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Adjacent to the Convention Center and Riverfront Park, The Holman Hotel injects new life into the city of Salem’s historic district. It plays a crucial role in enhancing the city’s ability to accommodate visitors and host larger-scale events or conferences, offering a much-needed, centrally located lodging option.

A member of the Hilton Tapestry Collection, The Holman is a 127-room hotel designed for government and business travelers. The hotel includes 35 extended-stay rooms with separate bedrooms for privacy, spacious lounges and mini kitchens. The seventh-floor suites boast sweeping views of Riverfront Park and Salem’s downtown skyline. The hotel’s ground floor includes a restaurant and bar, a coffee shop and a cafe serving light meals and snacks.

Leveraging a 2019 amendment to the state building code, the hotel’s design incorporated four-over-three construction, a departure from the norm that allowed above-grade parking on the second and third levels. This move circumvented the challenges of subterranean garages while optimizing urban space.

To preserve Salem’s historical charm, the hotel’s facade is a nod to the city’s architectural heritage. Light brick and dark tile echo neighboring buildings, ensuring a harmonious blend of past and present. The Holman’s rooms and communal spaces pay homage to Salem’s pioneering women, their names a tribute to the city’s rich history.

The Level 4 courtyard incorporates a green roof, minimizing stormwater runoff into the city’s storm drain system while enhancing the visual amenity for interior units. European-style, tilt-and-turn windows were incorporated into guestrooms, providing secure ventilation and natural light.

Throughout construction, the project team faced a number of hurdles, including planning for long lead times for some materials, a lack of trade partner manpower, inclement weather and a constrained construction site space, with little to no lay-down area and limited site storage.

Integrating Hilton’s operational team into the final stages of construction meant contractors and the hotel’s future management had to work closely together to balance the ongoing construction work with the operational setup of the hotel. This increased the complexity of the project management, as it required synchronizing the physical completion of the hotel with the operational readiness for its opening.