Graduate by Hilton Iowa City

The staff at this location is remarkable! 5 ⭐️ from start to finish - can’t wait to return! Will be raving about this stay for weeks 👏🏼 If you are smart you’d eat at Wilder and get the Iowa Gold Burger and fries - my mouth is still watering…you’ll thank me later!

Our AC was broken due to our room location, I would advise avoiding rooms that are multiples of 100 (ours was 800) as they are apparently experiencing similar issues. Cleanliness and staff was good though!

Decorations, cleanliness and comfort made for a superb experience. Definitely glad we choose this hotel! Highly recommend.

Beware of The Graduate’s extremely misleading cancellation policy. It states: Reservation must be cancelled before 4 p.m. local hotel time 24 hours prior to arrival to avoid charge of 1 night room + tax My check in/arrival time was at 4 pm on Monday. I called to modify my reservation at 11 am on Sunday. That is obviously more than 24 hours before my arrival (it’s in fact 29 hours before my arrival). I was told I needed to cancel by Saturday and now I am stuck paying for a night plus taxes at the end of the stay I won’t use. Very disappointed and will not be staying here again. At least I won’t have to pay the $15 daily parking fee.

Booked The Graduate when bringing my son up to University of Iowa. Upon arrival, gentleman at front desk greeted us with a big smile and lots of energy. Was very helpful on pointing out options for dining in the area. The room was a standard hotel room. But, that is all I need. Two cans of water in the fridge for hydration (was nice in the middle of the night to have). Location is amazing. Easy walk to campus and restaurants and night life all within blocks. Would definitely stay here again.

I have stayed here a few times when I have attended the Iowa Writing Festival in the summer. It is consistently a wonderful experience. The front desk people are incredibly helpful and pleasant. They really engage and extend themselves. The housekeeping was impecable. I appreciated the cleanliness and the attention to detail. The decor is just genius... This is no other place to stay if you love the character and uniqueness of not feeling like you are staying in a chain. Love having the coffee shop and bar in the lobby and being central to the university and shops.

While the outside needs work, the hotel and restaurants are clean and comfortable. We felt safe and the staff was always helpful and friendly.

This hotel was carefully curated to reflect the town and famous people who are known for coming through it. Attention to detail was noted. Both the restaurant and coffee house had great selections as well. Wish I had more time in town—I would have taken advantage of the gym and the bikes.

Centrally located, adjacent to the pedestrian mall, Graduate is an interesting (quirky?) hotel in downtown Iowa City. My understanding is that the hotel is a rebirth of an older establishment, part of a chain that seems to focus on lo al educational institutions. The lobby is spacious, with nooks for gathering and sitting, and a central "library" where all the books and publications are shelved with the spine backwards (you can't see titles). I asked about this, and was told "you can't judge a book by its cover!" ... Ok, maybe they are not actually encouraging browsing? Our room as towards the top floors with a good view out over city opposite the pedestrian mall. The room was spacious and comfortable; a king bed an easy chair, desk and the usual furniture. Decoration was Upscale Student, so in keeping with the hotel's name and theme. There is an adjacent coffee shop, open till late afternoon, and bar-pub open about the same time the coffee place closes. In-Room coffee is a BIG disappointment: An electric kettle and some packets of Instant "Coffee" (hard to say, it was a bitter brown liquid, we did not even finish the 1st cup, never tried again). Even the No-Tell Motel does better on in-room coffee. (and note, we tended to go out on the pedestrian mall for your coffee and breakfast, see reviews, as the coffee shop was meh) Parking is available in the next-door municipal parking ramp. I would return to Graduate.