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Diving certificate:
- The newest location of the lifestyle brand Graduate Hotels has opened its doors in Princeton, New Jerseysaid Hilton.
- The hotel chain, which specializes in college towns, renovated a historic former dormitory across from the current Princeton University campus. The 180-room property features nods to the university’s history and is decorated throughout in the orange and white colors of the Princeton Tigers.
- Hilton is expanding the brand as part of its broader lifestyle offensive to Acquisition of Graduate earlier this year. Former President of Graduate Hotels Kevin Osterhaus now leads the growth of Hilton’s lifestyle portfolio as the company’s newly appointed president of global lifestyle brands.
Diving insight:
The opening of Graduate Princeton was originally planned for December, but has been postponed several times due to “structural issues,” according to the Daily Princetonian. A Hilton spokesperson did not respond to a request from Hotel Dive about the delays.
Graduate’s founding firm, AJ Capital Partners, restored the colonial-style building in collaboration with architectural firm Stonehill Taylor, the press release said. The building includes 6,000 square feet of public space as well as a bar and restaurant, Ye Tavern.
Graduate Princeton is the first new hotel in Princeton in nearly 90 years and the second ever in the historic downtown area, the press release said. The hotel’s opening nearly doubles the number of available hotel rooms in the city, the press release said.
In a statement, Osterhaus said the property was “an excellent example of how the brand honors the unique stories of these neighborhoods and celebrates the passion and nostalgia that guests and fans feel when they walk through the doors of our hotels.”
“Princeton was at the top of our list” for Graduate Hotels when the brand launched 10 years ago, said Ben Weprin, founder of the hotel chain and CEO of AJ Capital Partners.
AJ Capital Partners will remain the owner of the hotel properties following Hilton’s $210 million brand acquisition.
In June, Hilton announced plans Doubling the lifestyle portfolio to 700 hotels within the next four years – a goal that takes into account brand acquisitions, including Graduate, that have “positioned the company to further accelerate growth in the lifestyle category,” the company said in a press release.
Hilton also Acquisition of the luxury lifestyle brand NoMad At the beginning of the year. And the company’s partnership with the boutique collection Small Luxury Hotels of the World 400 hotels added to Hilton’s platforms in the second quarter of this year.
Hotel companies are To increase the scope, we resort to brand acquisitions – and loyalty memberships – quickly, experts told Hotel Dive last month.
