One of the early works in Baltimore designed by the prolific firm of Parker and Thomas, this modern skyscraper hotel was a prime example of contemporary trends in hotel design also seen in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. As described by Architectural Record in March 1905, the Belvedere was one of a new generation of hotels “in a different class architecturally from any similar buildings which have preceded them.” The Belvedere featured a fashionable Beaux-Arts classical design, as well as the latest in structural and systems technology.
Located between the uptown train stations and the central business district, the Belvedere moved large-scale commercial development well north of downtown into the Mount Vernon neighborhood and became a gathering place for Baltimore’s social elite. The hotel featured approximately 300 guestrooms and bathrooms, a twelfth-floor ballroom and banquet halls, and a dining room, tearoom and other rooms for entertainment on the first and second floors. The kitchen, laundry, and mechanical rooms were located in the basement and subbasement. Today the Belvedere houses condominiums, several restaurants, small offices, and retail businesses, and the medieval-styled bar room later dubbed the Owl Bar. A parking garage and small retail mall was added to the building’s rear in 1978.