Returning Smith College students quarantining at hotels

NORTHAMPTON — Smith students have started to arrive for the spring semester, but they aren’t staying on campus right away. Students will be quarantining at The Ellery hotel and Fairfield Inn and Suites while waiting for COVID-19 test results, a spokesperson for the college said in an email Tuesday.

The school is planning to have between 1,100 and 1,200 students on campus this spring semester.

“The college is using the hotels due to the state’s requirement that arriving students quarantine in single occupancy rooms with single bathrooms,” the spokesperson said. “Once clear of quarantine, students move into their on-campus housing.”

Mansour Ghalibaf, owner of the Fairfield Inn and Suites, said the college is using the entire Conz Street hotel. He said he’s had “numerous meetings” with the college about the safety precautions. “Actually they have done an unbelievable job to make everything safe,” he said.