Baltimore?s hotel portfolio continues to expand with the recent completion and opening of Marriott?s SpringHill Suites a few blocks from Inner Harbor.
The 11-floor, 99-room hotel on South Calvert Street has been open since Nov. 15, servicing guests and working out the first-month kinks in anticipation of its grand opening celebration on Jan. 17.
SpringHill Suites joins a collection of upscale hotels in Downtown Baltimore. The city has 28 downtown hotels and 19 more either under construction or in the planning stages, according to the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.
“We?re all working together to bring business into the city,” said Chris Chesebrough, general manager of SpringHill Suites. “For us to bring in more revenue-generating conventions, we really need more hotel supply. The demand in this city can handle it.”
The SpringHill Suites building is a 108-year-old structure that was previously a mixed-used property that included a First Mariner Bank branch, a health club and office space, Chesebrough said. Work on the hotel began in late 2005.
Several other older office buildings in the area have been or are being converted into hotels ? including the construction of a Hotel Indigo on East Redwood Street.
“The corridor is undergoing some transitional growing pains, but the end result will be extremely beneficial to the city,” said Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership. “That intersection is rich with historical architecture, and it?s encouraging to see the redevelopment of older buildings.”
SpringHill Suites has blended the building?s historical texture with upscale decor. Marble floors and ceiling-high pillars were restored in the hotel lobby. The building?s pre-existing structure led to 35 different room configurations. And a massive bank vault underneath the street level was converted into a 350-square-foot meeting room.
“It?s definitely the showcase piece of the property,” Chesebrough said, standing a few feet from the vault?s enormous steel doors.
Rates at the SpringHill Suites range from $200 to $280 a night, about $20 to $100 more than the average downtown room rate, according to TravelCLICK, an online marketer for hotels. The hotel features a small exercise room, three meeting rooms, a small market and a lobby bar.
DOWNTOWN HOTELS
Existing Properties: 28, with 6,847 room
Under Construction: 4 with 1,192 rooms
Planned 2008-2012: 15 with 1,891 room
Source: Downtown Partnership
