Graduate Hotel silently opens after several delays

After several delays, the Graduate Hotel in Princeton silently opened its doors to the public on Thursday, Aug. 1 without announcement. Its opening concludes a saga of delays and issues for Princeton’s newest hotel.

“I am no longer giving out a date just because it keeps getting away from me,” Michael Monarca, general manager of the Princeton Graduate Hotel, previously said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “What I will say is that I’m very comfortable saying that we will be open before the end of July.”

Monarca did not respond to a request for comment in time for the publication of this article.

The construction of the Graduate Hotel was initially scheduled to open in December 2023, but a series of delays, prompted by everything from structural issues to difficulties obtaining a liquor license, continued to push back the hotel’s opening to March, then May 2024. The hotel website now allows booking, starting with Aug. 1 and beyond.

In mid-July, the hotel website still listed the opening date as “Summer 2024,” and the first date available to book a hotel room was Aug. 15. But then, on July 31, Coach, Princeton’s Department of Public Safety dog announced the opening of the hotel in an Instagram post, confirming in the post that the hotel was “officially open for business.”

The side of the building facing Chambers Street, features a large sign reading “Graduate.” The Graduate Hotel is a part of a chain using the same name, which has locations across the country near universities.

Despite having no direct affiliation with the University, the Graduate Hotel lobby is filled with decor suggestive of Princeton branding from floor to ceiling: with orange and black tiles and tiger-printed couches. The hotel lobby resembles the Trustee Reading Room in Firestone Library, and the names of eating clubs have been engraved on wooden panels.

On the day of the opening, the hotel held a small gathering at its bar and restaurant, Ye Tavern. During dinner on Aug. 1, around 10 people sat at two tables in the restaurant, with one waiter working at the bar, but the rest of the space remained empty.

Five years in the making, the hotel boasts five floors containing a total of 180 rooms. Rooms start at $259 per night, according to the hotel’s booking site.

Hannah Gabelnick is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’

Chloe Lau is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’