New hotel breaks the New Hampshire mould

If we think of Ivy League universities, we imagine serious academic halls in patrician communities, all steeped in history. The venerable town of Hanover, N.H., founded in the 1760s and home to Dartmouth College, fits the bill, but a new establishment, Six South Street, breaks tradition.

Six South Street is a stylish boutique hotel with minimalist lines, striking, postmodern interiors and lots of user-friendly features for its plugged-in clientele. Everything is bright, airy and semi-open, with guests flowing smoothly from the lobby to the media room to the Bistro at Six.

"We definitely broke the mould," said general manager Donald Bruce, "and not only for Hanover, but our contemporary look and feel might be unique in the state of New Hampshire.

"We're often compared to a W Hotel, although not quite as big-city. We're more like a less glitzy, Ivy League W."

Once you toss your keys to the valet parker, you enter glass doors and glide over glossy stone floors. The small welcome lounge - a boutique lobby - is a design standout, with cranberry velvet sofas and large windows. A media room is available to travelling salespeople, students and anyone else who needs guest computers and the handy mini-offices that are equipped with video screens and chairs set up for presentations.

The Bistro at Six serves casual fare with a southwestern accent in dishes like grilled shrimp with lime or black bean salad with cilantro dressing, plus there are burgers, pastas, classic main courses of chicken, fish and meat. On Friday and Saturday nights, the big draw is the prime rib special.

The 69 guest rooms and suites are fresh and unfussy, decked out with white cotton duvet covers, honey-colour furniture and contemporary art. Functionality is important at this modern hotel, so rooms have flat-screen televisions, working desks with ergonomic chairs, iPod docks and extra bedside outlets so you can conveniently recharge all your mobile devices.

Because it is a totally new building, Six South was able to go green in a big way. It has LED lighting, a structural frame of recycled steel, geothermal heating and cooling, low-energy operating systems and an innovative laundry system that uses cold water and ozone to replace traditional chemicals. The hotel is covered with a "cool roof," a white synthetic membrane that reduces energy costs and pollution. Even the staff uniforms are made of recycled yarns created from discarded recycled plastic bottles.

Another thing that sets Six South apart from many establishments in small New England towns is its international clientele. If you linger over coffee in the breakfast room or spend cocktail hour in the lounge, you'll overhear the conversations of people from around the world. Dartmouth is a major draw for visiting students, professors, researchers and consultants.

Six South Street is steps from Hanover's charming Main Street and Dartmouth's Green, the main campus bordered by ivy-draped brick buildings. The most prominent establishment in Hanover since the college opened in 1769, Dartmouth is the smallest of the eight Ivy League schools with about 6,000 students.