Dartmouth’s ‘front door’ has opened once again to welcome guests with the June 1 debut of the redesigned Hanover Inn at Dartmouth.

“At every challenge in the two and a half years since we began the process to renew the Inn, we’ve had the support of President Kim and the Board of Trustees, and confidence in the team here at the Inn,” Linda Snyder, vice president of Campus Planning and Facilities, told the Inn’s staff moments before they opened the doors to the elegantly appointed contemporary lobby.

Tours of the Inn were offered during the afternoon of the June 1 opening, and more than a dozen guests were registered for the first night, with double that number registered for the next evening.

Breakfast and dinner will be served in a 38-seat restaurant off the lobby through June 8, when lunch will be added to the daily fare. Room service has been available since the Inn’s reopening.

The transformed Inn closed for major renovations last year and is reopening in phases. In this first phase, 94 of the Inn’s 108 guest rooms have reopened in time for Commencement and Reunions. Also open are four one-bedroom suites. Wireless and hardwired Dartmouth Secure Internet access are available throughout the facility.

Here is how the rest of the Inn will open:

• August 2012: The Hayward Room opens with 1,761 square feet of space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Dartmouth Green and cutting-edge audio and visual equipment. The room will accommodate 100 to 150 people. There will also be four executive meeting rooms on a lower level.
• Grand Opening, November 2012: The Minary Conference Center opens with 3,933 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting and event space, including a grand ballroom capable of accommodating up to 330 people. There will also be three additional executive conference rooms on the lower level. The new center is named in honor of the former Minary Center on Squam Lake in Holderness, N.H., which Dartmouth sold in 2010.

The renovations are addressing a longstanding need for modern, on-campus conference facilities reflecting Dartmouth’s standing as a world-class educational and research institution. The project has also been an opportunity to completely upgrade the building’s guest rooms and amenities. The Inn is owned by Dartmouth and is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America. There has been a lodging establishment at the Inn’s prime campus location overlooking the Green since 1780.

The Inn is currently taking reservations for conferences and events in 2012 and beyond. Members of the Dartmouth community and the general public are invited to contact the Inn at (603) 643-4300 or (800) 443-7024 to discuss upcoming events.