Graduate by Hilton Iowa City

the front desk staff and the server we had in the bar/restaurant were both outstanding. friendly, kind, patient.

would have appreciated more outlets.

Sympathische Ausstattung? Gute Lage

Laute Klimaanlage

Beds and bedding are extremely comfortable.

Decor and facilities a bit outdated. Unless you know the area getting there and parking can be a pain.

Location, friendly desk people, comp'd parking at parking next door, good size room and clarn, with dorm kitch.

Was there for weekend and never had room cleaned, though was in room some for 2nd day

Unfortunately room had mold and cleaning staff was Poor. Front desk staff was always courteous and nice .

Cleaning staff didn’t clean room

I really wanted to like this hotel. The lobby and all of the common areas are so cute. Since it’s in a college town, everything is decked out in black and gold. The lobby, in particular, is adorable and decorated to look like an old-school library. It was just perfect. The beds were comfy although a little soft but that's a matter of preference. The bathrooms were clean and showers had good water pressure.

Unfortunately, once I got upstairs, my excitement faded. The room decor was just as charming, but the carpets and AC/ventilation system were a major issue. Our AC was so loud when it ran that it was difficult to sleep. The smell in the room was also very musty and got noticeably worse whenever the AC was running. The room itself felt damp and humid. The hotel really needs to replace the carpeting with a different type of flooring and give the rooms a major overall refresh. I understand that it was very warm and humid outside, but the AC simply couldn’t keep up. We had just moved our kiddo into their dorm and were exhausted, so we should have asked for a different room right away when we noticed even a hint of the musty smell. We only stayed one night, but we did mention all of these issues to the front desk staff the next morning. We were in Room 709, and at that point, there really wasn’t anything that could be done. I initially thought maybe the issues were specific to our room, but then we noticed another empty room propped open on our floor. The AC in that room was running much more quietly, although the musty smell was still there. Maybe this hotel would be more comfortable in the winter, but unfortunately, our experience during the summer was disappointing. It’s such a cute property with so much potential, and I really wanted to love it.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. Our room was not ready when expected and they went out of their way to make sure we were compensated for the inconvenience after a very long drive. We very much appreciated their wanting to make things right.

The rooms were very small and the bathroom had very little storage/shelving for 3 people.

Initially allocated room smelled of cigarette smoke. The alternative two rooms smelled of recent cigarette smoke even more strongly, As we had prepaid, we stayed in the first room and complained to the reception in the morning. They sent someone uo with a spray, the smell became less but still noticeable. The hotel showed signs of "deferred maintenance" . one of two elevators not working and not being repaired during our four-day stay, Shame what the Hilton brand has become.

Location was great for my event. Staff very friendly and helpful.

The restroom was not very clean. Had hair in tub and on floor around the tub. Everything else was fine.

only 1 elevator working. made getting to/from room difficult. overshadowed all aspects of stay. should not have required full $ rate, to be sure.

Location. Beds are comfy.

Our room was absolutely horribly musty smelling. Carpet was actually damp and sticky with bare feet. Humidity in that room needs a dehumidifier or a carpet change. Room 516. Said we would get a room comp and no charge. Also the toilet was leaking and half of our bathroom was a puddle.

Sits right downtown Iowa City and you can walk to campus. Perfect location!

Access to a great workout room, food options on site for breakfast and dinner.

The Graduate offers a unique hotel experience. The WRITER/LITERARY vibe is what I love the most. Plan to revisit!

Nothing.

Can't beat the location. The hotel is so cute and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Great place to stay when visiting Iowa City- especially if you are trying to get a feel for campus.

The staff were extremely helpful and friendly — thank you Tyler & Jesse. The hotel was clean, and had a great location, and the beds were super comfy!

No complaints at all

The room was very overpriced for what was available. Understood it would be an increased price due to graduations but it was excessive.

Beds so comfy, location, friendly staff, infused water, popcorn, clean, the decor!

All so good!

Very clean and unique. Friendly staff. Close to everything on campus.

There was nothing I didn’t like.

Perfect location. Clean rooms. Friendly staff

No free breakfast.

We were greeted by a large private security guard who stared us down and blocked our entrance to the front desk to check in! Not the experience we were expecting. It felt very uncomfortable and unsafe. I felt like if I would have said anything the guard would have stopped me and made me leave. Apparently, this is the new protocol for Hilton hotels in Iowa City.. You have to get by a large serious guard just to check in. The front desk clerk didn't make it any better. When I approached the check in desk he questioned what I wanted and put me thru the third degree to make sure I was guest. Evidently, this hotel has trouble with people posing as guests or destroying bathrooms. He proceeded to grill me over my parking ticket and then printed out a ticket he said I could use for validation of parking. This ticket did not work and I paid the city $40 to park in a hotel parking garage. We spent close to $400 which included a $250 dinner of basic hamburgers, french fries, potato chips as an appetizer. Our server told us we could receive a discount for staying at the hotel but of course this was bad information or lack of training because we received no discount. It is really too bad because the location is great and the hotel is decorated in a unique vibe. I talked to 3 hotel customer service reps the next day including Kennedy only to get the company line and why they couldn't and wouldn't be able to offer any discount or credit just an apology and the promise of talking to staff and to work on a consistent message. If your idea of a great hotel stay is being greeted and vetted by private security who are looking for trouble I can highly recommend this place. If your idea of not getting any satisfaction or a resolution from hotel managers on a complaint then I can highly recommend this place. If your idea of potato chips and dip as an appetizer on a $250 dinner I can highly recommend this hotel. We were not offered complimentary water. I am a Hilton Honors member and no mention of this was made at check in and no thank you for being a member.

Clean and polite staff

EXCELLENT ATTENTION BY THE STAFF AND THE LOCATION

THE SMELL OF CIGARETTE SMOKE IN THE ROOM.

Location, decor

My bathroom was not clean upon arrival.

La cama

La limpieza de la habitación

Clean, ev charging in the parking garage, right next to downtown to walk to great eating and shopping spots

Can’t think of anything

The kind folks that checked us into our room. The beautiful room. We had an issue w the heater and a tech was there to help wi 10 minutes. Great stay!! So awesome!!

Beautiful rooms!!

Coffee shop was good

I was not put in the room I booked (gave me two beds instead of one king) and the view out the window was horrible (the inside of the hotel) which would have been fine but it wasn’t what I booked

Rooms were very comfortable and clean.

The location was perfect, loved the garage nearby, loved it is walking distance to many establishments. Cute decor. Great staff.

While the decor was cute, some areas need up keeping. The carpet is staiend and worn, the comforter was stained.

I just left staying at the Graduate by Hilton in Iowa City and had an absolutely terrible experience. What should have been a simple overnight stay turned into one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had. From late evening until around 4:00 AM, people were running up and down the hallways yelling, laughing, and slamming doors. The group in the room right next to us was especially loud—shouting and laughing all night as if they were at a party. The noise was constant and made it nearly impossible to sleep. I called the front desk and security multiple times to report the noise. Each time I was told someone would handle it, but nothing was ever done. The noise continued for hours with zero intervention from hotel staff. What made the situation even more frustrating was that I specifically explained to the staff that I had two young girls under the age of two with me who were trying to sleep. Despite clearly explaining the situation and how disruptive it was for our family, the staff still failed to take any meaningful action to address the issue. The lack of customer service was shocking. In the morning, I explained everything again to the front desk, hoping they would make it right or offer some form of refund or accommodation for the awful night we had. Instead, the concern was brushed off and no refund or meaningful resolution was offered. Between the completely uncontrolled noise, the lack of responsiveness from security, and the dismissive customer service, the entire experience was incredibly disappointing. This hotel clearly does not prioritize guest comfort or basic hospitality. I will never stay here again and would strongly caution others—especially families with young children—against booking at the Graduate by Hilton in Iowa City. I’ve stayed at Motel 6’s with better customer service and quieter guests. Not what I would expect from a “4-star” hotel.

Cold showers

La ubicación

No hacen limpieza de habitaciones si no lo demandas. Solicité que hicieran limpieza y solamente cambiaron las toallas y vaciaron papeleras, pero sin limpiar y por supuesto, sin hacer la cama

They didnt offer a breakfast, location was good.

I had 4 charges that seem very excessive. They have a parking ramp and we validate our parking with them, bu I ended up with 4 charges of $50, $21.20, another $21.20 and a $7.60 charge which is very excessive!

We really enjoyed our stay at the Graduate! The decor was funky and fun, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful and the location was perfect. This will be our hotel of choice for future stays in the Iowa City area. With a terrible cold snap in the area, there was initially an issue with our radiator, but it was fixed quickly and efficiently, by a technician who was very pleasant even though I am sure he was very, very busy. I wish it was warmer out so we could have taken better advantage of the location on the pedestrian mall.

Clean, staff great, Decorating great

Bed uncomfortable. No continental Breakfast

No Wi-Fi password

This is such an interesting hotel with great proximity to the U of I. Felt like a boutique hotel.

Unique feel. Close to cute shops and restaurants and walking distance to Iowa campus.

We chose the room that had breakfast included assuming it would be a type of buffet breakfast or restaurant voucher system. The staff was extremely unclear about where breakfast was and how it worked as it was in an adjacent restaurant not part of Hilton. Which is fine. We’ve stayed at hotels that operate like this but they didn’t give us vouchers when we checked in. After we asked the front desk in the morning we were finally given vouchers (after having to prove in my booking app that we chose the room with breakfast included.. shouldn’t that have been on our booking with the hotel?). The voucher was good for one free entree. No drinks and no sides. No coffee. The “entrees” were equivalent to something you’d buy at Starbucks or a bookstore cafe. Not a real breakfast. We also had to get our parking validated every day. I also assumed because the hotel had to VALIDATE our parking that parking was included in our room fees. It was not. We came home to multiple parking charges on our card. The bathroom was tiny and the room seemed to be falling apart with sockets coming out of walls and quickly patched holes and wallpaper. The bathroom light was also malfunctioning. It was motion sensor and it would randomly come on in the middle of the night and not shut off for some time. Sad to see a Graduate property in this condition. Probably ok enough for local college kids visiting friends or there for games.

We enjoyed the loation of being walking distance in the dowtown area

I just dont like the way the parking ramp fees work, seems a little too steep even after being validated!

Good location for just one night

They only had decaf coffee in the room.

We loved the decor and how unique it was. The location is excellent and we were able to walk to restaurants, bars, etc. We were attending my daughter’s college graduation so it was perfect to stay at The Graduate!

The thermostat did not control the heat I was up and down all night changing it from hot to cold. Very unpleasant

We have stayed at the Graduate numerous times in past years. This stay was very disappointing. Our room had a dirty bathroom. It had a cheap wood board over the exposed wires of the HVAC unit. I purchased the room rate to include breakfast. Upon checking in, I asked about the process. I followed it the next morning and the hotel did not credit my breakfast cost until I called back and complained. Add to it that they do not give bottles of water to Hilton Hhonors Silver members and it is clear that ownership and management of this hotel has gone down hill since our last stay. It is too bad, but I've seen it before. The lack of maintenance and cleanliness is something I have seen many times in a hotel just prior to a sale. It is clear that this property does not belong in the Hilton family anymore. We will not be returning. We'll go to another Hilton property instead, where we are respected and the hotel is owned and managed properly.

You cannot beat the location, and they validate for the ramp! If you know anything about Iowa City, the validated parking alone is amazing. Fun, pet friendly, right on the Ped Mall…great stay!

Good location

No room service, when requested all they did was bring clean towels, didn’t even make the bed

Location is great.

It’s an old Holday in with musty/smelling rooms and I had no housekeeping service during my 3 - night stay.

Great location with fun decor.

Our thermostat was broken. Even after reporting it to the front desk nothing was done and we were pretty uncomfortable. I was surprised that coffee wasn’t provided.

We had an AC problem in our room on a sold out weekend. The staff quickly made adjustments and found us a new room which was awesome! The staff and accommodations were great!

We had an AC issue in our first room. That was frustrating. But the staff quickly made sure we got a new room. So yay!

The decor

The toilet didn’t fill so it was making a noise most of the night reported it to the front desk. They sent a maintenance man and he fixed it, but then it happened again.

Really nice place to stay at , staff really helpful and friendly !

Excellent and unique hotel. Walkable to University of Iowa. Lots of restaurants to choose from. If my daughter gets accepted to UI, I will definitely come back to this hotel

Needs a major upgrade. Didn’t clean our room.

Courteous and professional staff. Answered all my questions and very helpful with my grandson

great place to stay.

Great location, we love the charm of the Graduate hotels.

Great location.

I like everything about this hotel , from rooms to costumer service it’s great

Excellent location. Front desk people were good. Key card required for elevators for security. Bathroom updated nicely since my last visit 3 years ago.

I bought breakfast tickets but they apparently don't include coffee or other beverages.

Great access to downtown iowa city.

great location,gym facilities; nice event facilities and catering; unique design, small bathrooms, no microwave access or coffee pot in room; but they did have a fridge and electric water kettle; ice on same floor and water dispenser; coffee shop and bar downstairs;

Great place to stay in Iowa City.

My only complaint is the 40 dollar fee for checking in one hour early.

The sports themed rooms make it a fun place to stay. The wall writings suggested an emphasis on learning and thinking, which we respect.

The adjacent coffee shops food was only so-so.

place is a bit tired

We love the location of this hotel. Perfect area to experience Iowa City!

Great staff. Way too pricey of a rate for the quality of the room

The hotel has a lot of character regarding the decor. The lobby has a nice large sitting area.

There are no amenities in the lobby such as drinking water, coffee, restroom, trash bin, etc... There is a coffee shop across the breezeway that feels like it is part of the hotel but has a different name and door.

Great place to stay!

Excellent location and fun atmosphere.

Hotel infrastructure is old. My drains didn’t drain. The tub was stained.