Graduate Nashville — Photo by AJ Capital Partners
Graduate Nashville — Photo by AJ Capital Partners
Graduate Nashville — Photo by AJ Capital Partners
Graduate Nashville — Photo by AJ Capital Partners
Graduate Nashville — Photo by AJ Capital Partners

The 205-key hotel is located at 101 20th Avenue North in Nashville's Midtown neighborhood on West End Ave, steps from Vanderbilt University and a short walk to the city's best entertainment on Lower Broadway. Graduate Nashville will feature three food and beverage concepts, opened in partnership with hospitality team Marc Rose and Med Abrous, and include Poindexter, Graduate Hotels' signature all-day café concept; Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole, a ground-level animatronic karaoke bar; and the forthcoming Miss Bessie's, a rooftop bar and restaurant with scenic city views.

Created for travelers who seek memory-making journeys, Graduate Hotels is a thoughtfully crafted collection of hotels that reside in dynamic university-anchored cities across the country. Each property celebrates and commemorates the optimistic energy of its community, while offering an extended retreat to places that often play host to the best days of our lives.

Design in the common spaces takes inspiration from both nearby Vanderbilt University and the diverse and inspiring music culture synonymous with the city of Nashville. Guests are welcomed into the opulent, open-plan lobby featuring terrazzo marble floors and high-gloss walls, complemented with vibrant mismatched furniture, eclectic Music City inspired statement pieces and spirited university nods. The front desk is reimagined as a vintage stereo cabinet and is positioned before a hook-rug portrait created by Margaret Timbrell depicting legendary country comedian and Grand Ole Opry headliner Minnie Pearl. Amphitheatre style seating with rows of bright, eclectic couches and a striking light fixture composed of an evening gown hint to Nashville's artistic identity, while area rugs featuring black and gold stars reference Vanderbilt's school colors and the Tennessee state flag.

Guest room décor continues to tell the narrative of Nashville's creative spirit and innate southern flare with bright floral bed canopies, pink and white striped walls and rich gold accents. Inspired by music greats who have called Tennessee home, rooms carry a residential energy with portraits of Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton adorning the walls. Intricate wool carpets and mini jeweled pendants under bed canopies carry the lavish energy felt throughout the lobby upstairs, encouraging guests to live like a country star. In homage to music legend Dolly Parton, the hotel's presidential suite has been reimaged as the "9 to 5" suite. The elevated guestroom takes on the

spirited energy of Parton, debuting a king-sized water bed complete with disco-ball surface ceilings, pink shag rugs and concert posters and vintage memorabilia throughout.

Graduate Nashville will play host to unique food and beverage concepts by Rose and Abrous, the duo behind Los Angeles' award-winning cocktail hot spot The Spare Room; iconic 35-year-old NYC-style Chinese restaurant Genghis Cohen; and all-day café concept Winsome. Already in tune with Graduate Hotels, Rose and Abrous recently opened Mountaineering Club and Poindexter at Graduate Seattle and will oversee food and beverage operations for the forthcoming Graduate Roosevelt Island, opening in summer 2020.

Positioned directly off the lobby and with a separate entrance on West End Avenue, Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole is the first ever animatronic karaoke bar, complete with a backup band of robotic musicians. The trio— a bear, pig and fox will keep guests and visitors singing on-tune, performing songs such as Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N' Roses and Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The rustic walls of Cross-Eyed Critters are lined with black velvet paintings of country-western stars, while aged wooden floors create a gritty, worn-in feel. The bar offerings will include renditions of nostalgic cocktails and shots, like the Flaming Dr. Pepper, alongside plenty of cold beer, and an outdoor taco trailer, which pays homage to the beloved late-night favorite, Taco Bell, formerly located on the Graduate Nashville site. A nod to southern dive bars, the concept's name takes inspiration from Eric Church's Merle Haggard tribute song, Pledge Allegiance to the Hag.

Miss Bessie's, Graduate Nashville's forthcoming rooftop bar and restaurant, will be perched on the 12th floor boasting unobstructed views of Midtown and the Downtown skyline, and juxtaposed to a pool dubbed the "Governor's Pool." The indoor-outdoor rooftop destination will feature bold shades of pink inside, including an onyx bar and bright floral lounge seating outside complete with an oversized, round vintage daybed. The beverage program will be overseen by Demi Natoli formerly of Chicago's Lost Lake and The Patterson House in Nashville, Tenn.

Poindexter will be centrally located within the Graduate Nashville lobby. Featuring a bar made from hundreds of black pencils, the all-day café will serve as a community gathering place featuring a menu offering breakfast sandwiches, salads, sandwiches and snacks as well as caffeinated beverages beers, ciders and natural wines. Graduate Nashville will also offer over 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space, accommodating everything from intimate gatherings to corporate events and weddings for up to 400 guests.

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