After years of planning, developing and construction, the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel is finally open for business.
The $301 million, 757-room hotel will begin serving customers tonight, celebrating with a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony this morning.
With the Hilton up and running, the city expects the new hotel to draw large-scale conventions and loyal Hilton-brand customers to Charm City, said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. The Hilton is connected to the Baltimore Convention Center and overlooks Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
“Every city needs to have a headquarters hotel,” Noonan said. “We also have the Hilton sales team selling Baltimore, which should attract customers who are loyal to the Hilton brand.”
The city already has secured an agreement with the Southern Baptist Convention, which will come to Baltimore in 2014, Noonan said. The convention could demand up to 4,500 hotel room nights.
Existing hotels in Downtown Baltimore had a 68 percent occupancy rate at the end of 2007, according to the Downtown Partnership’s State of Downtown Report. That rate is down slightly so far through the first half of 2008, in large part because new downtown hotels are coming online like the Homewood Suites and Hilton Garden Inn in Harbor East, Noonan said.
“Our occupancy is down a little bit, but then again we have more rooms in the city,” Noonan said. “We rather have that problem than have the problem of not selling room nights.”
Hilton officials said they have already booked 300,000 room nights, many of which will accommodate large business groups over the next 10 years.
While rooms in the Hilton will cost as much as $400 a night, depending on the on the time of year and type of room, the hotel will offer rooms for a special rate of $199 a night from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7.
“It’s a normal procedure for new hotels,” said Bob Aydukovic, vice president of economic development for Downtown Partnership.
“They want to get the place open and see how everything works. It also gives customers a chance to see and enjoy the building.”
Aydukovic said a small dip in occupancy is expected when new hotels come online.
“When the Marriott Waterfront opened in 2002, there was a slight dip in occupancy, but within about six months we were back to the normal occupancy rates that we had experienced.”
There are currently six other hotel projects under construction in downtown Baltimore, according to the State of Downtown Report:
• The $24 million, 130-room Hotel Indigo on East Redwood Street.
• The $23 million, 157-room Fairfield Inn on Albermarle Street.
• The $22 million, 100-room Staybridge Suites on East Fayette Street.
• The $14 million, 125-room Quality Inn on St. Paul Place.
• The $7.3 million, 12-room Black Olive Inn on South Caroline Street.
• The $4 million, 31-room Brexton Building on Park Avenue.
Noonan said more hotel rooms will only add to Baltimore’s appeal in the eyes of visitors and convention planners.
“Now, when we bring a meeting planner to town, when they see us, they buy us,” Noonan said.
