The Omni Providence Hotel (formerly The Westin Providence) is a Neo-Traditionalist skyscraper in downtown

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. At , it became the fourth-tallest building in the city and the state on 15 February 2007, when the nearby slightly taller The Residences at the Westin topped out. Brick facades and a pitched roof adorn the building. With the completion of the Residences tower, that added 200 rooms, the Omni Providence now boasts 564 rooms, and is still the tallest and largest hotel in Providence, having usurped the title from the 1922

Providence Biltmore The Graduate Providence is an upscale hotel that opened in 1922 as the Providence Biltmore Hotel, part of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain. It is located on the southern corner of Kennedy Plaza at 11 Dorrance Street in downtown Providence, Rhode ...

upon completion. William McKenzie Woodward, a local architectural historian and staff member of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission does not believe its styling to be architecturally innovative, calling it "yet another bland addition to the city's growing recent collection of buildings seemingly designed not to offend."

History

The Westin Providence, as it was then known, was completed with 364 beds in December 1994 as part of a larger construction project which included the

Rhode Island Convention Center The Rhode Island Convention Center is an exposition center in downtown Providence, RI. Opened in 1993, it is the largest convention center in Rhode Island, with about of exhibition space, including a exhibit hall. It is connected by skybridges ...

and two parking garages. The hotel held its first gala in January 1995. The hotel was sold to

Omni Hotels & Resorts Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American privately held, international luxury hotel company based in Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 1958 as Dunfey Hotels, and operates 50 properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, totaling over 2 ...

in October 2012 and was converted to the Omni Providence Hotel on January 15, 2013. The hotel is connected by the ''Providence Skybridge'', constructed by the architect

Friedrich St. Florian Friedrich St. Florian (born 1932) is an Austrian-United States, American architect. He moved to the United States in 1961, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1973. Early life and education St. Florian was born Friedrich St. Florian Gartle ...

in 2000, with the

Providence Place Providence Place is an American shopping mall in Providence, Rhode Island. With of gross leasable area, it has been the largest shopping mall in Rhode Island since it opened in 1999. As of 2022, the mall is anchored by Macy's, and Boscov's, an ...

shopping mall.

COVID-19 pandemic

The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced the Omni to close to the public in March 2020. The hotel found some financial relief in January 2021 when nearby

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

leased 240 rooms to provide socially distanced housing for their students, including weekly laundry service and a COVID testing site on the third floor.

References

External links

Omni Providence Hotel official website
{{Providence skyscrapers Skyscrapers in Providence, Rhode Island Commercial buildings completed in 1994 Skyscraper hotels in Rhode Island Hotels established in 1994 Hotel buildings completed in 1994 1994 establishments in Rhode Island