My daughter just graduated, and so far I've visited at least 12 times over the last four years; I live in Southern California. Regarding hotels/motels, we are "sunners" so in the Spring and Summer it's important to have an outdoor pool - they are rare in Boulder. Our two favorite choices were Homewood Suites or Best Western Boulder Plus. These are both VERY NICE "motels" (you park yourself) --- Homewood is about a 8-10 minute drive West to the main campus and Pearl Street, Best Western about 4-6 minutes. Both of these are S/E of the campus and ideal if your student is in the Williams Village or Tower dorms. The other outdoor pool choice is The Millinium, which is THEE VERY BEST location for school activities, especially the football stadium (walking distance - a huge plus!) BUT, the Millinium has seen better days, unfortunately it's pretty run down, but clean --- we just stayed there in May for graduation, for the pool/location factors. The St. Julien is the upscale snooty one for all of the rich or want-to-look rich folks (no outdoor pool.) It's very nice, VERY nice and VERY upscale, but to me it's just like any other Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, when I found that the smaller motels lent so much more appeal nestled against the Flatirons. Plus, the rooms @ the St. Julien are tiny and way overpriced. The Marriott (no outdoor pool & make sure you get the one next to IHOP) is a REALLY good location for restaurants and lots of stores, large and small. We were booked in Broomfield @ The Omni (a 20 minute drive to Boulder) for graduation but got bumped up on the waiting list and ended up staying @ The Millinium - which turned out just fine. Good luck, I envy you just starting out ... we absolutely LOVE Boulder !!!