The Hotel at the University of Maryland Is Set to Open This Summer
College Park, Maryland (January 30, 2017) – A new luxury hotel and conference center will
soon open directly across from the main entrance to the University of Maryland campus in College
Park, Maryland. The Hotel at the University of Maryland, which will cater to both leisure and business
travelers, is currently under construction and slated to open in July. The Hotel will begin accepting
reservations in mid-April.
The 297-room Hotel fulfills the vision of developer David H. Hillman of Southern Management
Corporation, the largest privately owned residential property management company in the MidAtlantic region. There has long been demand for a hotel and conference center of this type in this
destination, which is within an easy drive of both Baltimore and Washington. Town and university
officials look at the opening of the Hotel as the first of several major changes that can transform
College Park into one of the top 20 college towns in the United States by 2020.
“Even before it's built, the hotel and conference center is providing a major stimulus to the
development of College Park," said University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh. "Through his
vision and commitment, David Hillman is rejuvenating an entire zip code."
The Hotel is located on a parcel of land east of Baltimore Avenue, just opposite the campus’s
official visitor center. Its location makes it an obvious choice for prospective students, parents,
alumni and guests of the university, but its position along the Baltimore-Washington corridor and
easy access to three airports also makes it an ideal location for conferences of all types. The hotel is
just 30 miles from Baltimore and 10 miles from Washington, and it will operate a free shuttle service
to transport guests the one mile to the College Park Metro Station, which can connect them to the
nation’s capital and its surrounding areas.
The 10-story Hotel will boast 43,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes 18 meeting
rooms, two boardrooms and three ballrooms. All these spaces have been named for key figures in
Maryland and university history or symbols that are important to the region. For example, one of the
boardrooms will honor Orville and Wilbur Wright, who taught the first military pilots how to fly at the
world’s oldest continuously operating airport, which is just minutes away. The Terrapin Ballroom is a
tribute the university’s mascot and the state’s official reptile, while the Calvert Ballroom will pay
homage to the family that founded Maryland and whose descendant was the driving force behind
establishing the university.
The ties to Maryland don’t end with meeting room names, however. One of the Hotel’s four
restaurants, the Old Maryland Grill, will celebrate the foods for which the state is best known,
including crabs and oysters. The Grill will be operated by Mike Franklin, who owns the popular
Franklin’s restaurant in nearby Hyattsville. Other dining venues at the Hotel will include Bagels ‘n
Grinds and Potomac Pizza, two franchises by Adam Greenberg, whose wife is a graduate of the
university, and Kapnos Taverna, created by Mike Isabella, one of the Washington area’s most talkedabout chefs. The Hotel will also boast a 150-seat lobby bar that’s destined to be a prime gathering
place for Hotel guests as well as the university community.
The Hotel will feature The Red Door Salon & Spa by Elizabeth Arden on its fourth floor, which
will also house a fitness center, pool and zen garden. Standard guest rooms will average 450 square
feet, and the Hotel will also be home to 21 studio suites, five one-bedroom suites, and three
executive suites including a two-story presidential suite. Besides the meeting venues on the first and
second floors, the Hotel will offer a 10th-story penthouse loft that provides a bird’s-eye view of the
university and is bound to be a popular choice among brides and event planners. The property will
include an 800-space parking garage that will boast both valet and self-park options to be used by
hotel guests, restaurant patrons, and visitors to the town and university.
The Hotel at the University will be the third member of Southern Management’s hotel
portfolio. SMC already operates The Hotel at Arundel Preserve near BWI Airport and Bear Creek
Mountain Resort & Conference Center in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. Its fourth property, a Cambria
Suites, is also under construction in College Park, increasing the town’s hotel inventory by another
150 rooms.
It’s anticipated that The Hotel at the University of Maryland will create nearly 500 new jobs
and generate $4.4 million in state and local tax revenues each year.
For more information about The Hotel at the University of Maryland, please visit
www.thehotelumd.com or call 301-918-5844.
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NOTE: Renderings are available upon request.
MEDIA CONTACT
Mindy Bianca
Mindy Bianca Public Relations
[email protected]
919-200-6060