Providence Biltmore Hotel
History
Built in 1922, the stately Providence Biltmore was the designed by renowned architects Warren and Wetmore in a distinctive V-shape. The hotel was full of the latest modern conveniences and self-contained services, including a drugstore, printing shop, carpet and upholstery shop and even private chicken coops.
The Biltmore’s Garden Room was the city’s hottest night spot for years and the sounds of big band leaders Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey filled the air. The dance floor was even converted into an aquarium, complete with live fish, for a performance by swimming star Esther Williams. It was then later transformed into an ice-skating rink for an appearance by Olympic star Sonja Henie.
The hotel’s famed Bacchante Girls offered the epitome of style and service in the exclusive Bacchante Room. Guests simply pressed a button and the girls materialized in diaphanous, see-through skirts, floating across a glass floor, under lit with dramatic and body-revealing pink lights.
The hotel has also survived its share of difficulties, from urban blight to the devastating hurricane of 1954. The hotel was flooded with water pouring into the elevator shafts and couches floating the lobby. Today, a plaque mounted atop a column in the lobby commemorates the high water mark.
