When the $301 million, city-owned Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel opens this month, city officials believe it still can bring sorely needed convention business to the city despite a weak economy that has dampened demand for lodging.
Hotel and city officials, who offered yesterday the first peek inside the 757-room hotel, say early booking results by convention groups and other travelers are promising. And the hotel will achieve its goal of opening on time and on budget, they said.
Construction crews are scheduled to turn the 20-story building over to Hilton officials next week so they can open it to guests Aug. 22. Yesterday, the team that designed and built the West Pratt Street hotel held tours of the facility, showing off guest-room views of the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, ballrooms with custom lighting and artwork by 30 local artists.
Government officials recalled how controversial the project became when the city proposed building and financing it three years ago. But many Baltimore officials insisted that a hotel connected to the convention center was a must to lure big business gatherings.
"We had been told repeatedly that Baltimore lost business ... that 78 percent of the people said, 'You have no headquarter hotel, and if you had one we'd rethink coming to Baltimore,' " said M.J. "Jay" Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corp., which set up a city panel to build and own the hotel. "Some people said it was unlikely, that it won't happen."
Brodie, who also is chairman of the Baltimore Hotel Corp., said he is not concerned about the timing of the opening even though a slowing economy has prompted consumers to pull back on travel, among other things.
"At the moment, we're not seeing a downside," he said.
But the lodging industry is facing challenging times.
"The market is going to be soft for a couple of years," said Rod Petrik, a managing director at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., who follows the lodging industry. "Lodging demand is down."
This month, Marriott International reported a 17 percent drop in its adjusted income from continuing operations during the second quarter and said business conditions have deteriorated in the United States.
"While there is much uncertainty, we expect weak economic growth and soft U.S. lodging demand to persist into 2009," said Bill W. Marriott, Marriott's chairman and chief executive, in releasing the hotel company's earnings.
