Baltimore’s new $300 million hotel

August 27, 2008

A new Hilton convention hotel in Baltimore has recently increased the amount of available upper class accommodation in Baltimore with its recent opening to the public. The new hotel, situated in downtown Baltimore, cost in the region of $300 million to develop and complete, and is Baltimore’s biggest publically funded project.

Amongst the many celebrating the opening of this prestigious hotel in Baltimore, along with the tourist executives and architects, were the city’s mayor, Sheila Dixon, governor Martin O’Malley, and M.J. Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corporation. The hotel’s very first guest to reserve a room was Julie Ruth Stevens, the daughter of Babe Ruth, a legend to baseball fans.

The Hilton and Baltimore tourist agency dealing with bookings have been kept busy; the new Baltimore hotel’s rooms have been incredibly well-booked, and bookings include more than 300,000 nights booked up until the year 2017 already. The director of sales for the hotel, Matt Dykstra, says that the hotel expects to take at least 100,000 room night bookings in the year 2009. Dykstra goes on to say, “I’ve been working toward this for two years. It’s exceeding my expectations.”

Various meeting planners of various groups, including the Institute for Supply Management, have given Hilton credit for deciding to develop its new convention hotel in Baltimore, and intends to hold its 2012 meeting at the new Hilton hotel. The Society of Nuclear Medicine also plans to hold its 2015 convention at the new Hilton in Baltimore, and this convention alone is expected to attract in the region of 6,500 visitors to the region, including many scientists and physicians.

A non-profit organisation, the Baltimore Hotel Corporation, owns the Hilton Baltimore, which boasts excellent convention facilities, a fitness centre, two ballrooms, and ten hospitality suites. The first organisation to hold a convention at the new hotel will be the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in September of this year.