Hotel Engine Partner Spotlight: Graduate Hotels
Hotel Engine is proud to partner with the world’s leading hotel brands, offering a wide range of choices to meet the varied needs of traveling professionals. Each of our partners brings something unique to the world of business travel lodging — and this is definitely true of Graduate Hotels. Learn more about this one-of-a-kind hotel network and the charming experiences they provide for business and leisure travelers alike.
About Graduate Hotels
Graduate Hotels is a thoughtfully crafted collection of over 30 hotels across the United States, as well as two hotels in the United Kingdom. Situated in dynamic university towns, each location is lovingly curated to evoke local charm and collegiate culture.
Stays at Graduate Hotel properties are characterized by delightful décor, unparalleled comfort, and access to top-notch amenities. According to Abby Joyce, Director of Field Marketing at Graduate Hotels, “We want our guests to ask questions as they walk through our spaces and notice all the details and nods to local culture.”
Where You’ll Find Graduate Hotel Properties
From small towns to big cities, midwestern destinations to coastal metropolises, you’ll find Graduate Hotels in some of America’s most interesting locales. Every city or town that a Graduate Hotel property calls home has one thing in common: they’re all university towns, and share all the character, culture and quirkiness that come with proximity to these centers of higher learning.
College towns offer unique appeal to travelers of all types. They provide unbeatable access to attractions like great restaurants and bars, as well as cultural destinations like museums, theaters and music venues. Professional travelers can take advantage of amenities like conferencing spaces and business centers, and when they’re off the clock, they’ll find endless things to see and do — which can be a rarity in off-the-tourist-track destinations.
Welcoming Business Travelers
While firmly rooted in academia, Graduate Hotels recognize the value in catering to business clients. Due to the nature of hosting visitors to university towns, these hotels typically have plenty of weekday availability. They entice business travelers with meeting and event spaces (ranging from 1,000 to 32,000 sq. feet), complimentary Wi-Fi available in guest rooms, lobby areas and meeting spaces, and top-notch staff dedicated to providing a seamless experience for corporate clientele.
Graduate Hotels have done their homework and recognized that serving business travel clients is a win-win. As most of the network’s hotels are in proximity to hospitals (another bonus of calling college towns home), they’re a natural fit for travelers in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. And the uniquely charming experiences that every Graduate Hotel property supplies are the perfect choice for impressing prospective clients and satisfying employees on the go. The rigors of business travel pay off in spades with a hotel experience that’s anything but bland.
Graduate Hotels on the Future of Travel
COVID-19 has disrupted nearly every aspect of how we work, live, and connect— but Graduate Hotels see a bright future for travel. “We anticipate a fast and furious return to travel,” says Nicole Boughan, Director of Global Accounts and Business Development at Graduate Hotels, but she acknowledges that this doesn’t mean a return to the status quo. “The hospitality industry has had to become even more guest-focused over the past two years — from enhancing cleanliness and safety practices to increasing levels of customer service to ensure that travelers feel safe and appreciated at all times.”
It’s a challenge that the Graduate team has risen to with enthusiasm, embracing this new era for hospitality with a customer-obsessed attitude. The unique experiences that they have always strived to curate have become more meaningful than ever as they cater to guests who have spent most of the past two years stuck at home.
While business travel might have felt like more of an obligation in the past, it’s now a treat for workers to get out of the house, see a new place and connect face-to-face with colleagues and clients. “We are seeing business travelers looking to enhance their employees’ experience and provide extra special accommodations after two years of working from home and not having the in-person interactions of working in an office setting,” Boughan says.
Graduate Hotels + Hotel Engine
After a year of partnership, it’s clear that Graduate Hotels and Hotel Engine are a natural fit.
Hotel Engine helps the chain achieve their goals of welcoming more business travelers, bringing in more weekday business to round out the network’s typically weekend-heavy bookings. On the flip side, Graduate Hotels’ impressive portfolio supports Hotel Engine’s mission of connecting every business traveler with properties uniquely tailored to their needs — while allowing them to enjoy delightful stays in great locations at a discounted rate.
Interested in attracting more business travelers to your hotel? Get in touch with Hotel Engine today!
