“Near the University of Michigan” means four different places.
That is the whole problem with this search. U-M is not one campus. It is Central Campus around the Diag, the Medical Center and Mott a mile north of it, North Campus another two miles northeast, and the athletic campus around Michigan Stadium to the southwest. A hotel that is a four-minute walk from Hill Auditorium is a fifteen-minute drive from Mott Children’s Hospital. Book the wrong one and you will spend your visit in the car.
Hotel names do not help. Several properties in town carry “University” or “U of Michigan” in the name to describe which side of town they sit on, not which campus they are near. Below are thirteen places to stay, sorted by the campus you are actually visiting, with walk times, parking costs and check-in times verified in September 2026.
One thing that helps everyone: the U-M blue buses are free and open to the public, not just students. Twelve routes run year round and connect Central Campus, the Medical Campus, North Campus and the North Campus Research Complex. If you are staying anywhere the buses reach, you do not need to move your car between campuses.
Before you book downtown this fall, note that North University Avenue is closed between State Street and Fletcher Street, including the North University and Thayer intersection, through 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, 2026, for a water main replacement and resurfacing. Thayer Street is reachable from East Washington Street only. Walking is unaffected, but driving to a hotel on Thayer or by the League takes a detour.
Walk to Central Campus
Three properties genuinely put you on Central Campus. You will pay for parking at two of them, and it is worth it, because you can park once and leave the car until you go home.
Bell Tower Hotel
The closest bed to the Diag. The Bell Tower sits on Thayer directly across from the Michigan League, a block from Hill Auditorium and about a five-minute walk from the Diag, which makes it the obvious pick for a concert, a campus tour or a graduation. It is a small European-styled hotel rather than a chain box, and the included full American buffet is a real hot breakfast.
300 S Thayer St. See the listing.
Check-in 4 p.m. guaranteed, early arrivals from 2 p.m. when rooms are ready; check-out 11 a.m. Valet parking $30 per day with unlimited in-and-out, valet staffed 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Guests must be 21 to book and check in. Breakfast weekdays 7-9:30 a.m., weekends 7-10 a.m. Note the Thayer Street detour above. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
The Inn at the Michigan League
The only hotel on campus where parking is included. Twenty-one rooms on the fourth floor of the Michigan League, run by the University rather than a chain, roughly a five-minute walk from the Diag and closer still to Rackham and the Law Quad. It books up around graduation and big campus weekends, so reserve early. Rooms come with a daily breakfast certificate.
911 N University Ave. See the listing.
Complimentary parking for guests, plus a daily breakfast certificate. Twenty-one rooms. The building sits at North University and Fletcher, inside the road project running through November 25, 2026; call (734) 764-3177 for current driving directions. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Graduate by Hilton Ann Arbor
The one with the lobby scene. Two hundred and seven rooms on East Huron, about a ten-minute walk north of the Diag and two blocks off State Street, with the collegiate-maximalist interiors the Graduate brand is known for. It took the Hilton name after the chain was acquired, and a lot of people in town still call it just “the Graduate.”
615 E Huron St. See the listing.
Check-in from 4 p.m., check-out 11 a.m. Valet parking $40 per day. No self-parking available. 207 rooms including 10 suites. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Downtown, a Walk from the Diag
Downtown is not on campus, but it is close enough to walk and it puts you next to the restaurants. Budget ten to fifteen minutes on foot each way.
Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown
The right room for a week of appointments or a move-in. Every unit is a suite with a real kitchen, it is on West Huron two blocks from Main Street, and the Diag is about fifteen minutes on foot. The parking is the thing to plan for: valet only, in a garage down the block.
120 W Huron St. See the listing.
Check-in from 4 p.m., check-out by noon. Valet parking $38 per day at the Ashley Ann garage about a tenth of a mile away; no self-parking. All suites with full kitchens. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Exhibit A2
The quietest arrival in town. Exhibit A2 is a small suite property on Fourth Avenue by the Kerrytown blocks, with no front desk at all: an access code arrives by email about two days before you come, and you let yourself in a private entrance. Campus is a little over ten minutes on foot. Good for a couple who wants space and nobody to check in with.
212 S 4th Ave. See the listing.
Check-in from 4 p.m., check-out 10:30 a.m. No on-site parking; the nearest public garage is one block away. Access code emailed roughly 48 hours before arrival. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
The Medical Center, Mott and North Campus
This is the search that matters most and the one the booking sites answer worst. The Medical Center sits about a mile north of the Diag, Mott Children’s Hospital is beside it, and North Campus is another two miles northeast. The hotels that serve all three are the Plymouth Road cluster, which is why several of them carry “North” in the name.
Start with the hospital’s own lodging desk, not a booking site. Michigan Medicine Lodging books the on-site Med Inn and holds discounted rates at more than thirty hotels and motels around Ann Arbor, Brighton and Livonia, matched to how long you need to stay and what you need in the room. Call (800) 544-8684 or (734) 936-0100. If lodging costs are a genuine burden, ask about the Guest Assistance Program on the same call. For families of children in care, the Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor sits next to the medical campus at (734) 994-4442.
Med Inn
A thirty-room hotel inside the hospital complex. You park at the hospital, walk to your appointment and walk to your room without going outside, which is the entire point when someone in your family is in the ICU or coming out of surgery. Rooms have one or two queen beds, a microwave and a refrigerator. The nightly rate is tax exempt, and there is a complimentary continental breakfast for families of surgery and ICU patients, seniors, and visitors with special needs.
1500 E Medical Center Dr. See the listing.
Booked through Michigan Medicine Lodging at (734) 936-0100 or (800) 544-8684, seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thirty rooms, tax-exempt nightly rate. Connected to the hospital indoors. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
DoubleTree by Hilton Ann Arbor North
The best value near the hospital, because of the shuttle. Parking is $5 a day rather than the $30 to $40 you would pay downtown, and the complimentary local shuttle means one car is enough for a family. It is roughly eight minutes by car from University Hospital and under two miles from North Campus, and the hotel holds discounted rates for U-M Hospital and Mott visitors, so ask when you book. Indoor and outdoor pools, and a restaurant on site for the nights nobody wants to drive.
3600 Plymouth Rd. See the listing.
Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 11 a.m. Self-parking $5 per day. Complimentary local shuttle within city limits. Discounted rates available for U-M Hospital and Mott Children’s Hospital visitors; ask at booking. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Residence Inn Ann Arbor North
For stays measured in weeks rather than nights. Every unit is a suite with a full kitchen, parking is free, and check-out is at noon instead of eleven, which is a small mercy when a morning appointment runs long. There is a hot breakfast buffet daily and a grocery shopping service, both of which matter when you are living out of a hotel during a course of treatment.
3535 Green Ct. See the listing.
Check-in 4 p.m., check-out noon. Free on-site parking. All suites with full kitchens; complimentary hot breakfast buffet daily. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Red Roof PLUS+ Ann Arbor – U of Michigan North
The value room on this side of town, and the one that takes the dog. It is on Plymouth Road in the same cluster as the DoubleTree, a few minutes from the medical campus and North Campus, with free parking and the most generous pet policy of any hotel on this page.
3621 Plymouth Rd. See the listing.
Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 11 a.m. Free on-site parking. One well-behaved pet stays free, declared at check-in; up to two pets per room, second pet $15 per night capped at $105 per stay, 80 pound limit. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
The Athletic Campus and the South Side
Michigan Stadium, Crisler Center and Yost are clustered at the southwest edge of campus, and most of Ann Arbor’s rooms are a few minutes south of them off State Street and I-94. Parking is free out here and rates run lower, and the free blue buses reach Central Campus.
Red Roof Inn Ann Arbor – U of Michigan South
Two miles from Michigan Stadium with free parking, which is the whole argument on a home Saturday. A 24-hour front desk, continental breakfast and the same generous pet policy as its sister property on Plymouth Road.
3505 S State St. See the listing.
Check-in 3 p.m., check-out 11 a.m. Free on-site parking. 24-hour front desk, complimentary continental breakfast. One well-behaved pet permitted at no charge, declared at registration. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
The Kensington Hotel
The nicest room on this side of town. Two hundred rooms at the south end of State Street with free self-parking and the largest indoor hotel pool in Ann Arbor, heated year round, which is the detail that decides it for anyone traveling with kids in February.
3500 S State St. See the listing.
Front desk staffed 24 hours. Free self-parking on site, no reservation needed. 200 rooms. Heated indoor pool open year round. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ann Arbor – University South
Read this one’s address before you book it. Despite “University South” in the name, it is at 3853 Research Park Drive, off I-94 near the Ann Arbor airport, about four miles from Central Campus. Taken for what it is, it is a clean, newer property with free parking, free breakfast and a heated indoor pool, and it is genuinely convenient to the stadium side of town and the freeway.
3853 Research Park Dr. See the listing.
Check-in 3 p.m., check-out noon. Free self-parking. Free breakfast, heated indoor pool, 24-hour fitness room. Phone (734) 213-1200. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Staybridge Suites Ann Arbor – Univ of Michigan
The long-stay pick, and the weekday shuttle is the part people miss. It runs anywhere within five miles, which covers the medical campus and most of Central Campus, so a family can get by with one car. Every unit has a kitchen. It sits in Research Park a few doors from the Holiday Inn Express.
3850 Research Park Dr. See the listing.
Check-in from 3 p.m., check-out 11 a.m. Free self-parking. Complimentary shuttle within a five-mile radius, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. All units with kitchens. Verified 17 Sep 2026.
Two Notes on Names and One Closure
Names in this market describe the side of town, not the campus. “North” on Plymouth Road means near the Medical Center and North Campus. “University South” means Research Park by the freeway. The EVEN Hotel’s “S – University Area” is at Briarwood Circle by the mall, about three miles from Central Campus, and we cover it in our guide to hotels in Ann Arbor. None of these are bad rooms. They are simply not where the name makes you picture them.
One property worth knowing about for later: the Ross Executive Learning and Conference Center, the boutique guest rooms inside the Ross School of Business on Central Campus, is closed for an extensive renovation and plans to reopen in 2027. If you have stayed there before for an executive program, book elsewhere this year.
How to Choose
Match the hotel to the campus, then to the clock.
Visiting Central Campus for a concert, a tour, an admitted-student day or a graduation: book the Bell Tower, the Inn at the Michigan League or the Graduate, pay the parking once and walk everywhere.
Visiting the Medical Center or Mott: call Michigan Medicine Lodging at (800) 544-8684 first and let them quote you the discounted rate, then look at the Med Inn if you need to be in the building, the DoubleTree if you want the shuttle and the $5 parking, and Residence Inn North if you are staying more than a few nights and want a kitchen.
Visiting North Campus: the Plymouth Road cluster is your neighborhood, and the free blue buses run to Central Campus if you need to get downtown.
Here for a game: take the free parking south, book early, and check the check-in hour against kickoff. Most rooms in town do not release until 3 or 4 p.m., which means a noon kickoff and a same-day arrival do not work. Our game weekend lodging guide goes through the football-specific booking rules, including which properties require a two-night minimum.
Whatever you book, call ahead if your plans depend on an early arrival. Check-in times hold firm on busy weekends, and there are six home football games left in 2026.
