Biltmore Hotel
11 Dorrance St.
Providence, Rhode Island
(401) 421-0700


If you've been Downcity in Providence, you've seen the Biltmore. It towers beside City Hall, a V-shaped brick building in the Neo-Federal Beaux Arts style (per Wikipedia), and stands 18 stories high.

The hotel opened in 1922, a project of Warren & Wetmore, whose other claims to fame include NYC's Grand Central Station and Biltmore Hotel, and the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. At the time it was the second-tallest building in Providence (next to the State House). Additions of the Industrial Trust ("Superman") Building, the Westin Hotel and others over the years make it now the ninth tallest. The Biltmore also began with 600 rooms. Subsequent remodels to create suites have brought the total down to 292.

In the 1930s and 40s, the hotel was  the site of performances by Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Esther Williams (which required converting the ballroom into a gigantic aquarium) and Sonja Henie, for whom they froze the ballroom floor. In later years, it provided temporary residence to the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Billy Joel.

From the Biltmore's site:

"It was also the era of the Biltmore’s famous Bacchante Girls. Known throughout the country for their beauty and poise, these were the waitresses in the Biltmore’s hip Bacchante Room. The dining area was very intimate, with dimmed lights and mirrored walls. Seating sections were called “banquettes,” which were designed to hold between two and eight people. When one wanted to be served, one pushed a button to summon a Bacchante Girl. She would appear in her costume, which featured a diaphanous, see-through skirt. The bar area had a glass floor which was under lit with pink lighting, a feature which showcased the girls’ beautiful legs."

hmm.

At any rate, the Biltmore also survived the hurricanes of 1938 and 1954.

The 1938 storm flooded the building, with water pouring down into the elevator shafts. Couches floated through the Falstaff Room, drifted out into the lobby and just stopped short of the revolving doors. A plaque, high up on the lobby columns, commemorates the high water mark. (Biltmore site again)

The hotel closed in 1974, but was renovated and re-opened in 1979, complete with an exterior glass elevator that goes up all 18 floors. I remember riding that elevator in the early 1980s, and what a thrill it was to get such a vantage of the city. When I took Bear to the Biltmore, hoping to share the experience with her, I was informed by hotel staff that the elevator hasn't worked in seven years.

Despite that disappointment, we were awed by the interior of the lobby area.

the detail in the ceiling is extraordinary