Ben Lomond Hotel

Located on Historic 25th Street of downtown Ogden, Utah Ben Lomond Suites Historic Hotel started life as the five-story Reed Hotel in 1891. In 1927 the hotel was completely reworked in an attempt to create a fire proof hotel. Eleven stories were added and the hotel was renamed the Bigelow Hotel. In 1933 Marriner S. Eccles aquired the hotel and renamed it the Ben Lomond Hotel. Then in the 1980s the 350 room hotel was completely renovated and converted to a 120 suite condo-hotel. The Ben Lomond is the last of the three “grand hotels” in Utah that is still being operated as a hotel. Evidence of this legacy can be seen in the crystal chandeliers, marble floors and decorative ceilings as you enter the lobby of this historic hotel, which is listed on both the Utah & National Historic Registers.

the Ben Lomond was designed in the Second Renaissance Revival Style-a very popular style in Utah between 1890 and 1930. The style was inspired by 15th and 16th century Italian architecture that was itself influenced by the Classical architecture of ancient Rome and Greece. The Ben Lomond is based on the tripartite vertical organization characteristic of Florentine palaces like the Palazzo Medici Riccardi: It uses a ‘rusticated’ base of glazed terracotta, an 8-story piano nobile, and an attic of arcaded windows with bas-relief terracotta tympana surmounted by a modillion-supported cornice. According to its National Register nomination, the lavish interior was designed as a sophisticated pastiche of styles that included an English Room based on Bromley Castle, an Arabian coffee shop, a Florentine-inspired ballroom, a businessmen’s club room from ‘old Spain’, an ‘Adamesque’ Georgian Room, and the famous Shakespeare Room decorated with murals by the renowned Utah artist LeConte Stewart.” (Weber County Heritage Foundation 2010 Calendar)