The Graduate Hotel on Apache and College avenues opened in the beginning of November 2014. In addition to the Normal Diner, the hotel will soon open a new restaurant later this year. (Photo by Jonathan Williams)The Twin Palms Hotel, a former Tempe hotspot, closed down earlier this year. Now, months later and with a new identity, the renovated Graduate Hotel is open for business on Apache Boulevard.
The Graduate hotel opened for business in early November, becoming a new destination for travelers from across the country and ASU alumni.
Before the Nov. 8 defeat of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, many booked a stay at Tempe’s newest hotel, General Manager Jeremy Dougherty said. The Graduate features dozens of rooms, a diner, a pool and a soon-to-be completed rooftop bar.
“We’re trying to get people to come back to their college days,” Dougherty said. “One of the things the school has been missing is a unique hotel.”
The Normal Diner replaced one of the most successful IHOPS in the country, Dougherty said. He said he is excited for customers to eat at the new diner despite the insurmountable stories collected from the old IHOP.
“People still aren’t happy about the IHOP,” Dougherty said. “But when they come to the Normal, we’ll change that.”
Each room at the Graduate Hotel has its own unique features for guests to use. Many of the rooms have a balcony where guests can sit and relax. (Photo by Jonathan Williams)The hotel is a few dozen paces from campus and offers a shuttle that stops outside the lobby that travels the busiest parts of Tempe, like Mill Avenue.
The lobby is designed like something out of the 1960s and features local art and a 50,000 occupant ant farm donated by the University. Dougherty said there is only one queen to the massive colony and there was revolt.
“There was a coup the first night,” Dougherty said. “We saved the queen.”
Dougherty said many hotels feature aquariums but no other has an ant farm in their lobby.
Dougherty said the Graduate is working on more partnerships with the University to offer discounts to students and alumni. He said they already offer a $10,000 scholarship.
“I think being on this side of campus, it's a piece Tempe has really been missing,” Dougherty said. “We really want to be part of the community and not just a business.”
Business management junior Travis Davis was hired almost two months before the Graduate opened as a bell valet and this is the best job he has ever had.
The rooms at the Graduate Hotel offer either one or two queen sizes beds. Many of the beds have color quilts made by the local community. (Photo by Jonathan Williams)“The best part of the job is coming in and the staff being so friendly,” Davis said. “This is the first job I’ve ever had where the staff is awesome.”
Davis came to the University to pursue a career in business and hotel services. Davis said the hotel accommodates ASU students' families and alumni.
“I think it’s a great hotel, because it’s so close,” Davis said. “You can see all of campus from your window.”
Urban planning junior Chasen Dorsett said he enjoys the job and working with the other bell valet staff to solve problems.
“I like working when it’s busy," Dorsett said. "Some people don’t like working the high-stress jobs."
He said he’s worked in the service industry before, but the job at the hotel doesn’t even compare.
“I knew this place when it was the Twin Palms, and then ground zero,” Dorsett said.
Reach the reporter at jwilli62@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JonWilliams_23
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