To our Graduate Community, 

We’ve missed commemorating life’s big moments with you.

Since temporarily closing our doors in March, our team has remained committed to welcoming you and your families back into our hotels as quickly and safely as possible. With sincere gratitude, we are thrilled to announce that we are ready to come back to campus. Please read on to learn more about Graduate’s preparations for reopening and reuniting with our communities. 

Reopening Responsibly with Graduate Cares

The health and safety of our guests and associates will be at the forefront of Graduate’s homecoming experience:

• We’ve partnered with medical experts at the Cleveland Clinic and consumer products company Procter & Gamble to develop Graduate Cares – a new cleanliness program designed with industry-leading practices to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
• Graduate Cares will bring heightened end-to-end cleaning standards and safer guest-associate interaction guidelines to each Graduate Hotel.

Planning Your Return to Campus

Anticipating late summer road trips, fall move-in dates, and the sweet return of gameday weekends in all their glory, we are accepting reservations for stays.

• To allow time for all associates to be properly trained on Graduate Cares standards, our locations will reopen on a rolling basis.
• Additional information on hotel reopening efforts and dates can be found here — book your next stay and join us.

Building our Roster 

Even though we have not been able to welcome guests and associates for the past few months – we have not stopped grinding – not even for a second. Our team has tirelessly pushed forward with the development of thirteen new Graduate properties – including seven planned to open by the end of 2020.  Thanks to these efforts, our summer reopenings will be accompanied by several grand openings, which will be some of the most personal Graduate stories yet:

• First up is Graduate Knoxville — at my alma mater UT (go Vols!) – which will feature Peyton Manning’s Saloon 16. 
• Graduate Chapel Hill, opening in August, will feature an epic tribute to GOAT Michael Jordan's time at the University of North Carolina: a detailed reconstruction of his dorm room from 1983 – read our recent feature on ESPN here.
• We are preparing to open our second Graduate properties in the states of Arizona, Connecticut, and Ohio by late summer in the spirited communities of Tucson (University of Arizona), Storrs (University of Connecticut), and Cincinnati (University of Cincinnati).
• In New York City, Graduate Roosevelt Island on Cornell Tech’s campus will open as the first hotel on the island, providing guests with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline and the East River.
• In early fall, Graduate Evanston will open in our home state of Illinois, just steps away from Northwestern University and the shores of Lake Michigan.
• We are particularly proud to share that despite pandemic forces, the I PROMISE Village by Graduate Hotels remains on track for a July opening. The Village, which is a partnership between our philanthropic platform, Graduate Gives, and the LeBron James Family Foundation, will provide transitional housing, safety, and support for families of the Foundation’s groundbreaking I PROMISE School in Akron, Ohio – learn more about our partnership here.

The sense of pride, history, and culture in the towns we call home is profound, and we’re honored to very soon be a part of their stories once again. It is more clear now than ever that our communities, guests, and associates depend on us to provide backdrops for making memories at life’s defining moments.  We remain steadfast in our commitment to Graduate Hotels and look forward to safely welcoming you back to your campus. 

Here’s to our next chapter together and brighter days ahead.

We are all students,

Ben Weprin
Founder + CEO, Graduate Hotels