New York-based hotelier Ash has announced the launch of its fourth hotel, Ulysses, in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighbourhood.
Opening this month, the 116-room property – owned, developed and designed by Ash – occupies the nine-storey Latrobe Building, a former apartment building designed by architects Glidden & Friz in an early Italian Renaissance style and built in 1912. The site was also once home to seven-time Baltimore mayor Ferdinand Latrobe.
Inside, an all-day café and a late-night drinking parlour embrace Baltimore’s contradictions and eccentricities with a textured, idiosyncratic design layered with arcane references culled from Art Deco movie palaces and the oeuvre of Baltimore icon John Waters.
The hotel’s name – Ulysses – takes inspiration from a ship that brought Bavarian immigrants to Baltimore at the turn of the century, and nods to a seminal James Joyce novel of the same name and Odysseus, the hero in an ancient Greek poem of epic travel and adventure.
Spread across eight floors, guestrooms embrace one of four colour themes – red, yellow, green and blue – and feature decadent minibars, a proprietary fragrance and custom bath products. Beds are outfitted with handmade quilts inspired by Baltimore Album Quilts, and emblazoned with invented languages. Other details include hand-beaded lampshades, custom textiles, wall-to-wall carpet and tapestry-style draperies. Four suites also feature a clawfoot bathtub that takes centre stage.
