Graduate Ann Arbor

Where there’s a classic American college town, there’s a Graduate hotel. A captive audience and a typically collegiate tolerance for less-than-luxurious living conditions means most university-adjacent hotels are nothing to write home about, but these ones are different. Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, and the Graduate Ann Arbor is barely two blocks’ walk from the campus, in a mid-century tower that gives little indication of what sort of hotel is inside.

The answer: a stylized, idealized version of the nostalgic, eclectic digs we might have liked to have lived in during our own student years. Thanks to the building’s elevation, the rooms have some impressively far-ranging views, and what’s inside isn’t exactly hard on the eyes, either: think mid-century modernist retro, with color schemes that incorporate the classic Wolverines colors, maize and blue, as well as warm textures of tweed and natural wood.

Poindexter Coffee sets an appropriately studious tone, while the Allen Rumsey Cocktail Lounge is both a retro-themed bar and a supperclub-style restaurant, specializing in hearty American fare served in deep, cozy booths. If the college life had looked like this, there’s a very real chance we never would have bothered to graduate....