Two hotels within a mile, and a boutique at the top

UNA’s campus sits just north of downtown Florence, and the two nearest hotels are on Court Street either side of it. The Stricklin Hotel, 317 North Court Street, is a boutique property in a restored downtown building a third of a mile from campus; no room count was confirmed on its site or in a directory, so none is stated. The Hampton Inn & Suites Florence-Downtown, 505 South Court Street, is three minutes away with 88 rooms over five floors per HotelGuides.

Across town on the east side, the Residence Inn, 1000 Sweetwater Avenue, has 110 suites with kitchens, seven minutes from campus.

None of the three publishes a commencement-specific minimum stay, prepayment or cancellation rule, and none is claimed here. No UNA hotel list could be read for this page.

Tentative, in the university’s own words

UNA’s catalog calendar gives commencement two days each term: “May 7 Friday - Close of term; Commencement Program” and “May 8 Saturday - Close of term; Commencement Program” for Spring 2027; “December 11 Friday” and “December 12 Saturday” for Fall 2026. All four weekdays check. Then, under each term: “All dates contained in this calendar are tentative and subject to change without prior notice.”

That sentence sets the rule for this cluster. Book rooms you can cancel without penalty, and do not prepay. The university has told you the date may move; believe it.

Which day is yours is not published

The calendar lists both days without saying which colleges or degree levels walk on the Friday and which on the Saturday. UNA’s commencement page, which would, returned a server error on every check for this site, and the registrar’s pages that did load cover regalia, passes and diplomas rather than the schedule. Until the schedule reaches your graduate, the safe booking is Thursday and Friday nights, cancellable, releasing one when you know. The ceremony weekend logistics page records what could be read about the venue.

Seven passes, and no seat without one

From the registrar’s FAQ, read on 20 September 2026: “Graduates are allowed a maximum of 7 guests. 7 digital guest passes will be issued to each graduate via their UNA email account from Glitnir Ticketing. All guests must have a digital pass to be seated.” Young children who can sit on an adult’s lap do not count and do not need a pass.

The Shoals first, then an hour

Muscle Shoals, 11 minutes south across the Tennessee River, has the Shoals’ main chain hotel cluster and is the first overflow. After that the ring is an hour out: Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, 53 minutes north on US-43, small; Athens, 62 minutes east at I-65; Decatur, 67 minutes, a city of 58,000 with a full hotel base, for families arriving from Huntsville or Birmingham.

Drive times are off-peak road routes computed on 20 September 2026, not measured journeys. No availability series has been run for any of them.

Not claimed here

No venue, because no page that loaded names one outright. No day-by-college split, because the commencement page was unreachable. No availability count, because none was measured. No graduate count, because UNA does not publish one on the pages read. No room count for the Stricklin, because none was confirmed.