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Good Morning Baltimore

Nov 5, 2008

Not to be outdone by the Baltimore Convention Center's recent expansion next door, Hilton has jumped in and opened a new 757-room hotel—more rooms than any other in the city. Located in the city's scenic inner harbor, with views of Oriole Park, the hotel features 10 hospitality suites with panoramic balcony views of the playing field.

"We wanted the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel to be reflective of the unique culture of Baltimore and to integrate elements evocative of the contextual environment of the Ballpark area as well as Baltimore's famous historic inner harbor,” says Karen Daroff, president and design principal of Philadelphia-based Daroff Design, the firm responsible for the hotel's interiors. (RTKL Associates was the architect of record.)

Daroff drew inspiration from "the warmth and intimate scale of the adjacent historic brick buildings, the aqua and blue colors of the harbor, and surrounding wetlands." In the lobby natural materials abound: walls are covered in macore wood; large columns are encased in bubinga wood and ultramarine blue glass tiles; and a stone mosaic mural greets guests from behind the reception desk. And in guestrooms, oversized headboards framed in wood and cream-colored vinyl provide texture, while punches of rust and green pop against the warm beige and brown palette.

The hotel also features 60,000 square feet of convention, ballroom, and meeting-room space, a 5,000-square-foot-restaurant, and a unique glass-enclosed sky bridge and second pedestrian bridge to connect guests to the 1,225,000-square-foot convention center next door.

www.daroffdesign.com; www1.hilton.com

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