The Dean (hotel)
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. 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. The building also offers tenants the service to borrow refurbished bicycles. The Dean currently contains four businesses. Two are food establishments: North, run by James Beard Foundation Award-nominated chef James Mark, and Bolt Coffee. The other two are bars: The Dean Bar and The Boombox. History. Built in 1912, 122 Fountain Street was used as a shelter run by the Episcopal church and also operated as 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 received positive reviews from Vogue, Goop, Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and GQ.