Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Graduate
Graduate hotels
College-town hotels turn campus lore and local traditions into playful rooms and gathering places.
Graduate is the college-town hotel brand Ben Weprin and AJ Capital started in 2014. The first hotels were in Athens, Georgia, and Tempe, Arizona. Hilton bought the brand in 2024 and AJ kept the buildings. The atlas files six houses, from Oxford and Annapolis to Fayetteville, Cincinnati, Providence, and Dallas.
6 Graduate hotels in 1 country on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by Hilton
- Worldwide: 35 open hotels, about 5,900 rooms, in the United States and the United Kingdom. The atlas files six: Fayetteville, Oxford, Annapolis, Cincinnati, Providence, and Dallas.
- On the atlas: 4 Accessible Luxury, 2 Near Luxury
History
Graduate is the college-town hotel brand Ben Weprin and AJ Capital started in 2014. The first hotels were in Athens, Georgia, and Tempe, Arizona. Hilton bought the brand in 2024 and AJ kept the buildings. The atlas files six houses, from Oxford and Annapolis to Fayetteville, Cincinnati, Providence, and Dallas.
Timeline
- 2014 — Graduate launches. Hilton's story page names Graduate Athens and Graduate Tempe as the first two. AJ says the platform was founded that year.
- 2015 — Graduate by Hilton Oxford is dated 2015 in the atlas, 136 rooms.
- 2019 — Graduate by Hilton Fayetteville is dated 2019 in the atlas, 234 rooms.
- 2020 — Graduate by Hilton Cincinnati is dated 2020 in the atlas, 203 rooms.
- 2024 — On 14 March Hilton agrees to acquire the brand for $210 million. The deal was expected to close in the second quarter. AJ remains the owner of the real estate.
The houses to know
- Graduate Dallas, Dallas, United States — Dallas oilman Tim Headington turned this 1963 Hillcrest Avenue motel, directly across from Southern Methodist University, into the 93-room Hotel Lumen boutique in 2012, with a rooftop terrace over SMU and the Park Cities.
- Graduate by Hilton Annapolis, Annapolis, United States — Before it became a hotel, the Powerhouse building at Graduate Annapolis generated electricity for the city's streetcar line, then spent decades as a dairy plant and a bus company garage.
- Graduate by Hilton Providence, Providence, United States — Graduate by Hilton Providence in Providence, United States
- Graduate by Hilton Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States — Graduate by Hilton Cincinnati joined the brand in 2020 after a $25 million renovation, on the University of Cincinnati campus at 151 Goodman Street.
- Graduate by Hilton Oxford, Oxford, United States — Graduate Oxford opened in 2015 on The Square, replacing the old Downtown Inn with 136 rooms shaped around Ole Miss lore.
- Graduate by Hilton Fayetteville, Fayetteville, United States — Razorback nostalgia, reclaimed wood, and vintage furniture animate this 234-room high-rise by Fayetteville's downtown square.
Newest openings
- None of the open houses filed in the atlas carry a 2024 or later date.
Opening next
- Hilton's March 2024 release named hotels then opening soon in Austin, Dallas, Auburn, and Princeton. AJ later said Princeton and Auburn were soon to open, and that it still owns the real estate of 33 hotels.
Every Graduate hotel on the atlas
United States
- Graduate by Hilton Annapolis — Annapolis · Accessible Luxury
- Graduate by Hilton Cincinnati — Cincinnati · Accessible Luxury
- Graduate by Hilton Providence — Providence · Accessible Luxury
- Graduate Dallas — Dallas · Accessible Luxury
- Graduate by Hilton Fayetteville — Fayetteville · Near Luxury
- Graduate by Hilton Oxford — Oxford · Near Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Graduate's full dossier, with prices and maps.