Graduate Storrs

Perhaps the purest example of an American college town, Storrs, Connecticut was literally put on the map by the establishment of the school that would eventually become the University of Connecticut. It should come as no surprise, then, to see the Graduate Storrs decked out in Huskies navy, white, and gray — nor, indeed, to find it not near but right on campus, on Bolton Road, amid dormitory complexes and academic buildings.

In typical Graduate style, the interiors are adorned with visual references to the school and the state of Connecticut, from classic New England plaids to references to the university’s first-rate basketball program — if you arrive in athletic shoes, you’ll hear the telltale squeak of the lobby’s basketball-court flooring. Rooms come packed with plenty more Huskies imagery, as well as wallpaper depicting various Connecticut-specific collegiate scenes, plus small boutique-hotel comforts like Malin + Goetz bath products.

And in a Graduate hotel, the social life is as important as the accommodations; there’s a Poindexter café, for breakfast and coffee in a self-consciously studious environment, as well as the Trophy Room, a restaurant and bar that does double duty as a shrine to UCONN basketball