TPI Brochure

Experience The Peacock Inn

The Peacock Inn

Welcome to The Peacock Inn, the only luxury boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Princeton, New Jersey. Originally a Georgian mansion built in the late 1700s, the grand house was reborn as a sophisticated 16-room hotel and fine dining restaurant. A member of the Ascend Hotel Collection, The Peacock Inn reflects the best of its surrounding community with local charm, rich history, and personalized service from the moment you walk through the door.

The Perch at Peacock Inn is our fine dining restaurant and culinary center, where menus are inspired by seasonal ingredients from local farmers. Each thoughtfully sourced meal celebrates community. We’re privileged to share a moment of comfort and attentiveness with our guests around the table or seated at the bar. Intimate and elegant, The Bar is the perfect gathering spot for house-crafted cocktails or wine from our extensive, well-curated menu—winner of a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence several years running.

Our palette of warm earth tones creates a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere at the Inn. Guest rooms are individually decorated and appointed with luxury amenities.

Accommodations

Guests at The Peacock Inn experience the intimacy of a private residence with all the accommodations of a luxury hotel. Unwind in one of 16 stately king or queen guest rooms with upscale furnishings, exquisite comforts, and artwork by Ben Shahn, one of the foremost Social Realist artists of the 1930s.

Each guest room has luxe Hollandia mattresses, fine linens, down comforters, and Sferra blankets. Media systems include flat-panel televisions and state-of-the-art Revo internet radios. We offer complimentary high-speed wired and wireless internet access. Guest bathrooms have heated tile floors, rain shower heads, Frette towels, and soothing Molton Brown products. We are an ecofriendly establishment.

Amenities

The following amenities are available, and Guest Services Agents are always on hand to assist with individual requests for local transportation, sightseeing recommendations, copy and fax services, and more. Just ask!

• Complimentary continental breakfast

• Complimentary high-speed wired and wireless internet access

• Flat-panel television

• Revo Internet-based FM radio

• Individually controlled heating and air conditioning

• Luxurious bathrooms with heated floors

• Rain shower heads (body jets dependent on availability)

• Molton Brown bath and body products

• Complimentary Frette slippers

• Frette towels

• Frette bathrobes

• State-of-the-art Hollandia mattresses

• Down pillows

• Down comforters

• Sferra blankets

• Valet parking for restaurant and hotel patrons

Restaurant & Bar

The Perch at the Peacock Inn offers diners a refined yet relaxed culinary experience. Artwork, murals, and ephemera from the 1930s decorate the space with Art Deco and Art Nouveau flair. Attentive service, an elegant atmosphere, and a contemporary approach to seasonal cuisine make The Perch a great spot for special occasions. We’d say we make any occasion more special— afternoon tea, business lunch, a romantic date, a family meal, or a weekend brunch.

Visit The Bar for house-crafted cocktails or explore our extensive wine menu—we’ve won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for several years running.

Corporate & Private Events

There’s no more fitting place for a sophisticated event or meeting in Princeton than The Peacock Inn. Let us host your event in one of our private dining rooms. We can customize a flexible menu, provide welcoming service, and create a truly extraordinary experience for your guests. Our event planners can accommodate up to 75 people. For larger parties such as weddings, ceremonies, or off-site conferences, it’s possible to reserve the entire Inn.

Our Peacock Alley meeting space is a perfect choice for small groups. Private and tucked away, it’s a great room for a board meeting, group brainstorming, book club, or writer’s workshop—with the option of a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Whether you’re planning an intimate wedding, a large reception, a special occasion dinner, or an executive board meeting, the Peacock Inn can make it an event to remember.

History of The Peacock Inn

The Peacock Inn was built on the corner of Main Street and Railroad Avenue in the 1700s (now Nassau Street and University Place, respectively). Jonathan Deare, a member of the Continental Congress, purchased the property from Thomas Stockton in 1779. According to John F. Hageman’s “Princeton and its Institutions”, Deare offered members of the Continental Congress two rooms with fireplaces, two beds with bedding, breakfast, tea for two, and dinner for four.

The Peacock Inn moved to its present location on Bayard Lane in 1875 when it was purchased by the Princeton Hotel Company. Mr. Libbey, President of the Princeton Hotel Company, was a very prominent figure in Princeton (and one of the first individuals to own a telephone). A Princeton alum and professor, he also established orange and black as the University colors.

Joseph and Helen O’Connor purchased the property, opening The Peacock Inn in 1911. (The couple named the hotel after an Inn in Midland, England. They adopted the peacock, a symbol of royalty, good food, and good luck as its emblem.) The Inn tends to weave itself into the area’s history. When Albert Einstein moved to Princeton, he stayed at The Peacock Inn for ten days while the construction of his house was completed. During Prohibition, “Peacock Alley”—the downstairs area of The Peacock Inn—was allegedly a local speakeasy. And in 1954, according to former owner Mrs. Evatt, the entire Princeton football team came to the Inn one day. The front porch collapsed under their collective weight, taking the whole team down with it. A quick-thinking photographer snapped a shot, and later that year, a photograph of the incident won a prize. It was featured in Sports Illustrated Magazine.

In 2006, The Peacock Inn was bought and during a three-year, multi-million-dollar renovation, a construction crew tore down drywall in the downstairs area, discovering prohibition-era drawings on cement. Some of the pieces displayed in the dining rooms were unearthed from behind cement walls in the basement of this very building. One of our favorites? A playful mural showing John Von Neumann, a Princeton University mathematician known for driving his car around town while reading a book doing just that. The artist, John Held Jr., was an American cartoonist whose work epitomized the “Jazz Age” of the 1920s and was seen in Life and The New Yorker. His found works were cut out of the foundation, framed, and displayed over the restaurant’s fireplaces. The Peacock Inn reopened from 2010 to 2018.

In May 2018, the Peacock Inn was purchased by Genesis Hospitality. Since renovating the guest rooms, re-imagining the fine dining concept, and reopening, the Inn has hosted political dignitaries, actors, entertainers, CEOs, and even a Broadway producer! Despite the challenges presented during 2020, The Peacock Inn has endured in full plumage.

Enjoy Princeton

Princeton has something for everyone, including more Nobel Prize winners than any two square miles on earth. The Peacock Inn is located just steps from distinguished centers of learning, historic landmarks, first-class shopping, and eclectic restaurants.

Stroll through Princeton University’s beautiful gothic grounds. Browse Nassau Street’s stylish boutique stores. Flip through vinyl at the Princeton Record Exchange, one of the coolest independent record stores in the world. Explore the Revolutionary War site where the famous Mercer Oak once stood and the battle for Princeton was fought. Walk or bike on the towpath, and you may catch a glimpse of the United States Olympic rowing team on Lake Carnegie. Enjoy a performance at McCarter Theatre Center, soak up history at the Morven Museum and Historical Bainbridge House, patronize the arts at the Princeton University Art Museum, or enjoy a night of live music at one of our town’s venues.

While in Princeton, visit our Genesis Hospitality sister locations including Chez Alice Patisserie where you can stop in for coffee, tea, or sipping chocolate and peruse the pastry case, Bread Boutique where we specialize in hand-formed breads and European pastries, Proof pizzeria where baking pizza is both an art and a science, or The Nassau Diner which is an homage to American comfort food with a contemporary twist.

Proof Pizza

Nassau Diner

Bread Boutique

Chez Alice

Palmer Square