Roommates & Housing Rant

I found out who my roommates are for grad school last week, and since then we've all been emailing back and forth to see who has what stuff for the apartment. It's a grad student apartment through the university, so it's all furnished- we just have to bring things like kitchen & bathroom supplies, cleaning things, etc. So far it seems like between the four of us, we have everything covered and won't need to buy anything, which is good. They also seem pretty cool, so I'm excited to meet them.

The thing that's getting me is that I have to be at school on August 18th for, but the housing officer told me I cannot move in on that day (the lease doesn't start until Aug 23rd). She said my room won't be ready yet, and she told me to get a hotel for that night and move in the next morning- which in the town where my school is, is not cheap. But when emailing with my roommates, I found out the one girl is allowed to move in on the 18th! I called housing yesterday just to check that there wasn't any mixup, and they confirmed that she will be moving in, but I still cannot. I realize that there is someone living in my room now, and not in hers, and my room needs to be cleaned first. But seriously, I don't see how checking in late the night before is going to be any different from checking in first thing the next morning. Check-in goes until 10pm- who is going to be cleaning my room at ten at night? Plus even if my room isn't totally clean by then, it's going to be my apartment, why can't I just come check in that night and sleep on the couch or something? I don't mind leaving my things in the car until the morning. I just want to avoid spending $80 on one night in a motel, when my extra rent for the whole week is only $88!