“I really didn’t have any idea what was going on,” sophomore Ethan Brown from Paducah, Kentucky said after being abruptly reassigned to Center Hall in an email from Housing and Residence Life in May of 2025.
Brown said there was a lot he didn’t know following the email. He said this included a $823 charge would be added to his housing bill as a result.
Center Hall was previously the Hyatt Place Hotel and turned into a residence hall following the closures of Normal Hall, Regents Hall and Hilltopper Hall, according to a Student Life Foundation press release.
The price for a standard room in Center Hall comes to $4,418 a semester, according to the Housing and Residence Life website. This is $598 more than the university’s hotel-style halls such as Southwest Hall and $823 more than the suite-style halls such as Zacharias Hall.
Many students received an email from HRL in May of 2025 before Center Hall was formally announced to the public. The email stated they were “one of the select students assigned to WKU’s newest housing option.”
Brown said he was originally assigned to Zacharias Hall, a suite-style residence hall. He said he was upset about having to change who he was living with. He said he felt new frustrations when seeing an $823 increase to his housing bill.
“That amount is a lot when cash is tight,” Brown said.
Due to the unexpected cost, Brown said he had to reevaluate how he pays for college. He said this included choosing a cheaper meal plan and looking for more scholarships for next semester.
HRL Executive Director Catherine LaRoche said that the increase in cost comes from the amenities other residence halls don’t have.
Center Hall is primarily for sophomore students and athletes, LaRoche said. They have access to private restrooms, a sofa area and a pool. However, the pool closed on Labor Day and is no longer accessible, according to the HRL website.
LaRoche said that the Center Hall cost is equivalent to what Hilltopper Hall would cost if it continued operation. In its final year, according to HRL’s website, Hilltopper Hall housed mostly athletes. It was the most expensive residence hall on campus, priced at $4,086 a semester, at the time.
The reassignment email from HRL gave students the option to request a different assignment, with the little flexibility they could offer. However, LaRoche said that only “a handful” took HRL up on the offer. She said that most students appeared to be excited about the new residence hall. There was a waiting list to get in.
With only the summer break to turn a hotel into a residence hall, LaRoche said HRL renovated several of the rooms to be suited for long-term use. This included adding bigger wardrobes and dressers, and C-tables to use with the sofa area. Originally, there was no room to accommodate two full desks.
LaRoche said HRL removed the king-sized beds and replaced them with twin XL beds. She said this set the standard for all other residence halls. She said the rooms with queen-sized beds provided by the hotel were not changed.
LaRoche said that depending on the room, “it’s the best of both worlds.” The queen-sized beds give students a more luxurious mattress. She said the twin XL beds give the option for additional storage if students loft them higher.
“I’m kind of amazed when I reflect on how we were able to make that happen in just a few weeks,” LaRoche said.
Sophomore Holly Hawes from Champaign, Illinois, is a Center Hall resident paying the unexpected housing cost alongside out-of-state tuition. Even though Hawes receives the WKU border state scholarship, Hawes said her tuition is still more than an in-state student. She said she lives in a twin XL room and has an issue with the uniform cost.
“I just find that kind of unfair,” Hawes said. “I don’t get as good of a bed; I don’t get as much space. Why am I paying the same?”
Hawes said she thought about requesting to move to Southwest Hall, a hotel-style hall, but was worried she would be placed on a waitlist. She said the other hotel-style halls have the same basic amenities as Center Hall, like a wardrobe and private bathroom, and questions the increase in price.
Hawes said she could get the same experience living in Southwest Hall while paying a fraction of the price per semester.
Additionally, residents of Center Hall cannot mount any decorations on the wall “to prevent damage,” according to the HRL website. This restriction is unique to Center Hall and not a rule for any other residence hall.
LaRoche said the restriction is a preventative measure to keep the building in shape if it gets turned back into a hotel.
Brown said his room without decorations looks “lifeless,” and that he had to get creative to work around the restriction. He said he purchased a colorful couch cover and used medical tape to hang a tapestry on the wall.
“We’ve had to go out of our way to liven the place up, because without things all over the walls, it doesn’t look like a dorm room,” Brown said. “It looks like we’re staying in a hotel room.”
The SLF signed a three-year lease with the Hyatt Place and must return the building to the owners exactly as they found it if they do not purchase it, LaRoche said. With the quick turnaround, LaRoche said they did not have time to figure out if the wallpaper could be easily replaced.
LaRoche said that around 1,000 beds were lost when Hilltopper Hall, Regents Hall and Normal Hall were closed. She said Center Hall has a 210 maximum occupancy. Normal Hall and Regents Hall are scheduled to reopen next fall. LaRoche said they are on track to meet that goal. Hilltopper Hall is set to be demolished entirely, according to a press release from the SLF. After the three-year lease with the hotel is up, it is unknown whether Center Hall will remain open as a residence hall.