Visitation Hotel. Photo courtesy of Trent Bell.A new boutique hotel with quite a history is opening this week in Frederick, Maryland. Visitation Hotel, a Marriott Tribute property, is housed in a circa 1846 building that was originally an all-girls Catholic school, Visitation Academy. It was also a convent: Nuns lived on the property until 2005, the year it was turned into a private school; that closed in June 2016.  Architect Lance Jaccard, co-CEO of OTJ Architects, says they worked within the aesthetic of the historic buildings—there’s also a chapel that dates to 1851—when designing the hotel so that the backstory would be part of the guest experience. For example, the chapel, which is now a restaurant from Top Chef contestant Bryan Voltaggio, features confession box-patterned privacy screens, an altar behind the bar with sculptures of angels, and a still-functional organ in its mezzanine. On the hotel room doorknobs, “Do Not Disturb” signs dangle from rosary beads. The rooms will also include memorabilia from former students—some 1,200 artifacts in all. In one room, guests will find a fragment from an 1870s parasol that a young lady would have brought in her trunk, along with her medicine bottle, tea service, and a plate. Notes will tell visitors about each artifact. Developer Jim O’Hare of O2 Holdings/Lafayette Financial specializes in historic preservation. He was introduced to Visitation Academy before it closed by Frederick economic development director Richard Griffin, who wanted Frederick to have a historic hotel like another that O’Hare had developed, the Hotel Rodney in Delaware. “The history of the building and its prior use as a convent and school make the property unique,” O’Hare says. “We can use the preserved space not only to offer beautiful hotel rooms, a bar, and restaurant, but also to tell the stories of the nuns who lived and the girls who studied there.” Visitation Hotel. Photo courtesy of Trent Bell. Between the time that the school closed and O’Hare and Jaccard became partners on the Frederick project, the consensus amongst locals in Frederick was “Oh, what a shame. Here is this incredible historic structure that’s decaying,” Jaccard says. O’Hare and Jaccard made a bid in 2017. Though originally unsuccessful, they secured the property when the original buyer backed out. The pair worked to get historic tax credits with the Maryland Historic Trust and National Park Service, and changes approved with the city of Frederick’s Historic Preservation Commission.  They began with maintenance and exterior restoration and renovation. (First task: mowing lawns that were left unattended.) Construction was delayed two years by the Covid pandemic; it began in earnest in March 2022. Then a fire after a mass at the nearby St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in April 2023 delayed the opening another year. The hotel is finally opening this week, on December 19.  The hotel has 65 guest rooms, including nine extended-stay options. Meeting spaces on-site can accommodate 10 to 12 people. Three separate buildings with condominium units are also under construction, with one completed and two in progress.  A room at Visitation Hotel. Photo courtesy of Trent Bell. A larger event venue—where the school had its auditorium and which was used as a hospital during the Civil War—is available for rental as a ballroom, including wedding receptions. You can still see red-brickwork details that pre-existed in the space.  Outside, guests are encouraged to walk through the garden, which includes Joseph and Mary statues (and during Christmastime, a Christmas tree). The outdoor space can host 150 people for events. The eeriest touch is the cemetery, which houses the graves of 125 nuns, their names inscribed on metal nameplates.  Throughout the property, QR codes will link to stories about the 125 nuns buried on-site, including how the nuns baked apple dumplings to entice students to come to class, leading to an annual “Apple Dumpling Day” in Frederick. (Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s will include apple dumplings at the restaurant, Wye Oak Tavern.)     The restaurant’s decor features modern, brass-detailed chandeliers, booths with black and walnut detail, and wine racks by a Frederick mill and workshop. Local vendors were used for the entire project, including Jay Jeffrey’s woodworking, stone and metal company Lumber JaKKSS, and artist Jennifer Elveton’s ArtistAngle Gallery of Frederick, who supplied the frames for locally sourced paintings.  Frederick has become a restaurant destination, with restaurants such as Volt (now Thacher & Rye), The Ordinary Hen, The Tasting Room, and The Wine Kitchen. What had been missing is a downtown hotel, O’Hare says, since the Francis Scott Key Hotel closed in 1975.  “Visitation Hotel will fill that void,” he says. “When we first toured Visitation, it was a building that was going to die from neglect and demolition. We saw the potential for a hotel but also to preserve and restore Visitation, the history of the buildings, the convent, and the school. Now, we are a part of that living history.”The post An Old Convent Is Now a Swanky Boutique Hotel in Frederick first appeared on Washingtonian.