Davis has a handful of hotels and a university calendar that fills every one of them on the same five weekends. Each guide covers where to stay, when to book, and what to do when the town is already full.
The biggest weekend of the year. Alumni and families pour in, rates double, and the last rooms go early. Start with the Arboretum, end with a table downtown.
Read the Picnic Day guide →
Your student's first big weekend hosting you. Stay close to downtown so dinner, the farmers market, and campus all sit within a short walk. For 2026 the weekend runs November 6 to 8, and Davis rooms are already scarce, so the guide covers the overflow towns too.
Read the parents weekend guide →
The hardest rooms of the year. Grandparents, siblings, and four years of anticipation land on the same two days. The families who book in winter sleep in Davis.
Read the commencement guide →Five properties do most of the work in Davis. Here is the short version of who each one suits, with the full guide one click down.
The only hotel on campus grounds. Book this one first for commencement and Picnic Day, and expect event pricing when the calendar heats up.
Check dates and prices →A short walk from downtown restaurants and the train station, with bigger rooms than most. A parent favorite for longer stays.
Check dates and prices →The independent options near campus. Fewer frills, honest value on normal weekends, and they fill quietly on event weekends because locals recommend them.
Read the full hotel guide →
The Capitol Corridor drops you at the Davis station, right downtown, about a ten minute walk from campus. No rental car, no event weekend parking hunt, and the ride along the Bay is half the pleasure.
It happens on every big weekend. These are the overflow towns, in the order a Davis parent actually uses them.
Chain hotels at normal prices, an easy drive down Highway 113, and parking that never fights back. The value pick when Davis rates spike.
Right on I-80 with a Best Western and a Hampton Inn. Best for families driving in who want a quick exit on Sunday.
The deepest hotel bench of the three, plus Old Sacramento for a family dinner. Works well paired with the train for the last hop.
My daughter studies at UC Davis, and I make the trip the way thousands of parents do: train in, hotel near campus, one special dinner, home again. After one too many event weekends at event prices, I started keeping notes. This site is those notes, organized. Where to stay, when to book, and where we eat when we celebrate, starting with Latitude, my daughter's special spot.