Financial Times Shines Spotlight on Darden’s Forum Hotel

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business this week enjoyed an international media spotlight in an article published by the Financial Times about how the world’s top business schools are investing in hotel-style facilities to enhance their educational experiences.

The article, “Classy rooms: business schools upgrade accommodation,” included interview comments from Darden Dean Scott Beardsley and Roberta Tinch, an Executive Education & Lifelong Learning program participant who is president of Inova Mount Vernon Hospital.

Darden’s Forum Hotel, now in operation for a year, has met and exceeded its founding goals of enhancing the experience of Darden students, providing a setting for more substantial conferences and events, providing world-class facilities to support executive education, and welcoming visitors to the School and UVA.

The Forum is owned by the Darden School Foundation and operated by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

In the Financial Times article, Beardsley said Darden is “not in the business of hotels, but we are in the business of education, so we need to do it properly.”

“The most important part of the project is that it has enhanced our learning experience,” he said.

Tinch said she and other executives studying at Darden appreciate “being able to walk into a space and be comfortable and have a great experience.”

“The Forum is night and day different to what Darden had before,” she said.

The hotel was enabled by a $20 million naming gift in 2019 from Frank Sands Sr. (MBA ’63) and his wife, Marjorie, which inspired more than 100 additional donors.