in April 2009), prompt, dedicated service, and is mere blocks from attractions like the Museum of Natural History and Central Park.

Excelsior Hotel, Hotel Beacon

Lobby at the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea

Hotel Indigo $2243

Less than a five-minute walk from FIT, this 122-room boutique in midtown Manhattan is a full-service hotel in miniature, with plush rooms, excellent views, a gym, a business center, an elegant restaurant and lounge, and a 19th-floor rooftop bar. The 240-square-foot rooms are extraordinarily comfortable and well equipped.

Four Points by Sheraton, Holiday Inn Express Chelsea

The Hotel Bar at the Hudson

Hudson Hotel3.5 Midtown West, New York City

Steps from Fordham University, Central Park, and five subway lines, the 807-room Hudson has a prime location. It’s actually a remodeled Y.M.C.A. with very tiny rooms, but its amenities (a modern gym, business center, and four hip, see-and-be-seen bars) and surreal, Philippe Starck design make it worth the cramped space.

6 Columbus, Mandarin Oriental

Take in the view with appetizers and drinks at the Empire’s Rooftop Bar.

The Empire Hotel $2914 Upper West Side, New York City

For the price, you’ll be hard-pressed to find this level of on-site amenities at any other New York hotel–and with it’s proximity to Julliard, it’s the perfect pick for your stay during Freshman Orientation. The Empire’s rooftop bar and pool, both with excellent views of the upscale Upper West Side, make this 420-room hotel one of the city’s best values, despite the small rooms.

Trump International Hotel and Tower, Mandarin Oriental

Lobby at the Standard New York

The Standard $312/night4 West Village, New York City

Hovering above the High Line on concrete pillars, this one-of-a-kind Meatpacking District hotel offers 337 light-flooded, ultra-mod rooms with panoramic views of the city; one restaurant, several popular bars; and excellent service. It might just be the hippest hotel in New York City. It’s close to NYU, but if you’re looking to be steps from the center of campus, check out the Washington Square Hotel.

Washington Square Hotel, Hotel Gansevoort

Lobby at the W Hotel New York- Union Square

$379/night4 Gramercy and Murray Hill, New York City

W Hotels’ 270-room Union Square property greatly resembles other W’s in New York: comfortable beds, modern rooms, an excellent gym, and plenty of business travelers in the butterfly-decorated, techno-soundtracked lobby. The difference: this one’s downtown, near the bar-filled East Village and media-mecca Flatiron — which means street noise — but you are conveniently close to Parsons.

Gramercy Park Hotel, Union Square Hotel