Even though Spring Quarter graduation is still more than 10 weeks away, the families of many seniors are finding it to be the 11th hour in their search for lodging and dining accommodations for graduation weekend.

Several local hotels are already completely booked or nearly full for the June 11-12 weekend, and some restaurants are imposing special conditions on their reservation policies. Graduation weekend is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for Santa Barbara due to the influx of families and friends of the thousands of graduating seniors. Reservations for hotels and popular restaurants can run out as early as January, making it necessary for many seniors to start planning for graduation more than six months in advance.

Greg Durante, a guest service representative at the Best Western South Coast Inn, located on Fairview Avenue, said all available rooms for the weekend were reserved months ago.

“We are completely booked for graduation weekend,” Durante said. “We started selling rooms on January 17 at 9 a.m. and we were sold out by 9:20.” Durante said the hotel started getting phone calls for reservations right after spring graduation last year.

“We told everyone who called to call back on January 17, and that’s when we sold out,” he said.

Durante said graduation weekend is the next busiest weekend of the year for Santa Barbara after the Fourth of July and Old Spanish Days Fiesta.

“It’s not as crazy as those other weekends because there are a lot of parents and grandparents, not out-of-town partiers,” Durante said.

Carley Wong, a guest service representative at Hotel Andalucia, a new hotel located on the corner of Carrillo and Chapala streets in downtown Santa Barbara, said space for graduation weekend visitors is running out.

“We started taking reservations months before we opened in December,” Wong said. “We are not completely sold out yet, but it will definitely be a busy weekend for us.”

Benjamin Ly, the front office manager at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, said the resort is also almost filled for the weekend.

“About 75 percent of our 360 rooms are booked,” Ly said. “People have been calling since last July and August, and now about half of our daily reservation calls are for graduation weekend.”

Ly said he recommends that future graduates try to finalize their graduation weekend plans well in advance.

The Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel in Montecito will also be offering special accommodations for graduates and their families.

“We are accepting a lot of large parties and are providing special menus for large parties,” said Kelli Coleman, a hostess at the Biltmore’s restaurant. “We have a lunch buffet on Saturday for graduation, and reservations are booking quickly on a daily basis.”

In addition to the influx of guests created by graduation, Coleman said the resort will be busy with regular guests.

“It is a peak weekend for summer as well, and we are at full capacity for the week,” she said.

Jamie Jacobson, manager at the Brewhouse restaurant downtown, said Santa Barbara restaurants are also gearing up for the weekend.

“We started taking reservations in September,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson said graduation weekend has been a busy time for the Brewhouse during the seven years that the restaurant has been in business. He said the restaurant is offering special menus for parties over 15, and is also requiring deposits for large groups that can only be refunded if the reservations are cancelled more than a week in advance.

Many restaurants are placing restrictions on reservations for the weekend or are not offering them at all. Kelly Lack, a server at the Beachside Bar-Caf