Hilton Baltimore

A month before the hotel's scheduled opening in August 2008, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said that an 18% increase in room night bookings through 2017, as of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, compared to the previous year's, confirmed the city's decision to move forward with the hotel development project as a means of bolstering Baltimore's convention business.

[2] The massive hotel has been criticized for blocking the once-celebrated views of Baltimore's skyline from the Oriole Park at Camden Yards grandstand, however.

[6] It has also been reported that in spite of the October 2024 labor contract, issues plaguing the Hilton Baltimore would remain ongoing.

The team also includes Treyball Development Inc., a company based in Beverly Hills, Calif., that is owned by the actor Will Smith and his brother, Harry.

On November 13, the Baltimore Sun said that Mayor Martin O' Malley approved the 750-room Hilton Hotel RLJ proposal, granting RLJ Development a six-month exclusive negotiating priority to build the $200 million hotel, subject to negotiation of financing and room blocking for convention business.

The proposal offered 600 rooms available to BACVA, with a final decision to be made between the Hilton and the city when the hotel nears opening.

On August 15 the Baltimore City Council approved the Convention Center Hotel bill by a 9 to 6 vote, supported by then-City Council President Sheila Dixon, Vice President Stephanie C. Rawlings Blake, Paula Johnson Branch, Robert W. Curran, Kenneth N. Harris Sr., Helen L. Holton, Edward L. Reisinger, Rochelle "Rikki" Spector and Agnes Welch.

Opponents of the measure were Mary Pat Clarke, Belinda Conaway, Nicholas C. D'Adamo Jr., James B. Kraft, Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. and Bernard C. "Jack" Young.

With substantial completion of construction in 2008, there were complaints that views of the city's skyline are now blocked from most sections of Oriole Park at Camden Yard's grandstand.

[8] A Washington Post columnist called it a "cruel cubist joke on a previously perfect ballpark", although others said they were pleased with new construction downtown as indicative of urban revitalization.