For the 6th consecutive year the Historic Hotel Bethlehem achieved the #1 ranking in USA Today’s America’s Best Historic Hotel/Resorts. On Aug. 12 the hotel’s ballroom was filled with strategic partners, hotel staff and management, as well as members of a very supportive community.

Runners up to the Hotel Bethlehem were the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa in Fairhope, Alabama (2nd) and The Peabody Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee (3rd). A second Pennsylvania establishment, the Omni Bedford Springs Resort, finished 10th.

“Our staff, community supporters, and partners make the difference between the Historic Hotel Bethlehem and others,” says managing partner Bruce Haines.

Joining Haines and general manager Kelly Ronalds were LoriAnn Wukitsch, president and CEO of Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites, Donna Sabol, senior VP and chief quality officer at St. Luke’s University Health Network, and Kurt Landes, president and GM of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Each organization has become a key partner in this and other initiatives to increase tourism in the Lehigh Valley area.

Haines was quick to point out that HBMS gives visitors the experience of Bethlehem, St. Luke’s is a #1 rated hospital system in the USA and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are the #1 rated minor league ballpark and led the minor leagues in attendance the last three years. “You are judged by the company you keep,” he said.

Wukitsch noted that the local “community and sense of place” make a difference. “Bruce, Kelly, and your team, you rock it!”

At HBMS “we are aiming for a first class visitor experience” said Wukitsch who mentioned HBMS’s recent engagement of PlaceEconomic to plan for decades into the future.

St. Luke’s Hospital provided a link for people to vote and Sabol says the Hotel Bethlehem actually helps the hospital with recruiting when potential hospital staff stay at the #1 Historic Hotel.

Landes noted that both the IronPigs and Hotel Bethlehem “need the passion and desire of employees” to be successful.

At the strike of noon Ronalds brought hotel clientele and residents to the front so they could push a button revealing the top ten countdown. With only numbers one and two remaining hotel staff member Nina Colanse came to the podium to open the sealed FedEx envelope containing the top two names. Colanse shot her fist into the air as she revealed the Historic Hotel Bethlehem’s 6th number one ranking in a row, cheers went up and confetti dropped down in celebration.

Afterward, everyone enjoyed lunch on the house, as promised by Haines if the hotel achieved the top ranking.