Formerly: Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore · The Lord Baltimore Hotel
Baltimore, Maryland · Founded 1928 · Building: 1928
A 1928 William Lee Stoddart hotel whose preservation revival under Rubell ownership kept a major Baltimore high-rise hotel in use.
The Lord Baltimore Hotel opened on December 30, 1928, as a major downtown hotel designed by William Lee Stoddart. Its steel-frame, brick, French Renaissance-style tower became a notable feature of Baltimore's Charles Center area. Rubell Hotels acquired and restored the property in 2013, returning it to independent operation after its Radisson era.
The Lord Baltimore Hotel opens in downtown Baltimore.
Source: National Register of Historic Places nomination for Lord Baltimore Hotel; Historic Hotels of America history
William Lee Stoddart's steel-frame hotel building becomes a prominent French Renaissance-style high-rise in Baltimore.
Source: National Register of Historic Places nomination for Lord Baltimore Hotel; Baltimore Heritage, "Lord Baltimore Hotel"
Later historical accounts identify several Depression-era deaths at or from the hotel, including named 1933 cases; the complete number and circumstances require verification through coroner and newspaper records.
Source: Dubhodhars Baltimore, "The Lord Baltimore Hotel"
The Lord Baltimore Hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: National Register of Historic Places nomination for Lord Baltimore Hotel; Baltimore Heritage, "Lord Baltimore Hotel"
Rubell Hotels acquires the Lord Baltimore Hotel, ends its Radisson affiliation, and begins a major renovation.
Source: Historic Hotels of America, Lord Baltimore Hotel history; Doors Open Baltimore
The renovated Lord Baltimore Hotel reopens as an independent hotel under Rubell ownership.
Source: Historic Hotels of America, Lord Baltimore Hotel history
Lord Baltimore Hotel remains an operating downtown Baltimore hotel owned by the Rubell family.
Source: Doors Open Baltimore, Lord Baltimore Hotel listing; current booking availability
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The National Register nomination and Baltimore Heritage identify William Lee Stoddart as architect of the Lord Baltimore Hotel. The building is a major example of the early twentieth-century high-rise hotel form in downtown Baltimore.
Modern reporting and local-history accounts say the hotel was associated with more than 20 Depression-era suicides by jumping, and one local history article gives names and 1933 dates for several deaths. This audit did not inspect Baltimore coroner records or contemporaneous newspaper reports sufficient to verify the total, the claimed floor, or the full date range.
The Molly story is part of the hotel's contemporary haunted reputation, but available ghost-tour accounts contradict one another. Some describe a child dying with her parents after the crash; another describes an adult bride named Molly dying by barbiturate overdose in Room 1910. No independently reviewed coroner record establishes either story.
The hotel is regularly presented in Baltimore media and ghost-tour material as a haunted location, with the 19th floor and the figure called Molly central to that reputation. The documented point is the existence of the modern reputation, not proof of paranormal activity or the historical details in the legend.
Doors Open Baltimore identifies the hotel as owned by the Rubell family. Historic hotel histories describe Rubell Hotels' 2013 acquisition and subsequent independent reopening.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
Multiple sources describe a child known as Molly on the nineteenth floor, usually wearing a cream or white dress with dark shoes and playing with or bouncing a red ball. Reports also describe her crying, screaming, rocking herself, or searching the hallways for her parents.
Accounts conflict about Molly's identity, age, death, and connection to the hotel, and no primary record reviewed for the main entry establishes her story.
The Versailles Room ballroom is associated with reports of a formally dressed man and woman dancing when the room is otherwise empty. Some accounts also describe chandelier crystals swaying and a woman moving toward a ballroom window before vanishing.
Multiple reports describe elevators traveling to or stopping at the nineteenth floor without a passenger selecting it. When the doors open, accounts say no one is visible, and some riders report feeling touched by cold or unseen hands.
Guests and staff have reported a sensation of being watched or touched in rooms and common areas, nightmares, unexplained sounds, televisions switching on or off, and belongings that appear missing or moved. These reports are generally described as broad hotel activity rather than a single named apparition.
A recurring hotel legend describes a small child's handprint in a penthouse wall that employees reportedly cannot remove or paint over. Accounts present it as an unexplained physical trace associated with the hotel's larger Molly story.
No Depression-era suicides occurred at the Lord Baltimore Hotel after the 1929 stock market crash.
Available local-history and media sources report Depression-era suicides associated with the hotel and identify several named 1933 cases. The exact total and circumstances still require verification through primary coroner and newspaper records.
Source: CBS News Baltimore, October 21, 2024; Dubhodhars Baltimore, April 28, 2022
The Molly ghost story is a settled account of a seven-year-old girl's 1929 death.
Molly is a modern ghost-lore figure, but accounts conflict sharply about her age, identity, manner of death, location, and whether she died with her parents or alone. This audit found no primary record establishing the story.
Source: Ghost City Tours; US Ghost Adventures; CBS News Baltimore
The Lord Baltimore Hotel was the largest hotel in Maryland when it opened.
The hotel was a major 1928 downtown property, but this audit did not find sufficient comparative evidence to support a statewide largest-hotel superlative.
Source: National Register of Historic Places nomination for Lord Baltimore Hotel
The Lord Baltimore Hotel survived because preservation-minded ownership treated the aging high-rise as a reusable downtown asset rather than a building to be replaced. Rubell Hotels acquired it in 2013, ended the Radisson affiliation, and carried out a major renovation that returned it to independent operation. Its location, substantial original structure, and continued use for lodging and events have supported the hotel's modern revival.
The Lord Baltimore Hotel opened on December 30, 1928. Architect William Lee Stoddart designed the steel-frame, French Renaissance-style high-rise hotel in downtown Baltimore.
The Lord Baltimore Hotel is owned by the Rubell family through Rubell Hotels. Rubell Hotels acquired the property in 2013, ended the Radisson affiliation, renovated it, and returned it to independent hotel operation.
The 19th floor is central to the Lord Baltimore Hotel's modern ghost lore, especially stories about a figure called Molly. The hotel has a documented haunted reputation, but the historical accounts of Molly's identity and death conflict and were not independently verified in this audit.
Local histories and a 2024 CBS Baltimore report say the hotel was associated with Depression-era suicides by jumping, with some accounts claiming more than 20 deaths. This audit found references to several named 1933 deaths but did not inspect the original coroner records needed to verify the total or precise circumstances.
20 W Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 539-8400
Check the hotel before visiting for current lobby, restaurant, mezzanine, event, and guest-floor access policies.