The quiet town of Frederick, Maryland, has been flying under the radar for years, though locals love it for its 19th-century architecture, colorful history, and wealth of independent shops and restaurants. Frederick is Maryland’s second-largest city but feels like a small town. But this week, that town got more accessible with the opening of the Visitation Hotel.

Much like the rest of Frederick’s businesses, the Visitation opened in a historic building, an 1846 former convent and Catholic school, the Visitation Academy. Part of the Tribute Portfolio collection from Marriott, the Visitation has thoughtfully transformed the long-unused building, preserving its architectural hallmarks within the 65-room hotel. The new stay is a fitting addition to the town’s living history which continued to successfully transition its historic buildings for modern-day use.

The renovation, by Washington, D.C.-based OTJ Architects, very subtly kept the schoolhouse feel. The rooms, which guests enter through covered porches, are minimalist with trinkets from the building’s past life, like pictures and programs from the school’s glory days. In a cheeky touch, the “Do Not Disturb” signs are hung from chains closely resembling rosaries.

The Visitation’s restaurant, Wye Oak Tavern, is by brothers, Frederick-locals, and Top Chef contestants Bryan and Michael Voltaggio. Wye Oak Tavern is located in what used to be the school’s chapel, with soaring ceilings, stained glass, a tabernacle, and a sizable pipe organ. The menu’s focus: steaks and martinis (the ultimate chapel food, no?). Diners are seated on two levels: the main dining room on the ground floor and the choir loft with tables arranged around the organ. A small grab-and-go cafe, Acorn Provisions, serves coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries, along with local beers, small bottles of wine, and snacks.

The Visitation is steps away from the center of town, which has streets lined with 19th-century Federal-style and Greek revival brick architecture and independently owned shops and restaurants. Visit antique stores like Emporium Antiques; Vintage MC, which specializes in midcentury furniture; and Heritage Interiors with more traditional pieces. While shopping, pop into The Record Exchange, which sells vinyl out of a historic rowhouse; Crème de la Crème, which sells curated European home goods; and the Curious Iguana bookstore. Frederick was home to a major hospital during the American Civil War; dig deeper at Frederick’s National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Or, for something a bit lighter, stop in to Brewer’s Alley, a local brewery housed in Frederick’s 18th-century City Hall.