Baltimore Development Corp. President M.J. “Jay” Brodie stood in the sparkling lobby of the new Hilton Baltimore on Friday and said there was one reason the city pursued construction of the plush hotel.

“Because it’s next to the Convention Center,” Brodie said, pointing east. “When conventions wouldn’t come to Baltimore, they would say, ‘You have no headquarters hotel. If you had one, we’d rethink coming to Baltimore.’ ”

More than six years in the making, the Hilton Baltimore has taken shape on West Pratt Street, connected to the Convention Center and overlooking Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The publicly financed, $301 million, 757-room hotel is scheduled to open Aug. 22.

And three weeks before its opening, Hilton officials said they have already booked 300,000 room nights, many of which will accommodate large business groups over the next 10 years.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“We have the element of surprise here in Baltimore — some of these groups haven’t been to Baltimore in five or 10 years,” said Matthew Dykstra, director of sales and marketing for Hilton Baltimore. “When they get here and see the building, it’s like, ‘Holy cow, I had no idea this was in Baltimore.’ ”

A variety of packages on the hotel’s Web site showed prices for a night’s stay ranged between $200 and $300.

Rooms will cost as much as $400 a night, depending on the time of year and type of room.

Brodie said the city, which owns the hotel, was encouraged by the number of bookings Hilton has already secured. “We expect this hotel to produce revenue for the city,” he added.

“We feel like we’ve created a project that is the essence of Baltimore and could be nowhere else but Baltimore,” said Dan Freed, principal of RTKL Associates, the hotel’s designer.

acannarsa@baltimoreexaminer.com