Graduate State College
As many of you know, Hilton Honors has been fairly active the past few years in adding brands to the program’s portfolio – not that the chain’s unique there. I quit keeping up with that arms race years ago. But occasionally, a new brand grabs me, and I bookmark it for later. Graduate Hotels is one such example, and I just got around to experiencing one a few weeks back. While in Central Pennsylvania for a family event, my family and I spent two nights at Graduate State College (previously the Atherton Hotel). Today, I summarize our experience and consider future options with the brand.
Booking
In my opinion, perhaps the biggest positive of Hilton Honors adding Graduate Hotels is one more option for booking on points in college towns, areas which don’t necessarily offer a plethora of hotel award alternatives. State College is relatively stacked here, though, with two Hampton Inns, a Hilton Garden Inn, Tapestry Collection property, and Graduate. We were fine booking with two certs approaching expiration. The nightly points rate for our timeframe was 70k; booking with cash started in the mid-$200’s neighborhood.
Highlights
The Room
We received our booked two-queen room at check-in. I didn’t bother asking for a Hilton Honors Gold elite upgrade. We had a busy schedule during this trip and wouldn’t be spending a ton of time in the property. Plus, for whatever reason, I was more intrigued to experience an entry-level room at a Graduate property.
It turns out the room – perhaps the most important part of this and many other stays – is where I give Graduate State College the highest grade. Based on my desktop research, Graduate rooms, like the brand’s overall decor, are fairly busy. A design offering competing plaids isn’t something I actively pursue. But entering our room, we felt immediately comfortable. My wife mentioned the room was cozy – without a hint of sarcasm. But after a long day out, perhaps she wasn’t as discerning, anyway.
A handy bench welcomed us at entry, followed by a closet (with a door!). A variety of functional lighting brought out the room’s decor and color. Beds were plush, and light fixtures offered handy charging options. The desk sat adjacent to the large TV; the chair wasn’t as comfortable as it looked. HVAC unit was an old-school one controlled under the room’s window, something I didn’t expect from this level of property. Or maybe I just need more Graduate stick time. One thing is for sure – Graduate leans into the bit. Penn State colors and flare were all over the room: “we are” pillows, ice cream wallpaper in the bathroom shouting out Berkey Creamery, a Nittany Lion lamp, etc. Plus, alum Ty Burrell was taunting me in the hallway (see the end).
The bathroom at entry was serviceable and bright enough. Bathroom facilities were similarly adequate. Shower pressure was ample, but toilets seemed borderline. The room came with three sets of towels for our family of four. Luck was with me, though – as I exited the room to obtain more, a housekeeper walked by and happily filled my request.
Food and Beverage
Leading up to the visit, I didn’t have high expectations from Trophy Room, the hotel’s restaurant, but I was nonetheless intrigued. How would it compare to less distinctive but reliable options at Hilton Garden Inn and Embassy Suites?
The restaurant, adjacent to the front desk, was a bit snug. Perhaps compensating for the tight quarters, I was surprised at the limited amount of tables. Up front, Trophy Room sports a fridge case for takeaway drinks and small bites, tacitly encouraging people to grab and GTFO.
We had breakfast at Trophy Room our first morning, a longer-than-planned endeavor. The menu is small, with just a handful of entrees – oddly missing a traditional breakfast – and an a la carte selection. My wife opted for avocado toast, and my kids and I cobbled together breakfast with eggs, toast, and potatoes from the a la carte menu. My wife’s entree was unremarkable, while our eggs were overdone. Hard-to-screw-up potatoes and toast were fine. The weak coffee was hot and inexpensive. A shot of espresso solved that the second morning, when we decided to otherwise skip the breakfast. At the risk of stating the obvious, I rank Hilton Garden Inn and Embassy Suites breakfasts higher than Trophy Room.
More fitting of the environment, anyway, many are probably better off just treating Trophy Room like an evening drinking hole and sleeping in.
Service
We skipped the second morning’s breakfast at Trophy Room because it’s a time-suck. In our experience the restaurant front-of-house is clearly understaffed, while the kitchen seems inexplicably deliberate. Throughout our stay, we only saw a single waiter/bartender working at any given time in Trophy Room, sprinting between the bar, floor, and the kitchen. We waited about 30 minutes for our fairly small breakfast order. And the restaurant wasn’t exactly slammed. I recall only one other table was occupied for most of our time in the restaurant. Still, the hustling waitress was pleasant and accommodating. She needs more help, including from the kitchen.
Front desk agents matched the college vibe of the hotel, not necessarily a good thing. On each visit to the front desk, workers looked up from their textbooks or phones. I was interrupting them, apparently. When it came to hotel amenities and policies, I had to pull information out of them, rather than them volunteering anything useful. Still, they covered the absolute basics without a word wasted. Most importantly, the Hilton elite food and beverage credit accurately applied to the folio without my intervention. That’s a low bar, but I’m fishing for positives.
Conclusion
We booked Graduate State College because we considered it the most intriguing points hotel option in the area. My own curiosity about the overall brand played into this, as well. But this experience isn’t encouraging us to actively seek out another stay at this or any other Graduate Hotel. In my opinion, the 70k points nightly rate is clearly inflated, something that’s becoming unwelcomingly common with Hilton Honors properties. We enjoyed our room, but that’s not enough for that amount of points. While we used expiring certs, burning them here is probably a waste to travelers with other wants and needs. While rates have increased seemingly everywhere, I’m confounded that this property somehow charges the same nightly points rate that Conrad Los Angeles did about eight months ago. The Graduate State College hardly passes.
