AJ Capital Partners announced Monday it has acquired the Providence Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. The hotel will undergo a comprehensive renovation to convert to Graduate Providence by spring 2019. The 294-room hotel is located in downtown Providence near five universities: Brown University, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island College, Providence College and Rhode Island School of Design.
Situated in the geographic center of downtown Providence, the hotel boasts the most desirable location for lodging, proximate to the city’s healthcare hub, primary modes of transportation, 140,000-square-foot convention center and is within walking distance several restaurants, cultural venues, shops and galleries.
Created for travelers who seek memory-making journeys, Graduate Hotels are part of a well-curated, thoughtfully crafted collection of hotels that reside in the most dynamic, university-anchored cities across the country. Every property celebrates and commemorates the optimistic energy of its community, while offering an extended retreat to places that often played host to the best days of our lives. Locations include Ann Arbor, Mi.; Athens, Ga.; Berkeley, Ca.; Charlottesville, Va.; Lincoln, Ne.; Madison, Wi.; Oxford, Ms.; Richmond, Va and Tempe, Az., as well as Bloomington, In.; Columbus, Oh.; Iowa City, Ia.; Minneapolis, Mn.; New Haven, Ct.; Seattle, Wa.; and New York City’s Roosevelt Island as part of the Cornell Tech campus are slated to open in 2018 and 2019.
“We are thrilled to announced the acquisition of Providence Biltmore Hotel, marking our second entry into an Ivy League market,” says Tim Franzen, President of Graduate Hotels. “This property is perfectly positioned at the city’s epicenter, offering visitors convenient access to everything Providence has to offer, including its five universities. In turn, once transformed into Graduate Providence, we aim to offer locals a dynamic community-centric gathering space they can call their own.”
The renovation will touch all guestrooms, common areas, the hotel’s 18,500 square feet of flexible meeting and events space, and spa.
In celebration of the acquisition, Graduate Hotels recently announced they are in the midst of their inaugural tailgate tour, paying homage to the 1994 classic, Dumb & Dumber, which opens in the main characters’, Harry and Lloyd, hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. During the tour, the team will be traveling to four Graduate Hotels markets in a recreation model of the iconic Mutt Cutts mobile grooming van from the 90’s comedy to host pop-up tailgate experiences.
