Like the suites in Blacksburg's Holiday Inn University enough to buy one?

Now's your chance. By the start of the Virginia Tech football season, at least part of the hotel at the corner of University City Boulevard and Prices Fork Road will be converted into a hotel-condo.

Shivon Dosky, a managing partner with Collegiate Inn Properties, said the development firm is taking reservations from people willing to pay $119,900 to $129,900 (plus $15,000 to $20,000 for furniture) to purchase an upgraded hotel room.

Collegiate Inn Properties is partnering with current hotel owners to convert and sell the condos.

Forty of the condos have been reserved thus far, and Dosky said work will begin to upgrade one building's worth of rooms once he receives eight more reservations.

The hotel will be converted into condos one building at a time, and Dosky estimated all 148 rooms will be renovated and sold this year.

In the meantime, the Holiday Inn will continue to operate as-is.

The hotel-condo concept aims to "provide sports enthusiasts a convenient venue for socializing, lodging and the enjoyment of a unique real estate opportunity," according to Collegiate Inn Properties' Web site.

Aimed particularly at Virginia Tech alumni who make regular, short-stay trips to Blacksburg, the facility will have a rental program that enables the condos to be rented as hotel rooms when not in use.

"We expect the vast majority of people who purchase them will opt for the rental management program and, as a result, guests will have the exact same inventory they have to choose from as they do now," Dosky said. "The only difference being during certain events, like football games, generally the owners will be staying here."

The amenities, for both guests and condo-owners, will be typical of traditional hotels, from access to room service and housekeeping to seats at the restaurant and lounge. Baby-sitting, pre- and post-game day activities and game day transportation will also be available.

While hotel-condos have made their mark in popular vacation markets such as Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas, they are a relatively new addition for Blacksburg.

Attempts to target wealthy, out-of-town alums, however, are not.

Game-day condo-conversions hit the town's real estate market in 2005 with the Cascades Condominiums off Ellett Road, and in September, developer Steve Hill said he was hoping to market some of the apartments in his Clay Court development as "alumni crash pads."

To appeal to a similar demographic, the Holiday Inn condos will be billed as luxury units, complete with 42-inch LCD televisions, granite counter tops, luxury bedding and high-speed Internet access.

According to a news release, Dosky and partner Kirk Johnson expect to invest more than $3.5 million in property upgrades.