Graduate Columbia, S.C.

Like all its siblings, the Graduate Columbia, S.C. blends collegiate nostalgia with local color, in this case the historic Southern charm of downtown Columbia, South Carolina. The colors are bright, and the patterns are bold — this is a town (and a region) in which the concept of minimalism holds very little attraction.

All of the Graduate hotels are convenient to the schools they serve, but this one is set on the campus itself, and it’s not just rather more luxurious than the typical campus hotel but remarkably unpretentious as well — it’s a pet-friendly hotel and bike rentals are complimentary, while boutique-hotel touches like Malin + Goetz bath products lend the style of a big-city operation.

The hotel’s restaurant, the Trophy Room, gives some indication of the centrality of collegiate athletics to Columbia’s student life; for obvious reasons the Graduate is in high demand on Gamecocks football home-game weekends, and guests appreciate the hotel’s close proximity to Williams-Brice stadium, which is just two and a half miles away.