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With the start of classes at the University of Maryland, College Park this week, thousands of freshmen will begin life without parents nearby for the first time by moving into dormitory buildings where resident assistants keep a watchful eye over them.

But some of those students have opted out of the traditional dormitory experience of living in a single, bland room with a stranger and sharing a bathroom with 20 other people, in exchange for luxury apartments with private rooms, bathrooms and a full kitchen.

Students moved into the Towers at the University Town Center in Hyattsville last week in preparation for the first day of class Tuesday at UMD. A majority of the 910 resident students in the Towers attend UMD; students from 11 area universities and colleges live in the buildings.

The two-year-old Towers are one part the University Town Center, project spokeswoman Catherine Timko said. The 56-acre project also includes condominiums and office buildings and a number of retail and restaurant businesses slated to open in the coming months.

The Towers have a number of amenities such as a gym and lounge with numerous flat screen televisions, pool tables and leather couches—a far cry from a typical dormitory lounge equipped only with a television, small couches and a microwave.

But the difference in quality means paying double the price. Residents at the Towers sign year-long leases and on average pay $897 a month for 12 months, totaling about $10,760. A standard dorm room costs $672 a month for eight months, totaling about $5,370.

On-campus housing wasn't available to 19-year-old freshman Kenny Horton, who was accepted into UMD late. He said other options in College Park weren't as appealing as the Towers.

"My dad said I've got it made here," he said. "I'd much rather be here than in the dorm."

Horton's biggest draw to the Towers wasn't amenities such as a gym, but rather the private bedroom and bathroom he wouldn't have in a dorm, he said.

Roommate Kevin Breslin, a 17-year-old student in the Freshman Connections program, agreed. The program allows students who applied late to the University of Maryland to take classes on campus and officially enroll once spots open in the freshmen class. Freshman Connections students can't live on campus.

Breslin didn't like the other off-campus housing options, mainly houses and apartments, in College Park. The View, a comparable student apartment complex in College Park, is closed to freshmen this year.

Most of the residents on Breslin's floor are in the same program as he is, so he won't miss out on the freshman experience of meeting new people, he said.

Not all of the residents are learning about life on their own for the first time. American University graduate student Jonelle Williams, 24, moved to the Towers in 2007 when he couldn't find a comparable apartment in Washington, D.C. He commutes into the city with his car, but his classmates wondered why he would move so far from campus.

"It's an up-and-coming area that people don't really know about," he said. "I think it's going to follow a similar path as downtown Silver Spring."

A movie theater opened last summer, and Carolina Kitchen and Gifford's Ice Cream opened this summer. Five restaurants—Old Dominion Brewpub, Tokyo Sushi, Salad Creations, Mongolian Grill and The Original SoupMan—are projected to open in September, Timko said.

E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.