Graduate by Hilton Princeton

I absolutely LOVED this place! The location could not be better and more convenient. And it is the perfect Princeton hotel. It leans into this relationship with a wink but still maintains a high level of taste. Bar was vibrant (I feel like a hotel bar says everything about a hotel). Even better, the cocktail program was smart and spanned the ages of graduating classes and drink styles. So smart AND so delicious. The wallpaper in the workout room was bespoke Princeton in a "Captain Underpants" graphic style. And the notepads in the rooms mimicked canteen test sheets & were accompanied by #2 pencils. Again, made me smile. Would definitely recommend. That said, I imagine in a place where when crowds come they really come...this will not always be an easy stay to secure.

We recently stayed one night before Xmas and had the most wonderful stay. The property is located right on the high street in Princeton, easy to find. It’s absolutely gorgeous and the attention to detail and history is just incredible. We loved the atmosphere and especially the Xmas decorations. The bar and restaurant is lovely and the staff extremely friendly. The room was gorgeous and cosy, great power shower and useful amenities. Princeton town is also lovely with cute shops and just right by the university. I highly recommend this hotel and would love to come back for a visit!

The hotel has an interesting design, but unfortunately, our stay had some major disappointments. The most frustrating issue was with valet parking. Despite booking the Presidential Suite—the most expensive room—and notifying the hotel in advance about parking, we were told upon arrival that the valet lot was full. This forced us to find parking elsewhere, which was highly inconvenient given the freezing weather and our luggage. For such a high-priced room, parking should have been reserved for us. The room itself was okay, though the motion-activated bathroom lights were a poor design choice. They turned on at full brightness every time we entered, which was especially unpleasant in the middle of the night. Breakfast was also underwhelming, with very limited options and no non-pork meat available. Service was slow, adding to the disappointment. Overall, while the design of the hotel is appealing, the experience fell short of expectations for the price point.

This is a hotel that has lots of unrealized potential. I really wanted to like it, but I was disappointed. However, several of the things that were disappointing can be rectified by the management. First, the pros - - great location, efficient valet, help with the luggage. The lobby is beautiful. We had breakfast at the hotel 3 times and it was always delicious and service was very good (thank you Juan). The towels were great, the beds comfortable and the bathroom products first class.||Now, the problems with the hotel. First, the rooms are tiny and dark. They have a WOW factor, but the interior designer seems to have ignored function. We booked a 2 queen bed room because it was larger than a king bed room. But, the room was simply too small for 2 queen beds. One of the beds should be removed. The room would be much more comfortable with only one bed. Then, perhaps, a chair could be added to the room. And, at least one piece of furniture that is in the room is useless. The nightstand between the 2 beds is bulky but has no storage space. Neither the drawer not the cabinet section open! ||Second, something has to be done about the closet in the room. The closet does not have a door! Rather it is covered with a curtain! So, it doesn't to have a light and it is very dark. But, the worst part of it is that more than half the floor space of the closet is taken up by a refrigerator that has a safe on top of it. So, no place to put winter boots or 2 pairs of shoes! And, you better bring clothes with you that are very short so that they do not rest on the safe. Moreover, there does not seem to be any reason to have the refrigerator in the room. It is not a mini bar and had only 2 cans of water in it. If the management wants to leave water for the guests, put it on the desk or night stand like other hotels (the Ritz Carlton for example)..||Also, there are several amenities that are missing from the room. No luggage rack (probably because it would not fit in the closet), no robes, no slippers and no coffee machine (like a Keurig). Instead of a coffee machine there is an electric kettle for heating water and packets of instant coffee. Even The Residence Inn does not have instant coffee in the rooms!||Lastly, I would make one other suggestion. The hotel should consider taking some of the connecting rooms and turning them into suites. The double queen bedroom could stay as it is and the connecting room could be a sitting room. Then, it would not matter that he bedroom is so small.||I would like to stay at this hotel again. Hopefully next time that I look at the hotel website, it will indicate that some of these changes have been made.

The Graduate hotel is brand new in Princeton. Great Hilton experience. Love the new hotel. Great lounge, restaurant and bar. Food and drinks very inique. Special thank you to Brayan, Scott and all the bartenders during my stay. Definitely will be back next time in the area.

We’re in Princeton for a pit stop on our way north for the holidays. The hotel was festively decorated and buzzing with excitement. Despite being very busy, the gentleman at the front desk, Brayam, was very kind and extremely helpful. ||The room was impeccably clean and nicely appointed. The on the second floor, we could not hear any noise from the street below. ||We’re so happy this hotel is here. I’m confident that we will be making this our regular spot to stop on our way north.

The room is bigger than normal, very clean. No odor. Bed is king size and comfortable along with the pillows. Mr. Brayan who checked as in was also very pleasant and polite. Only thing missing was some bottled water that was available from other hotels we checked into in the past. We recommend this hotel if you are booking in the Princeton New Jersey area.

Great service. Food and drinks were excellent. The bartenders know their stuff. Room was clean and comfortable. |Would definitely recommend. If you don’t stay, at least stop in to have a drink and a bite. Or just stop in to take a look at the lobby.

We stayed here in October 2024, and it was the best sleep I have had in years! It was so quiet and the bedding was just right. The pillow was soft and mattress was the perfect level of firmness. The shared library-themed area was perfect for days when you need to work from the hotel. They should be offering free coffee at this price point, instead I walked outside and went to the nearby cafe. I visited The Graduate by Hilton hotel in Providence, Rhode Island and it was nothing like this one, everything was shabby at the other location.

I have to admit, after it took an eternity to build this gilded throwback to the devil may care opulence of the Roaring Twenties, the result is pretty damn impressive. Bathed in dark wood and even darker pricing. you'll just feel like lighting up an embargoed Cuban and foreclosing on something or someone. Honestly, it's a cross between Speakeasy chic and The Overlook bar from Kubrick's The Shining. Princeton was founded by Quakers but I doubt you'll be seeing any of their descendants here, Conrad Hilton would approve and will be smiling down relishing the lack of Riff or Raff. Have a cocktail at the bar and soothe your battered checkbook and wonder why any of the other econobox hotels along Route 1 just won't cut it no matter how many free microwavable omelets you can nuke on high. I'll give it five stars for execution but I'll be back in six months or so to see if my optimism was misplaced, Is that Mrs. Robinson I see in the corner nursing a Gimlet?

Wow! The entire hotel is beautiful ! It is warm, welcoming, well thought out. The entire staff that I had contact with was genuinely kind, and gracious ( Ben, Henry, Scott, Amanda, I can't remember the front desk team names but absolutely incredible) We ran into a housekeeping member and he was so alive with his good morning! The drinks at the bar were incredible, really good drinks! The guest rooms, were cleaned, well stocked, super soft towels, great soaps, shampoos, air conditioning was working well! Almost sound proof rooms, darkening curtains between the temperature and the curtains it was a great nights sleep! We will be back!

honestly, I would skip the bar and restaurant because it's just OK and the drinks are kind of inconsistent. However, the service is immaculate. overall, this hotel, though is beautiful, and there is an excessive amount of details into the experience that was curated there they give you a student ID as your hotel key, there is a Scantron notepad and a number two pencil in the room, the lamps and decoration are very beautiful. They also have these vintage jackets in the lounge area. Lastly, they play live music at night. That is amazing. I would 100% stay here again, but I would recommend they invest the same level of experience into their restaurant.

Another lovely stay...but another hiccup with the request for a non-allergenic room. Shouldn't be so hard...!!

This place is so beautiful! It feels like you're in the middle of NYC. It's a really perfect place for a date or even just to catch up on some work. I will say there weren't many vegetarian options but I tried the pub potatoes and the pretzel bites which were both pretty good. I didn't get a chance to try the drinks but will definitely be back

This hotel was a total miss for me. My partner and I went for a two night birthday stay. I knew immediately that we had booked the wrong venue. I stood in line at the registration desk and was stared at. No smile. No "how may I be of assistance?" Absolutely no greeting. The person behind the desk looked young like she had just graduated college. I literally had to walk up and say I would like to check in please as I have a reservation. No assistance with luggage. There are Princeton students lounging about at the bar and coffee shop area all day and all night doing homework or meeting in groups. I loved my college experience and understand that it is across the street from the university, but the amount of students utilizing this hotel as a personal study carrel does not make it a relaxing or elegant lobby experience. The hotel lobby is beautiful and adorned in wood panel. A room with a king size bed was mostly clean and stylish, although very small. The bathroom had a wonderful fountain shower waterhead which saved the entire dismal get away. The absolute worst part was housecleaning. No housecleaning came. I called up once and requested it. We came back around 4 pm and still no housekeeping. My partner knew that I was getting upset and spoke to the front desk. They assured him that they would send someone up and so did the robot who texted me checking on my hotel experience. Still nothing. The only reason we finally got housecleaning is because we flagged someone down near our room. They cleaned it grumpily. On check out day at 9 am sharp there was aggressive pounding and screaming on all the doors (including ours) that they needed to clean the rooms. We ignored them. Check out was at 11 am. While the hotel is stylish, the service is slow, rude, and very very unfriendly. That would be fine for a motel or a 1 star hotel but not a place that I spent $700.00 for two nights. The price does not justify the horrific service. On check out we were once again not greeted by the front desk. I am dumbfounded that customer service was so terrible. I will never come back here again and suggest you don't either. I have stayed at motels and one star hotels and bed and breakfasts with much friendlier and polite staff. They need to train better or significantly lower their costs.

Absolutely stunning hotel right in the heart of Princeton! As a Diamond Hilton member, I've stayed in everything from modest Hilton Garden Inns in Atlanta to the opulent Conrad in Las Vegas, so I know a thing or two about hotel experiences. And this place? It's a gem! Let's address the elephant in the room--yes, the food can be pricey and somewhat average. But honestly, that's pretty standard across many hotels, even at top-tier spots like the Conrad. So, it's not a dealbreaker. What really stood out was the exceptional service. Scott at the front desk was a superstar! His warmth and attention made our first stay memorable, and the fact he remembered my name throughout our visit was a thoughtful touch that made a big difference. My son, an upperclass Princeton student, was thrilled to see Princeton memorabilia, especially from his eating club, "Cap and Gown." We snapped tons of photos and adored how the Princeton spirit was woven throughout the hotel and into our rooms. Speaking of rooms, ours had a chic dark theme and incredibly powerful showers--definitely a highlight for me. Comfortable beds made our stay even better. As a Diamond member, we got a $30 food and beverage credit, which we used for breakfast. The avocado toast was on the pricey side at $13, but my breakfast sandwich for $8 was a steal--hot, delicious, and perfectly made. Peter, the lone server, handled everything with grace and efficiency. We're coming back in two weeks with our daughter, who just started college at NYU. Can't wait to relive the Princeton experience and create more amazing memories!

The shower is NOT HOT. I've had hotter water in a swimming pool, but they refuse to make it hotter than 100. Plugging in your devices is a challenge, and that is the one thing that should be the most useful part of a hotel room, besides a hot shower. Leaving me a kettle with only instant decaf coffee where the only plug is in the bathroom is like a slap in the face, my very cold face thanks to your shower. Take your nanny state hotel and shove it up your shower head.

We tried the restaurant for lunch in The Graduate hotel for the first (and probably last) time. The decor and overall setting is fantastic - colorful, comfortable, full of local Princeton ambiance, and with lots of natural light. We had high hopes for lunch. While service was fine, the food was disappointingly forgettable. My husband ordered a turkey club on challah. He asked them to hold the avocado, but discovered after the first bite that it was mixed into the spread. We wiped it off. The roll wasn't challah - more like a small brioche bun which would have been nice too, but didn't impress. And the French fries were as my husband put it, like every other Marriott room service French fry. Nice looking, but not that hot, not that flavorful, and seemed a little stale to bite. I ordered the sweet potato chili. It was actually quite good. But seemed somehow incomplete. No side of bread like a cornbread, a teensy dollop of what I believe was sour cream but hard to tell. And served in a melamine orange bowl. Cheery, but more diner like than the atmosphere promised. Given the other options in Princeton, we'll steer clear of this place in the future. Just not worth our time.

Amazing bar downstairs, great atmosphere, good service, gives a new look to Princeton!

Very poor, slow service and limited menu with average food. Disappointing experience.

Hotel is beautiful , service is terrible. Room was cold. They said the heat was working but would only go up to 67. Restaurant is very small and table service is slow.

Imagine being this fancy and high class just to deliver awful, over priced food, and skimp cocktails. I assume they were built to make the nassau inn look better