The University of Virginia has opened a full-service hotel and conference center on its historic campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Virginia Guesthouse welcomed its first guests in April 2026, adding 214 rooms, a signature restaurant and a rooftop bar to one of America’s most celebrated university settings.
University officials and more than 150 guests gathered on 29 April 2026 for a grand opening celebration. Speakers included UVA President Scott Beardsley, University of Virginia Foundation CEO Deborah van Eersel, Pyramid Global Hospitality COO Isaac Hicks, and Virginia Guesthouse General Manager Gregg Hilker.
Dining, drinks and panoramic views
The property offers three distinct food and beverage options. Poplar, the hotel’s signature full-service restaurant, provides both indoor dining and outdoor terrace seating. The Perch, a rooftop bar and café, serves panoramic views of Charlottesville alongside handcrafted cocktails and an exclusive Wahoo Whiskey label.
A grab-and-go eatery rounds out the dining offer, catering to guests and conference attendees looking for a quicker option. At the opening event, guests sampled food and drinks from Poplar and took part in exclusive Wahoo Whiskey tastings on The Perch, accompanied by live performances from the Virginia Sil’hooettes, the university’s female a cappella choir.
Conference and event facilities
Virginia Guesthouse includes 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space, positioning the property as a dedicated venue for academic gatherings, conferences and celebrations. The hotel also features a President’s Suite with an outdoor terrace for premium stays and private events.
The property is owned by the University of Virginia Foundation and managed by Pyramid Global Hospitality. Its location within the historic UVA campus gives it a distinctive setting that few campus hotels in the United States can match.
A keepsake rooted in university history
Guests at the grand opening received a commemorative wooden cutting board crafted from a tulip poplar that had stood outside the university’s Shannon Library for more than 125 years before it was felled in 2020. The university had carefully preserved the wood ahead of the hotel’s opening.
The gesture reflected the wider approach behind Virginia Guesthouse, which aims to connect its hospitality offer to the deeper history and identity of one of America’s oldest public universities, founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819.
