User:JKizzieHumanities/The Dean

The Dean is a 52-room boutique hotel located at 122 Fountain Street in Providence, Rhode Island. The hotel was part of the renewal of downtown Providence, the beginning of a wave of small boutique hotels in the city of Providence and the surrounding area, and the beginning of a wave of "hip" hotels across the United States. Further, the building the hotel occupies is considered an "architectural gem."

Design
The hotel was designed by ASH NYC, and the architects were Kite Architects Inc. The Dean opened in 2014.

Rooms in The Dean include oil paintings, tables by Rhode Island sculptor Will Reeves, and fixtures by The Steel Yard. Tenants are able to borrow refurbished bicycles.

The Dean contains four businesses: currently two food establishments: North, run by James Beard Foundation Award-nominated chef James Mark, and Bolt Coffee, and two bars: The Dean Bar and The Boombox.

History
Prior to being a hotel, 122 Fountain Street was built in 1912 as a shelter run by the Episcopal church and operated as a several adult entertainment establishments known for their illegal actions. In its last iteration before The Dean, it was a strip club called the Sportsman's Inn. Elements of the hotel's design and decor reference the building's origins.

Reception
The hotel was listed as one of Condé Nast Traveller's top bargain hotels of 2014, and one of Condé Nast Traveller's top hotels in New England in 2019. It has been reviewed positively in Vogue, Goop, Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and GQ.