We’re Calling It: This AL Hotel Concept Is the Next Big Thing

A completely enamoring, ultra-swanky hotel just opened quietly in Auburn, Alabama, bringing fine dining, rooftop revelry, and hands-on learning to this quaint SEC town. As I pulled into the sleek entrance to The Laurel Hotel & Spa, a crew of wide-smiling students swiftly took my bags and led me inside. “Students?” you might be thinking. I was intrigued, too.

A hotel, spa, and restaurant run by students?! Can’t be.

Almost every guest-facing employee here is in a course lab getting academic credit. Students of Auburn’s Hospitality Management program get real-world experience by learning the intricacies of hospitality and hotel management through full immersion training at The Laurel Hotel & Spa. Culinary students are doing the same at the adjoining restaurant and eateries.

The first-of-its-kind luxury teaching hotel

The Laurel Hotel & Spa is part of Auburn University’s Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center, a 140,000-square-foot building where learning and leisure collide. Undergraduate and graduate students looking toward careers in hospitality, events, cooking, baking, wine, and more get real experience working in every corner of the Rane Center. Equally remarkable, we, the public, can witness and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Beyond the hotel, there’s a teaching restaurant called 1856, a coffee roastery and café called [email protected], a multi-concept food hall called Hey Day Market, a two-story wine cellar, and — opening March 2023 — a microbrewery. It is the only hospitality management facility in the world with all these features.

An immersive experience for guests and students

Not only is it fascinating that the students interact with actual guests, but the guests also get to see the students in action. It was almost … trippy? Meta? (I’m grasping for a college-appropriate descriptor here) that mere steps from the hotel is a state-of-the-art culinary school.

On my afternoon exploration, I watched a class learning the art of pasta making through one window and the master sommelier sorting the night’s wine pairing through another. There were just as many curious visitors and lucky locals roaming the halls as there were students and professional educators.

The rooftop: pool, garden, and views

The elevator’s first stop was not on my floor but the rooftop. I was greeted by a glass of champagne and a vibrant, 4,000-square-foot garden maintained by Auburn’s School of Agriculture. The garden plants — all edible save some pretty flowers — provide fresh and sustainable ingredients to the new culinary laboratory, 1856. They even infuse the delicious lemongrass into the lobby water and the restaurant’s after-dinner refresher.

A few cabanas and giant lounge chairs line the heated infinity pool just next to the gardens. You can order cocktails, snacks, and more from your poolside oasis. There is also a world-class spa, fitness studio, and yoga pavilion to help combat the slightest inkling of boredom.

Spacious rooms with futuristic amenities

The hotel comprises 16 luxurious rooms, 10 suites, and six privately owned residences. My night in one of the 750-ish-square-foot suites rivaled most four- and five-star hotel stays I’ve enjoyed.

I opened the door to find that my suitcase had a new adornment: a leather engraved Laurel Hotel luggage tag with my name printed beneath the plastic view box. I snacked on an array of elaborate appetizers and opened a bottle of red in the kitchenette as I took in the view of Auburn’s red brick skyline. My suite had two smart TVs and another smaller one built into the bathroom mirror so that you don’t miss a single second of any game.

The bathroom had a massive soaking tub, can’t-take-them-off robes, slippers, and even perfume. The center was still undergoing some final construction (I stayed on night one of the hotel being open, after all), but I was never disrupted during sleeping hours. The remote-controlled blackout curtains enveloped my king bed into a cozy chamber of slumber.

A $110 million facility, three years in the making

Hans van der Reijden (Founder and CEO of Ithaka Hospitality Partners) and Martin O’Neill, Ph.D. (Professor & Acting Department Head) gave me a thorough tour of the building. The architecture — all LEED-certified and natural-light-drenched — is breathtaking.

“We wanted the students to be able to learn, cook, and test dishes with natural light around them,” Hans says. “We don’t want students to just run away from the building right after class, so we made many places for them to sit, chat, study, and relax.” Watch a timelapse of the center’s three-year construction.

1856 has brought fine dining to Auburn

I cannot remember a more delightful recent meal than the one I had at 1856, the teaching restaurant at The Rane Center. The giant-ceilinged room is modern and inviting, and sets the stage for some serious food. They call the concept a “culinary residence,” rotating the chef regularly. Swarms of young, attentive students stood at the ready. “Each student’s lab is the same four-hour ‘shift’ two days a week so that they can learn consistency and work with a regular team,” Hans says.

The open kitchen gives guests a clear view of Chef Tyler Lyne at work. Tyler and his team can watch each table progress through the courses on CCTV, ensuring each dish is timed to perfection. The wine pairings were poured generously by Master Sommelier Thomas Price. Yes, oenophiles, you read that correctly; they have a MASTER sommelier on staff. How big a deal is this? A huge one. Only 273 people in the world have garnered this title since it was established in 1969.

I love a tasting menu, but your buck has to have some bang. I want to leave feeling full and like I’ve been on a chef-led expedition where every part of the menu matters: the order, the presentation, the service, the pairings. 1856 blew me away. And it was their first dinner service ever. At $95 a person (wine pairings are another $95, or you can order drinks a la carte), 1856 will be the next buzziest reservation in the South, I’m calling it now.

I was admittedly bewildered to find all of these accolades … this glamour … in such a small Alabama town. And in a place run by college and graduate students. But I think that’s the point. There’s never been anything like it. As pleasantly surprised as guests are bound to be, there is another side to this coin.

Hans hopes that the students working and learning in this elegant, nurturing incubator will realize they can reach the upper echelon of dining and hospitality. They could land at Amanyara, St. Regis, Four Seasons. They could one day open up their own charming b&b or neighborhood eatery. This place is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s both a beacon of and a breeding ground for Southern hospitality. Reservations are now open here.

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