baltimore Travel Guide
HotelChatter 2011 Awards / Anti-View / Baltimore Hotels / Kimpton Hotels / Flickr / → All Tags
Worst Anti-View: Up Against A Wall In Baltimore
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in the comments below.
We're not sure about you, but the first thing we always do when checking into a new hotel room is head for the window, throw open the curtains and take in the view. City views. Sunrise views. Views of the country. It really doesn't matter as long as we're high enough up that cars below turn into little dots on the ground.
And then sometimes, you get stuck with an anti-view like this one. After a prior positive experience getting a free upgrade at the Hotel Monaco Baltimore, we were suddenly confronted with this vista of cinder block, exhaust vents, and medieval-style window slits a mere 20 feet from her window.
Hotel Openings / Four Seasons Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Four Seasons Baltimore to Open on November 14 (And Without Seattle's Guest Rooms)
When we last checked in with the upcoming Four Seasons Baltimore, we saw that their website was using stock photos of the guest rooms at the Four Seasons Seattle. Yet with the hotel just one week away from opening, we are relieved to see that their guest rooms are all theirs.
Above is a Four Seasons Executive Suite with a harbor view. It sure is pretty with its floor to ceiling windows, sofabed, deep-soaking bathtub, two 40" flat screen LCDs (with another in the bathroom) and get this, a universal phone charger. Hallelujah. We hope more hotels start adding these to their amenities soon.
We couldn't actually make a rezzie online for opening day on November 14 (you can call the hotel at 410-576-5800 to see if there are rooms open) but we did find a room available on November 21 for $359 a night for a city view room.
Four Seasons Hotels / Hotel Websites / Hotel Photoshop / Hotel Fauxtos / → All Tags
The Four Seasons Seattle Has Apparently Been Transplanted to Baltimore
Yesterday, we commented on the guestrooms at the upcoming Four Seasons Baltimore by saying they looked "decidedly Four Seasons" meaning they look pretty darn similar to other Four Seasons hotels. But we were still shocked when a tipster pointed out that the room photo is ripped off from the Four Seasons Seattle's website!
So you can see for yourselves, we put the room shots together above. The room photo on the bottom is the Four Season Seattle's partial bay view room while the one on the top is the Four Seasons Baltimore's generic room shot. Thanks to the trickery of photoshop, the view has been swapped out to show Baltimore's city streets and not Seattle's Elliott Bay.
Uggggggh.
Hotel Openings / Hotel Opening Rates / Baltimore Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / → All Tags
Four Seasons Baltimore Opening November 20 at $359 a Night
Looks like we owe you guys some money! Back in December we bet the forthcoming Four Seasons Baltimore would probably open in early 2012 instead of late 2011 but guess what? The hotel is now accepting reservations for November 20...2011.
A city view room is going for $359 a night while the marina view rooms are slightly more at $399 a night. All rooms include complimentary coffee, tea and pastries in the lobby from 5:30 am to 8:00am as well as fresh fruit at check-in and bottled water if you valet your car.
Anti-View / Kimpton Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / → All Tags
Down in The 'Dungeon' at the Hotel Monaco Baltimore
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Ah...such a bummer. We love our Kimpton Hotels for their complimentary wine hour, quirky animal-print bathrobes and free WiFi (for InTouch members) but this view from the Hotel Monaco Baltimore, in the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad HQ, has us feeling trapped in the dragon's dungeon in Super Mario Brothers. And despite our enthusiasm for Nintendo games, that's not a good thing.
But it's not all doom and gloom at this hotel. The Flickr member also took this shot from the hotel. Things are looking up already. Next up, World 2 underwater!
Rates at the Hotel Monaco start at around $209 a night. Before you book, read our in-depth hotel review, with a video tour, right here.
[Photo: Criminal Intent]
Hotel Hype / Baltimore Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / → All Tags
Baltimore to Get Swish With a Four Seasons in Late 2011
Looks like it's not just the Four Points chain that's expanding in 2011 but so will another "Foursome"--The Four Seasons. The luxury hotel chain is set to open in Baltimore, Maryland in late 2011.
The 18-story hotel in the Harbor East district next to the Legg Mason tower will have 256 rooms and suites. There are also plans to put residences on top of the hotel but according to the Baltimore Sun, the hotel portion will be finished first.
Currently, the concrete superstructure and the glass "skin" of the hotel are already finished but the hotel's developers have only just completed enough financing to start working on the interiors. They are aiming for late 2011 but we'll hedge our bets and say early 2012 just in case.
Labor Day Hotels / Green Hotels / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / Fairfield Inn / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Fairfield Baltimore Offers Green Rooms for Labor Day Weekend
Eco-conscious travelers heading to Maryland over Labor Day weekend can bunk at Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott - Baltimore Inner Harbor, the city's first green hotel.
The limited-service Fairfield Inns aren't exactly the most exciting of Marriott's brands. But the Baltimore outpost tries to make itself stand out from the ho-hum hotels by monopolizing on its building, converted from a brewery, and adding a bar, and by going green.
Anti-View / Airport Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / → All Tags
You Win Some, You Lose Some at Airport Hotels
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
The thing is, Airport Hotels could have really good views for its hotel guests, especially if they are Plane-Spotting enthusiasts but more often than not, airport hotels have yielded some of the ugliest anti-views yet.
This one from the Marriott BWI Airport has a triple whammy against it. Not only does it not have views of planes taxing on the runway, it has a view of a rooftop AND a view of the neighboring Hilton. As HotelChatter Flickr pool member Tom Barnes says:
The view of the new Hilton from Room 411 is surely an anti-view if there ever was one.
Room rates are also not that cheap here, starting at $199 a night for an Advance purchase rate that is non-refundable. Also, the hotel's Moniker's restaurant is undergoing renovations and will not be open until later in March.
Anti-View / Baltimore Hotels / Hotels Near MLB Ballparks / Holiday Inns / → All Tags
Holiday Inn Baltimore's Inner Harbor Has Bad Outer Views
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
In theory, this view from the Holiday Inn Baltimore Inner Habor could be a killer view. No, we're not crazy. Look in the right-hand corner. That's the Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Except it's hard to see that because of this run-down rooftop crap in front of you.
Oh well. The slightly refreshed rooms are only $99 a night and the WiFi is free. Plus it's close to the Baltimore Convention Center. You could do worse.
[Photo: Jyoshiki]
Hotel Packages / Thanksgiving Hotels / Kimpton Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / → All Tags
Enjoy Old-Timey Train Fun at the Hotel Monaco Baltimore this Thanksgiving
When the Hotel Monaco Baltimore opened this summer in the 1906-built former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad headquarters, we had no qualms using as many railroad-related puns as humanly possible. From the looks of the hotel’s latest press release, it seems we’re not the only ones who love a good train pun.
“Keep family ‘chugging along’ over long Thanksgiving weekend,” the subject line reads. From there, they pretty much dive head first into a Thesaurus entry of train terms. Once we stopped groaning, though, we found the “Ticket to Ride” family package to sound pretty fun.
With deluxe accommodations in family friendly rooms, the package also includes two tickets to the B&O Railroad Museum (which will be kicking off the holiday season Thanksgiving weekend with the Festival of Trains and a Santa train ride), “a train whistle and conductor’s hat for each of the ‘young engineers,’” plus something called — wait for it — Chugga-Chews cookie snacks.
We’re not really sure what that all has to do with Thanksgiving — except the press release’s line about how it will be “time to get moving” after indulging in your Turkey Day feast — but the special is only available Friday, Nov. 27, through Monday, Nov. 30. Rates start at $169; enter promo code PBOR.
Snapshot / Kimpton Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / Baltimore Hotels / → All Tags
Careful On The Stairs At The Hotel Monaco Baltimore
Wot, no fugly carpeting?
Normally, the only time we really notice a hotel staircase is when we’re peeved that the lift has broken down on us, but things are a bit different at the Hotel Monaco Baltimore. Because it’s stationed in the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad HQ the whole building is pretty splendiferous, and the staircase up to the lobby on the second floor is no exception. In fact, it’s probably the only time we’ve seen a sign like this on a hotel staircase.
Be careful going up and down though – important monuments have no need of adornment in the way of carpeting, so they’re not only steep, but slippery as well. We’d recommend holding on as you pause to look at the pretty stained glass roof:
Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Kimpton Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / New Openings / → All Tags
Inside The Hotel Monaco Baltimore
[UPDATE: A hotel rep has emailed us to say that the matter has been resolved and the hotel will not be up for auction. Also, the hotel was never in danger of closing as it is only "a tenant and the dispute was between ownership and a contractor." So go ahead, book your rooms.
When we read last week that the Hotel Monaco Baltimore might be facing an uncertain future, we thought we’d better pop along and see it sharpish. So when we needed to make an unforeseen stop in Baltimore, and the room rates were still holding to the introductory rate of $159, we shacked straight up.
We asked as many staff as we met (sorry for bothering you, bellmen, valets and cleaning ladies) about the lawsuit that could see the hotel up for auction. All of them told us flatly that it wasn’t true – except for the manager, who said he wasn’t at liberty to talk about it. After spending the night there, we’re crossing our fingers it’s not true too.
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