Omni William Penn Hotel
| Omni William Penn Hotel | |
|---|---|
Exterior view of the Penn
|
|
| Alternative names | The Grande Dame |
| General information | |
| Location | 530 William Penn Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°26′26″N 79°59′48″W / 40.4406°N 79.9966°WCoordinates: 40°26′26″N 79°59′48″W / 40.4406°N 79.9966°W |
| Opening | March 9, 1916 (Annex added in 1929) (modernized 1984) |
| Owner | Omni Hotels |
| Management | Omni Hotels |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 23 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
Janssen & Abbott (1929 annex by Janssen & Cocken) |
| Developer | Henry Clay Frick |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 1600 in 1929 602 presently |
| Number of restaurants | 3 |
| Parking | Valet Parking |
| Website | |
| Omni Pittsburgh | |
| Designated | 1972 |
The Omni William Penn Hotel is a 23 floor (3 underground) hotel located at 530 William Penn Place on Mellon Square in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A variety of luminaries have stayed at the hotel, including John F. Kennedy. The hotel staff innovated Lawrence Welk's now famous bubble machine, and it was the site of Bob Hope's marriage proposal in 1934. The hotel has won numerous awards including being named to the "Best of Weddings 2009" list by The Knot and receiving the Editor's Choice Award in the Business Hotels category on Suite101.com.
Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The hotel also features an award-winning restaurant that dates from 1916, the Terrace Room, featuring among other amenities a wall long mural entitled "The taking of Fort Pitt". The Terrace Room was voted "Best Hotel Dining" establishment in both 2008 and 2009 by readers of the Pittsburgh City Paper.
It is outfitted with numerous furnishings in the Art Deco style.
Built from 1915 to 1916, the $6 million William Penn opened on March 11, 1916, in what newspapers hailed as the Grandest Hotel in the nation, its first night it hosted the annual Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce Gala and was recorded as the largest gala in city history up to that time with U.S. Secretary of State Philander Knox hosting the event. The original hotel covered the western half of the block, facing Mellon Square.
The hotel was bought from its original owners, the Pittsburgh Hotel Company, in 1928 by the Eppley Hotel Company. Eugene Eppley financed a major expansion in 1929, filling the remaining eastern half of the block, that made the William Penn the second largest hotel in the world. The expansion brought the number of rooms to 1600 and included a ballroom atop the hotel conceived by noted designer Joseph Urban. However Eppley lost control of the hotel during the Great Depression and the new owners brought in Statler Hotels, which managed the hotel from 1940-1951.
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