The famous hotel in the area has been chosen as the country's Best Historic Hotel/Resort by USA Today for an unprecedented fourth year in a row.
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During a ceremony at the hotel on Wednesday, Velez was given the distinction of opening the FedEx-delivered envelope containing the contest results. Bruce Haines, managing partner of Historic Hotel Bethlehem, beamingly received the news. Beside them, a big video screen displayed the new designation, which he accepted with his wife Jo Ann. Haines said to a sizable group of well-wishers and hotel staff, "The reason we won is the support of the community."
We continue to be a community hotel. Every night at the bar, half of the patrons are from out of the country or something else, and the other half are Lehigh Valley residents. The Lehigh Valley's assistance makes this possible. Employees at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem will still carry the No. 1 pin on their uniform, which they have worn for the previous three years.
Historic hotels and resorts in California, Hawaii, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, Washington State, Alabama, Tennessee, Wisconsin, New York, and New Jersey were all defeated by the 202-year-old Historic Hotel Bethlehem. D.C. Industry insiders and editors of USA Today select the nominations. Next, the public casts an online vote for their choice. The National Trust for Historic Preservation oversees Historic Hotels of America, which is connected to all of the winning hotels.
The Historic Hotel Bethlehem was ecstatic to win the competition. Interestingly, the hotel and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs formed a Grand Slam partnership before the competition. In July, during the campaign's opening game at Coca-Cola Park, IronPigs shortstop Scott Kingery appeared to be setting himself up for a fourth straight top ranking as he crushed a grand slam. "We were honored to collaborate with Historic Hotel Bethlehem," Kurt Landes, general manager of IronPigs, stated. "The hotel has made the entire Lehigh Valley community very proud."
We are in the tenth year of the USA Today contest. Not a single other hotel has taken home the trophy four times, much less four times in a row. Furthermore, no other Pennsylvanian hotel received a nomination this year. In 2020, Historic Hotel Bethlehem came in second, and third in 2019. Discover Lehigh Valley President Alex Michaels stated, "Hotel Bethlehem's hard work and dedication are evident in this distinction." Chief Executive Officer of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. Don Cunningham remembered, with pride, strolling down the street as a young man and glancing at the hotel.
He remarked, "And I was mayor when this hotel was shuttered and in mothballs." "This is a microcosm of what is going on in the Lehigh Valley right now."
Haines also took time to commemorate the hotel's July UNESCO World Heritage Site designation as a component of the Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem. The U.S. government formally submitted a nomination for the designation on February 1, 2023. Moravian Church Settlements: Bethlehem was selected because of the remarkable universal worth of the settlements and the worldwide impact of the Moravian Church. Along with Yosemite National Park, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello residence, and Grand Canyon National Park, it is one of only 26 World Heritage Sites in the United States. The only other two similar locations in Pennsylvania are Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater House and Independence Hall in Philadelphia.