It’s not unusual to view local art, consume regional foods or meet area trendsetters in boutique and luxury hotels. Now — to the great welcome of penny-pinching travelers — the trend in lodging to embody the location has trickled down to budget hotels and even brands generally regarded as cookie cutter.

Graduate Hotels, recently opened in five college towns across the country and with another five opening in 2016 (rooms average $120 a night), tries to tell the story of its locations through design. Among them are the Graduate Madison in Madison, Wis., where the chandeliers are made from canoes and oars, and the Graduate Athens in Georgia, which hosts a music club that pays homage to the local music scene (groups including R.E.M. and Widespread Panic hail from Athens).

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