Graduate by Hilton Iowa City

Reviews

• BC

  B C

  Oct 15, 2025
  3.0
  I travel for work 1-2 times per month and have had the pleasure of staying at several different Graduate Hotels across the country, so I was delighted when this location was selected for a conference I was attending. Upon checking in, the staff was helpful and polite, and everything went well. I found the room. To have the same fun aesthetic as other Graduate hotels, although I noticed that the carpet and furniture were a little worn and stained. It wasn’t until later when I noticed trash under the ink (old makeup, part of a tp roll, a wrapper), crumbs and seeds on the carpet, and a loose screw by the AC. Gross. I figured it would all be taken of the next day when my room was cleaned. However, the room was never cleaned the following day. The next morning I messaged the front desk and asked that the room be cleaned and specifically mentioned the trash under the sink and that the floor needed be vacuumed. I retuned to my room later and saw that the bed had been remade with dirty sheets (common practice these days) and the trash had been emptied - but no other cleaning was done. The floors were still filthy and no clean towels had been provided. This is when I took a closer looks and noticed how filithy the room was due to a lack of regular cleaning…hair on the bathroom floor that didn’t belong to me, dirty footprints in the bathroom, tattered towels, stained chairs, water stains on the ceiling. It’s clear that the carpets haven’t been vacuumed in a LONG time. I did see Housekeeping in the corridor and there was no vacuum to be seen. Vacuuming is such a basic thing, so it makes you wonder what else isn’t happening. Is this the dirtiest hotel I’ve ever stayed in? Sadly, no. But is it far too dirty for a hotel at the this price point? Absolutely, yes. I’ll also mention that on the 4th and final day of my stay, I hastily made the bed myself as I do at home. It wasn’t touched when housekeeping came by to empty the trash. Reading reviews online, it seems the lack of cleaning and dirty carpets is consistent with what other guests have experienced in recent months. The location is great, but I was so grossed out by how dirty the room was and I’m not likely to stay here again or recommend this hotel to a friend.
• GC

  Grace Cox

  Oct 6, 2025
  1.0
  UPDATE- I’ve been waiting a month for half of my stay to go back on my card- haven’t received it. Just called and was told they actually don’t have the authority to do that bc it was handled by a 3rd party! WEIRD to even offer that on MULTIPLE occasions if they couldn’t even do so. Since they want to delete my review!! While the location was great, that was about the only thing I enjoyed about the hotel. My youngest sister turned 21 this weekend, and we entrusted the hotel with such a special milestone in her/our lives. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way, that this is NOT the hotel to do that with. My family (BIG family) had 4 reservations w this hotel for the weekend. While we had 2 queen bed room, my mom booked a large king suite, and a couple of other rooms for my family. Upon arrival, the service was great. Kind and informative. We got our hotel keys, and made our way up to our room. We got in, and it was HOT. I looked at the thermostat and it read 78. Okay, not a big deal let's just turn the AC on. The AC would NOT turn on. While my husband is an experienced blue collar worker, we did not want to risk breaking something and being charged. We were told to dial 1 on the phone in the room to reach the front desk, unfortunately the phone did not work at all. Inconvenient, but we made our way downstairs to inform them of the issue. The person at the front desk, came and looked at, and said he would get someone up here as soon as possible. Perfect. We start getting all the decorations (balloons blown up, etc) all ready for the next day, and it has now been 2 hours with ZERO communication of when we would get our AC fixed. It was so hot, that we made our way down AGAIN to see when that would be. We are informed that the maintenance is too busy to come tonight, and unfortunately they cannot move our reservation as they are fully booked. He says they will have someone there first thing in the morning, but in the meantime here are some fans, and offered 50% off for the night. I accepted and asked for another fan. We go back up to finish getting everything prepped for the night, and still no extra fan is brought to us. My husband goes downstairs to ask for it and was told he was "just about to head up there." We did not receive our other fan until midnight, after checking in at 8. While this was more than irritating and uncomfortable, the very kind maintenance man came and fixed our AC. All he had to do was reset it. And LUCKILY my husband watched to see what he did, bc it broke again the second night. But either way, I chalk it up to a bad night, and try to focus on making sure my sisters night is unforgettable the next day. I ask my mom to add me to the reservation, so we can check in early and get everything set up. I also tell her that we still have no AC and it is almost noon. She calls then to add me, and tell them again of this issue. She called me back, confirmed that I was added, and THEN told me that he had NO MAINTENANCE REQUEST. But he was putting one in immediately. In total, we had 30 people coming in from ALL over to celebrate my sister. My mom booked a large suite so we could host everyone for drinks before we head out for the night. We go and get her room keys, and head up to her room. We walk in and my stomach dropped. This room would not even comfortably fit 10 people. I call my mom to ask if there is a mistake, and she was VERY taken aback considering she booked a room that had a connected room with chairs, tables, and more than enough room for everyone to comfortably visit before we celebrate. We are now behind schedule, and a day that is supposed to be special and fun has now turned MORE than stressful. My sister is in tears because she feels horrible that she has all of these people coming up to celebrate w her, and we don't even have a place to do that now. My mom calls, and is put on hold for 20 minutes, so I went down to see what happened. I am then informed that they had to move around reservations and made a mistake. And now they have almost nothing to offer us.
• JP

  Jim Pioch

  Oct 1, 2025
  5.0
  This hotel appears to not be very old. The parking garage is very convenient to the hotel. I would describe the property as a themed hotel which I found interesting and surprising for Hilton as I have stayed in many of their properties and never experienced one like this. The property is close to the University hospital, stadium and downtown venues. Our room was decorated with U of I items and Willie Wonka. I would pick this hotel again it was a fun experience.
• HM

  Henry Mitchell

  Sep 16, 2025
  1.0
  I made a reservation for two nights, 9/7-9/9. When I arrived to check-in the front desk attendant, Nick, asked if I was checking in to all three rooms. I notified him I had only booked one room and showed him my confirmation email for only one room. I had traveled to Iowa City for a quick 1-1/2 day business meeting by myself. Nick assured me he would take care of it and wasn't sure how the additional reservation were charged to me. Upon checkout, I returned my room keys and followed up with a different gentlemen. He notified me that Nick hadn't done anything about the additional reservations but that he would take care of that day. By this time, I could see our credit card had been billed for all three reservations. I've reach out to the hotel with no response. After checking out I received an email to submit a review about my stay. I did so and was contacted by a third-party company who said the front deck said I wouldn't be refunded because all three rooms were checked in and checked out. This is obviously impossible. they can check the security cameras and see I didn't stay in three rooms a ll at once. They also can verify the contact information on the room keys on the other two reservations. I've yet to hear from the hotel. This is very frustrating and extremely poor customer service. Lastly, the rooms are dirty. They didn't appear to have been vacuumed. The location is nice, however. Attached is my reservation, it clearly says 1 room.
• RK

  Rogier de Kreek

  Sep 12, 2025
  5.0
  Nice librarian style hotel in the middle of all the action. Great rooms and good beds.

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