Teams enter the Capitol Hill Volleyball Classic through a housing rule the event calls Stay and Play. A team must stay at an Approved Hotel with a reservation booked through the housing agent, THS, to be accepted into the tournament.
The Stay and Play FAQ defines an Approved Hotel as a hotel that contracts with the event, through THS, to offer rooms at a set price. The hotel sets that price when it signs the block.
Eighteen room nights are the entry ticket
Each team must book a minimum of eighteen room nights on a contract with THS at an approved hotel. Six rooms for three nights equals eighteen. The 2027 General Hotel Program document, updated August 20, 2026, repeats the figure as 6 rooms by 3 nights.
Three rules sit around that number. All room nights must run under a single USAV club code. Each reservation must be assigned to the team it serves. Reservations booked directly with a hotel, and rooms redeemed with reward points, do not count toward the eighteen.
The tournament runs February 13 to 15, 2027 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Allen Y. Lew Place NW. Those dates fall on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the Presidents Day weekend. The event page lists 122 courts and 968 teams across the 12s through 18s age groups, and entry costs $1,100 plus processing fees.
The compliance clock runs twenty-four hours
THS monitors the count. A reservation that falls below eighteen room nights triggers a call from THS and a 24 hour window to correct it. After that window the hotel contract and the tournament entry can be cancelled, and a financial penalty is required to regain acceptance. Deposits and entry fees already paid are non-refundable. A team that re-enters restarts the application process, and the new date sets its place in the acceptance order.
Four terms a family can still move
The property mix. The General Hotel Program states that teams are not required to stay at a single hotel, and reservations may sit at multiple Tournament Approved Hotels. A club that wants a cheaper property near a Metro stop can split the eighteen nights across two approved hotels.
The room count. Teams may reserve up to 15 rooms per night. A request above 15 needs prior approval from THS.
Who occupies the rooms. Rooms may be occupied by anyone affiliated with the team: players, parents, coaches, family members and other supporters. A grandparent who books inside the team block adds room nights to the count that decides acceptance.
The shape of the stay. Some downtown hotels may require a minimum three-night stay. A Friday arrival and a Tuesday departure covers the three nights the eighteen-night figure assumes. A Sunday arrival covers two. Ask THS which approved properties accept two nights and which enforce the three-night floor.
The Loyalty tier adds terms
Clubs that register eight or more girls teams can apply for the Loyalty Program. Each team contracts 33 room nights, which is 11 rooms for three nights. Each team must use at least 90 percent of the room nights it originally contracted.
Loyalty rules add terms to the general program. Each team keeps its own contract and block. Every room in the block carries a minimum three-night stay. A reservation made outside the contracted block does not count toward the requirement. Block cancellation is not permitted. Entry fees are non-refundable. Unpaid noncompliance fees must clear before the event opens, and the event states that matches can be forfeited until the balance is paid.
The application window opened and closed on October 1, 2026, with a 10 a.m. Eastern start and a 10 p.m. Eastern close. Teams in the 11 and Under divisions, and all boys divisions, sit outside the program.
What THS will confirm in writing
THS runs a lowest-rate guarantee as a price-match request. The lower rate must sit at a THS Partner Hotel, on the same room type and the dates THS contracted, for 4 or more rooms at single to quad occupancy. The guest sends the date the rate was found plus proof: written correspondence, or a screenshot showing the hotel address, dates, room type and rate. Prepaid and non-refundable rates, and rates on online travel agencies, do not qualify.
Three questions are worth the call. Which approved properties hold inventory for the arrival and departure the team wants. Who absorbs a change fee when a family moves a reservation inside the block. What the room-night count reads after one cancellation, since the count is the term that decides entry.
THS Housing Services answers at 908-979-0928, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern. The housing mailbox is CHVChotels@thsweb.com.
The published benchmark
No page on the event site, and neither 2027 housing document, prints a per-night block rate. The GSA per diem for Washington in February 2027 is $203 a night, excluding taxes. Eighteen room nights at that ceiling come to $3,654 before tax. That figure is the published benchmark to hold beside the THS quote.
One timing detail matters this month. The Loyalty window has closed. General Hotel Registration opens Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 10 a.m. Eastern. A club that wants a specific downtown property should be at the keyboard when that page opens.
The cost outside the contract
The Convention Center publishes no public parking. Over 3,000 spaces sit within a three-block radius in surface lots and garages, and Metrorail Green and Yellow line trains stop at Mt. Vernon Square. The Red Line station at Gallery Place-Chinatown is a five minute walk.
A family comparing two approved hotels should add the walk or the garage rate to the nightly figure before choosing between them. Ask THS for the nightly total at each property before the quote is accepted.
