In Providence, RI I recommend staying downtown so you can walk to restaurants and to the College Hill and Federal Hill neighborhoods. My top recommendations include:
The Dean Hotel: After reading many great reviews in the press, I chose to stay at this hip, boutique hotel in downtown Providence at 122 Fountain St. It is located in an historic building that was converted to a 52-room hotel. It has a Bolt Coffee bar, a popular restaurant called North that features vegetables, seafood and meat that are sourced from local farmers and fishermen plus a karaoke bar called The Boombox. Make sure to request a room on a high floor away from the restaurant. Also, if you want more than coffee and pastries for breakfast, you will have to go outside the hotel as North is not open for breakfast. It is in a great location from which to walk and explore the city.
The Graduate Hotel: The former Providence Biltmore Hotel has been totally refurbished and transformed into The Graduate Hotel. Here you will find a beautiful, classic design with updated and contemporary details and art. Don’t miss the portrait of Andre Leon Talley in the lobby, A graduate of Brown University, Talley is an American fashion journalist, who is the former American editor-at-large of Vogue magazine.
The Graduate Hotels Collection is “a thoughtfully crafted collection of hotels that reside in dynamic university-anchored towns across the country.” It is located in the center of downtown, close to the campuses of Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, Johnson & Wales University and Rhode Island College.” Onsite in the lobby you will find the Poindexter Coffee cafe. 11 Dorrance St.
