Four Spectacular Hotel Lobbies You Must See to Believe

The immense industrial profits that made Pittsburgh into a city of millionaires also financed construction of a magnificent grand hotel and three other superb antique skyscrapers where visitors can now rest their weary head for the night. But you don't have to be a guest to admire their amazing lobbies, agleam with marble and polished brass. Just have a stroll inside and you will agree: They just don't make them like they used to.

Pictured |
Renaissance Hotel Pittsburgh
Omni William Penn Hotel lobby

Omni William Penn Hotel

Constructed: 1916, by Janssen & Abbott (expanded in 1929)
Location: 530 William Penn Place

Three red brick bays tower above the carved limestone base of this monumental property, once the largest hotel between New York and Chicago. It is one of a trio of great edifices erected for steel tycoon Henry Clay Frick side by side along Grant Street, and no expense was spared to convey an atmosphere of sophistication and luxury. The head chef came from the Plaza Hotel in New York and the maître d' from the Savoy in London.

Ascend the stairs from the entrance into a two-story arcaded lobby, designed in Italian Renaissance style with a richly carved coffered ceiling. Reflections from its crystal chandeliers twinkle in decorative arched windows. The adjoining Terrace Room has original walnut paneling and a 1951 mural of George Washington amid merrymaking settlers at Fort Pitt.

In a ballroom next to the original one on the 17th floor is another mural by Joseph Urban, a celebrated set designer for the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Ziegfeld Follies. Above walls of black Carrara glass, the oval ceiling is painted in a faded but still glorious Persian-themed "Tree of Life" motif, with women around the edges strumming exotic musical instruments. The room, with its original chandelier, is an Art Deco masterpiece and the highlight of a 1929 addition that extended the rear of the hotel to Grant Street to fill the entire block.

The hotel was targeted for demolition in 1964 to make way for a new skyscraper for U.S. Steel. But its prospective buyer, Pirates owner John Galbreath, backed out when he learned he would have to pay off hundreds of hotel employees who had three years left on their union contract.

Embassy Suites Downtown Pittsburgh ground floor lobby

Oliver Building/Embassy Suites

Constructed: 1910, by Daniel Burnham
Location: 535 Smithfield Street

This 25-story tower is the tallest building ever designed by Daniel Burnham, the great Chicago architect responsible for the Flatiron Building in Manhattan and scores more skyscrapers all across America. Its top 10 floors reopened as a hotel in 2016 after an extensive renovation.

Burnham was commissioned in 1901 by Henry Oliver, an iron and steel magnate whom he had met five years earlier when they and their wives shared a train compartment on a sightseeing trip in Egypt. His design is very similar to the Frick Building, which was under construction when this structure was first sketched. Both have E-shaped floorplans and extravagant marble lobbies.

The main difference is its glazed terracotta exterior, as opposed to the Frick Building's granite. That material had never been used for a Pittsburgh skyscraper, so Oliver put the project on hold until he could see how it would look. To show him, Burnham designed a department store on the opposite end of the block. Its glazed terracotta exterior caused a minor sensation, but Oliver died before it opened and never got to see the larger building that posthumously bears his name.

Ollie's, a gastropub on the top floor, has spectacular views — not just of the city below, but of the incredibly detailed terracotta ornamentation on the cornice, best appreciated up close. From the sidewalk it is difficult to see even on a clear day, let alone the sooty skies of a century ago.

Renaissance Hotel lobby

Fulton Building/Renaissance Hotel

Constructed: 1906, by Grosvenor Atterbury
Location: 107 Sixth Street

The signature seven-story arched opening on the side of this converted hotel admits sunlight to the interior guestroom windows. For the 30-foot skylight above its two-story marble atrium, artificial illumination is used instead to create a purple glow.

Lighting was even more dramatic in the 1980s, when this space was a fabulous disco called "Heaven." The Studio 54 of Pittsburgh had disco balls, glitter cannons, and dancers in cages suspended above the floor. Climb the grand staircase to get a better look at the original ceiling mosaics, and try not to imagine how many overexuberant clubgoers in stiletto heels took a tumble back then.

This building is the lone survivor of three skyscrapers built for Henry Phipps, the longtime business partner of Andrew Carnegie and the benefactor who gave the city Phipps Conservatory. It was named for Robert Fulton, the inventor who built a steamboat here in 1812 that sailed all the way to New Orleans.

At street level on the river side is the box office and entry to the Byham Theater, which started as a vaudeville venue before switching to movies in 1930. Locally filmed zombie classic "Night of the Living Dead" premiered here in 1968.

The veined marble walls of The Industrialist lobby

Arrott Building/Industrialist Hotel

Constructed: 1901, by Frederick Osterling
Location: 405 Wood Street

What the lobby of this skyscraper lacks in size, it more than makes up for in elegance. Its heavily veined Italian marble walls and ornate ornamental bronze banister and mailbox catch your eye first. Step closer to examine the carved stone surrounding the elevator doors to reveal tiny mosaics in green, white, gold, and red tiles.

This showy striped building, with its false balconies and cornice line of screaming faces, was erected for John Arrott, the bathtub king of Pittsburgh. An Irish immigrant, Arrott ran a fire insurance business, and when an iron foundry he insured burned down, he and two partners bought the business and added enameled bathtubs to their product line.

The shiny white tubs were hugely popular, and Arrott built bathtub and bathroom fixture factories throughout the area. He died only months after the opening of this skyscraper, but his company went on to become American Standard.

After you admire the lobby, step outside and look down the street at the 19th-century commercial buildings next door. Imagine how their owners felt when this unruly neighbor shot up 18 stories and permanently cast them into shadow.

If you enjoy learning about Pittsburgh's historic architecture, consider taking an Antique Skyscrapers Rooftop Views tour with Mark Houser this Sept. 14-15 or Oct. 19-20.

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Mark Houser

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Mark Houser

Professional speaker, writer, historic skyscrapers expert

Mark Houser is the author of two books on historic skyscrapers, "MultiStories" and "Highrises Art Deco." Nearly 2,000 people have gone on his Antique Skyscrapers Rooftop Views tours in Pittsburgh. More at HouserTalks.com.

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