Historic Hotel Bethlehem Vies for National Title

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (WLVT) - In the heart of Bethlehem stands a Lehigh Valley landmark.

Inventors, U.S. presidents and Hollywood celebrities have all spent the night at Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

"Shirley Temple is definitely one of my favorites," said marketing manager Brynn Levine, as she pointed to Temple's picture in the hotel's "Gallery of Distinguished Former Guests."

The history caught the eyes of travel experts across the country. The hotel is nominated in USA TODAY's 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Twenty are in the running for the title of "Best Historic Hotel" in America.

"I think we just have that reputation of being centrally located in Bethlehem that everyone just wants to see it," Levine said.

The hotel’s history covers its walls -- literally. (Military artist George Gray painted several murals in 1937, which now adorn one of the hotel's ballrooms.) The Moravians built the "First House of Bethlehem" on this site in 1741. It’s where the name of the city came from, when they gathered on Christmas Eve.

"There's been hospitality on this site...over 250 years, 275 years," said Bruce Haines, managing partner of Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

It later became the Eagle Hotel in 1823, and it was torn down to make room for Historic Hotel Bethlehem in 1922. It was the brainchild of Charles Schwab, the president of Bethlehem Steel.

"The hotel, when it was built, in fact, sold shares to the original investors, sold shares to the people in the community," Haines said. "For $50 a share, you could be a hotel owner.”

While it brought fame to the city, the hotel fell on hard times when Bethlehem Steel closed in the mid-90's. Historic Hotel Bethlehem closed for a couple of years -- and the Moravians were trying to save it.

"They were looking at it as potentially maybe half of the guest floors being senior citizens’ facilities and then, the other three being girls’ dorms for Moravian College," Haines said. "Now, that would have been an interesting combination on the elevators."

Haines and a group of investors stepped up to buy the building and keep it as a hotel.

"We probably did this more from our heart than our head," he said, adding that the vision was to bring back the character of the hotel. "The first thing we did was open up the lobby and take it back to its original condition."

The new management also removed carpet from the hotel's open-air solarium and discovered historic Moravian tiling underneath. The solarium now serves as 1741 on the Terrace, one of the hotel's two restaurants.

The hotel continues to find ways to attract guests, partnering with Penn State Creamery at the Hotel B Ice Cream Parlor.

"Last October, we moved it across from the hotel, and it does great," Levine said. "There's always a line, and who doesn't love ice cream?"

As the current hotel approaches its centennial, the future is bright. Haines said there are two directions the hotel could go.

"We could either maintain our character as a boutique, 125-room meeting, conference center hotel, or the hotel could be doubled in size and turned into a major conference center hotel," he said.

The deciding factor, Haines said, could be if Bethlehem’s Moravian Settlement becomes a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s on a tentative list for consideration to send before the United Nations.

"If we get the World Heritage designation, which would quintuple the amount of tourists that come to Bethlehem, then, certainly an expansion of the hotel would be warranted at that time," he said.

In the meantime, the hotel is hoping to rank highly on the USA TODAY list. The winner is chosen by popular vote. Polls close Monday, July 29 at noon, and the list is revealed on August 9.

To vote for Historic Hotel Bethlehem, click HERE.