| rev:text
| - We stayed at The Graduate Madison for three nights in October 2015. The hotel had changed hands during the previous year and undergone extensive renovations upon becoming part of the Graduate chain.
Ultimately the rooms and common spaces felt very new, clean and appealing. The tiny, tiny rooms, however, make it impractical for many travelers. (Perhaps they were going for the feel of a dorm room?) Our bed was extremely short in order to fit in the reduced room size. (I am 5 ft 8 inches tall, but still had my feet sticking out of the foot of the bed when I was flat on my back.) The walking space between the foot of the bed and the opposite wall was barely two feet wide. Our room had no closet or place to hang clothes.
The tiny underground parking lot is the one area that still desperately requires renovation/work. That space hasn't changed since Graduate took over the property, but now it also is used as a "holding pen" for trash and laundry from the hotel. As another reviewer pointed out, guests who park in the lot must walk between carts of laundry and trash just to enter the hotel.
A bar on the top floor provides some nice views, serves hot and cold appetizers, and has some outdoor rooftop seating. There also is a coffee/sandwich shop adjacent to the lobby.
For people who travel light or enjoy small, cozy spaces, Graduate Madison is a clean, contemporary option. For others, however, there are plenty of similarly priced rooms in Madison that offer more of the space and experience of a traditional hotel. As for ourselves, we are unlikely to stay at the Graduate Madison again.
|