Roam Chronicles
A night at the Graduate Hotel Iowa City was our first real stop on the cross-country tour. Located right on the pedestrian mall in the center of town, the Graduate Hotel Iowa City is a perfect place to stay if you find yourself in town.
Graduate Hotel Iowa City – Perfect Location
The location is perfectly central for parking your car and taking off on foot. It is also possible to borrow a bike from the hotel and pedal around the town from there.
If you take a walk around google to still see the old Sheraton hotel that the Graduate took over. It’s that new.
Of course, with things still slow in a post-pandemic world and the university out of session, things were a bit quiet around Iowa City. However, that led to great walking and touring around the university campus. Most buildings were open and we were able to drop into the Natural History Museum and have it all to ourselves.
Friday nights also featured live music on the walking mall right outside the hotel, so we sat outside and grabbed a beer. Overall a great break on our second night of a road trip.
As we would come to find out, Graduate hotels would be a reliable place to stay in these smaller market towns (we would later stay at the Graduate Hotel Richmond).
Hotels Near Kinnick Stadium
People visiting Iowa City are often looking for hotels near Kinnick Stadium to see football games. While it would be a short walk across the Iowa River to get there, I would argue that the Graduate Hotel Iowa City would be the perfect place to stay for a game.
Not only would you enjoy the bars and restaurants when you aren’t at the game, but the hotel itself just has the perfect location for enjoying a long weekend in town.
Why Stop in Iowa City
The first real stop on our summer road trip from Colorado to NYC, Washington DC, and back was Iowa City.
We chose Iowa City since we were, of course, planning the length of our daily legs, but also because of the connection of writing with the town. I wasn’t aware until this year of the Writer’s Workshop and the history of the connection writers have with Iowa City, but it quickly became a stop to keep in mind the next time I was in the area.
As it turned out, that would be this summer.
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