After more than six years of planning and construction, the officially opened April 6 in the University of Virginia’s Emmet-Ivy Corridor, introducing a new gathering space for current and prospective students, faculty, alumni, visiting athletes, Charlottesville locals and travelers exploring the area.
The nine-story, 214-room hotel and conference center is located at 2017 Ivy Road, adjacent to the School of Data Science and the future home of the Karsh Institute of Democracy. The University owns the hotel, and Pyramid Global Hospitality manages it.
Gregg Hilker is the general manager of the Virginia Guesthouse. He moved to Charlottesville nearly a year ago to lead the hotel and conference center. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
General Manager Gregg Hilker, who relocated to Charlottesville nearly a year ago to lead the property, said the Virginia Guesthouse was designed to be a different feel from a typical hotel.
“The Guesthouse name is not without a lot of input,” Hilker said. “It sounds like a small bed-and-breakfast, and that’s by design – to make it feel welcoming, whether it’s somebody from the University or somebody coming from afar.”
The new UVA Welcome Center – a student-staffed desk that Emmet-Ivy Corridor Program Manager Darcie Weigand oversees – greets visitors who step through the Guesthouse’s ground-floor entrance. The Welcome Center can connect prospective students and their families with current students who can provide directions and resources for a visit to Grounds.
Just to the right is The Counter Café, which is open from 7 a.m. to noon with full barista service. It serves coffee, pastries, breakfast, grab-and-go food and a selection of packaged snacks and candy. Hours will extend to 6 p.m. at the end of April.
The ground floor isn’t only for visitors staying at the Guesthouse. Plenty of seating throughout the space invites anyone to pull up a chair, grab a coffee and catch up with a friend or sit between classes in the hotel’s “living room.”
Hilker said the vision is already taking shape, with data science students being among the first to utilize the space for group work and study sessions.
“We want students here,” Hilker said. “We want them interacting with our guests who are non-student-centric.”
Poplar, left, is the Virginia Guesthouse’s flagship restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner from an exhibition kitchen. The Perch, right, is the hotel’s rooftop bar featuring hand-crafted specialty cocktails, rotating craft beers and ciders on draft and open-air seating with views of Grounds and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Both restaurants draw from the same kitchen, led by Chef Joseph Madzia Ponte. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
The Guesthouse’s restaurant, Poplar – named for the poplar trees associated with Thomas Jefferson – features an exhibition kitchen that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its indoor-outdoor design includes a private dining parlor and the Poplar porch, a 1,695-square-foot open-air terrace with views toward Central Grounds and the School of Data Science.
A boardroom-style conference room, left, is among the Virginia Guesthouse’s 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Guest rooms, right, feature navy and warm wood accents and echo 鶹ƽ colors throughout. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
One floor up, The Perch offers a rooftop bar experience with views of Grounds and the Blue Ridge Mountains. With retractable sunshades and built-in heating on the terrace, the space is made for year-round use. Hilker described it as a more casual, shareable-plates concept suited for after-work gatherings and faculty meetups rather than a full dining experience. Both restaurants draw from the same kitchen, led by Chef Joseph Madzia Ponte.
Beyond the guest rooms – 214 total, including nine suites and a presidential suite – the Guesthouse features 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space that can accommodate gatherings of up to 1,000 attendees. The Grand Ballroom on the second floor is nearly 10,000 square feet, with a 4,235-square-foot foyer. The ballroom can be divided into three sections, each hosting up to 300 attendees.
A stream bed and newly planted trees take shape in the Emmet-Ivy Corridor in front of the Virginia Guesthouse in the middle, the Karsh Institute of Democracy at left and the Emmet-Ivy parking garage at right. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
The conference wing includes the Main Hall, a 3,000-square-foot event space; four flexible studios that can be subdivided into seven individual breakout rooms; a Drawing Room with an adjoining covered terrace for smaller gatherings; and private dining options through the Poplar Parlor. Each meeting room is complete with audiovisual equipment – including cameras, projectors and high-speed Wi-Fi. Reservations for meeting and event space can be made through the hotel’s sales team.
