Oxford, Miss., September 23, 2015 – AJ Capital Partners is pleased to announce that on September 22, 2015, Graduate Oxford officially opened its doors. Joining Graduate Athens in Georgia, Graduate Tempe in Arizona, Graduate Charlottesville in Virginia and Graduate Madison in Wisconsin, the hotel collection targets college markets across America that celebrate each respective town’s culture and history. The 136-room ground-up hotel development is prominently located on the historic Downtown Oxford Square. Graduate Oxford is a celebration of the city’s unique sense of style, the vivid history of the University of Mississippi (also known as Ole Miss) and the beloved Rebels. The hotel also features two food and beverage outlets: Cabin 82, the hotel’s café and coffee shop and The Coop, a rooftop bar and restaurant.
Created for travelers who seek memory-making journeys, Graduate Hotels are part of a well-curated, thoughtfully crafted collection of hotels that reside in the most dynamic, university-anchored towns across the country. Every property will celebrate and commemorate the optimistic energy of its community, while offering an extended retreat to places that often played host to the best days of our lives. Additional locations include: Richmond, Va., Berkley, Ca., Durham, N.C., and Lincoln, Ne., which are slated to open in 2016.
“The hallmark of Graduate Hotels is to create distinctive properties that tell the story of their communities,” says Ben Weprin, CEO of AJ Capital Partners. “Every square inch of Graduate Oxford has been thoughtfully curated to tell the story of Oxford and pay homage to the people that make Mississippi so special. From Cabin 82 (a nod to Neshobah County), to the Doc Knight or William Morris suites and the Mae Helen ballroom, the hotel is a treasure trove of Mississippi culture that locals will remember and visitors will discover. This was a personal project and I am extremely proud of what we have created – authentically Graduate, distinctively Oxford.”
The design of Graduate Oxford reflects Southern comfort and classic style while adding a pop of unconventionality, taking influence from the city’s rich literary and artistic history. Guests are welcomed to the hotel by the lobby's iconic pink oak floors, grass cloth walls, seersucker drapery and comfortable seating in a multitude of fresh colors. Guests are surrounded by one-of-a-kind art pieces commissioned from local artists and writers, such as the large multi-media installation by Charlie Buckley featured in lobby. The guest rooms feature colors and patterns inspired by the city’s unique Southern preppy style. Subtle touches in the art and design give nods to Oxford and Ole Miss’s cultural, athletic, and historic traditions.
Cabin 82, the hotel’s café and coffee shop, is an updated homage to Mississippi’s rustic traditions serving classic Southern comfort food such as fried chicken, house biscuits and scratch sides, as well as traditional breakfast offerings for guests dining in or on-the-go. The Coop, the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant, offers unparalleled views of Oxford’s Square, craft cocktails and creative Southern dishes including delta tamales and innovative sliders. Graduate Oxford is delighted to partner with Williams Brothers, a general store owned by Olivia Manning's father, based out of Philadelphia, Mississippi. William Brothers will supply the hotels’ restaurants with a number of products, including bacon, cheeses and sausages, which are prominently featured in many food items on the menus at Cabin 82 and The Coop.
Graduate Oxford is thrilled to partner with local, James Beard award-winning chef, John Currence, to operate the catering and events for the hotel. Chef Currence has a number of existing esteemed restaurants in Oxford including City Grocery, Bouré, Big Bad Breakfast and Snackbar. Currence has garnered critical praise and awards from both local and national media – including the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef South and Restaurateur Of The Year and Chef Of The Year awards from the Mississippi Restaurant Association.
"We are so excited with the opportunity to partner with such an exciting new hotel project in Oxford,” says Chef John Currence. “This is a property that has needed to happen for quite some time to service the needs of the constant flow of people coming to Oxford, wanting close proximity to the Square. We are proud to offer our catering services to Graduate Oxford, and look forward to an exciting time ahead." The hotel features a boardroom and two event spaces to accommodate a range of group sizes and events including weddings, reunions, social gatherings, business meetings and more.
For more information about Graduate Oxford, please visit www.graduateoxford.com. Graduate Oxford 400 North Lamar Boulevard Oxford, MS 38655 662-234-3031
