Graduate Annapolis

Wherever there’s an American college town with a less-than-stellar hotel scene, there’s a Graduate hotel, either in the works or open for business. In Annapolis, Maryland, home of the United States Naval Academy and St. John’s College, that’s exactly the case — this fast-growing, niche-focused hotelier has taken over what was previously an attractive but undistinguished national chain hotel and transformed it into something distinctive, colorful, and impeccably tailored to its setting: the Graduate Annapolis.

In typical Graduate style its design, especially its color scheme, is dictated by its location: in this case the official blue and gold of the Naval Academy, and beyond that a pervasive maritime theme that pays homage to the famous Chesapeake Bay. The rooms, obviously, are both more playful and more luxurious than Navy cadet digs — Malin + Goetz bath products, for example, are not yet government-issue.

Here you’ll also be treated to breakfast sandwiches and espresso or cold brew at Poindexter Coffee, as well as Trophy Room, serving creative cocktails and “coastal eats” — which, in Maryland, tends to involve some of the tastiest crab around. And this is the heart of the Arts District, which means there’s more than Navy football and naval warfare on offer in the surrounding neighborhood....