Baltimore Hotel Cruise/Park

[checkard]

Has anyone stayed at the Best Western Hotel and Conference Center on O'Donnell Street in Baltimore? We can get a package deal for hotel room, parking while on the cruise, free buffet breakfast, free shuttle to Inner Harbour and the hotel was only about 1 mile from the cruise port so we could take a cab to and from the pier.

 

Someone on our thread who is from Baltimore said that this wasn't a very good area and not safe. We aren't familiar with Baltimore and need help from other folks who may have stayed there.

 

I contacted the tourism bureau and this is their reply: "The Best Western Hotel on O'Donnell Street is a very popular hotel w/ people who have booked cruises. It is the closest hotel to the cruise terminal and offers a generous parking package for guests who are going on a cruise. The Best Western is Attached to the Baltimore Travel Plaza. This is a bus travel facility. The hotel maintains 24-hour Security detail throughout the premises, including the parking lot." But of course, they weren't going to tell me that it was a dangerous area even if it was.

 

If this isn't a good spot, does anyone have ideas for other park/cruise hotels that aren't $250 per night.

[Purple_Sunday]

Checkard - I would not stay there and/or leave my car there if I were you! And I grew up just about 10 or 15 minutes from there.

 

Since I live in the area, no I haven't priced out what other hotels in the area cost. I'd look in the main Downtown/Inner Harbor area or even a nearby suburb where the cab ride might be a little more, but the hotel might be more affordable. I'd be glad to give you a thumbs up or down on other options though. Do you have AOL IM? There's a link to the top right of my post that you can IM me.

 

When do you leave? Any chance you're on our cruise next week?

[Knighton]

I agree with above poster-that is a bad area. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot in the immediate area. The nearest area that would be acceptable and not as expensive as the Inner Harbor is the hotels around BWI airport. It would be about a 20 minute drive from Dundalk Marine Terminal. They have parking at the cruise ship terminal-it's $10 per day (paid in advance-cash only). If you really don't want to drive to the terminal, the hotels have packages that let you park there while you're gone. You could take the hotel's free shuttle to the airport terminal, and take the Royal Caribbean charter bus from there to the dock, like the people who would be flying in will do. (It's usually $25) Hope this helps.

[steve20832]

You can park your car at the long term parking lot at BWI airport for $8/day and catch the free shuttle to the airport then catch a taxi to the cruise dock (Taxi should be around $20 for 2 people each way.) Sounds like a pain but it really isnt that bad. You can Priceline or Hotwire a hotel at BWI airport area which is much safer....

Link to airport parking http://www.bwiairport.com/directions_parking/parking_map/

[steve20832]

Sorry about duplicate post....CC is having problems again

[sharl]

Hi Checkard, I'm the one that posted on the roll call board about Best Western. I hope I didn't panic you about the motel. I am only going by my experience. I'm sure that plenty of people have stayed there with no problem at all. But the area isn't that great. I did reply to your post a little while ago on the roll call board. Good luck. If I find anymore info on hotels, I'll let you know. Sharl

[signman]

The area isn't THAT bad. It's just that there is absolutely nothing appealing nearby, and I might worry about my car sitting there.

 

Another area that is closer than the Airport is adjacent to The Avenue at White Marsh, just off I-95 north of I-695. There is a Hampton Inn and a Hilton Garden Inn. Free parking, but no shuttle service. Lots of nearby shopping, dining, and entertainment.

 

But my first choice would be something at the Airport, so you can easily drive to the Inner Harbor, only 15 minutes away. There are good deals to be had on Priceline. A cab from the airport runs about $40 or so, and will take up to 4 people. But sometimes 4 people have more luggage than will fit into one cab. There are minivan and SUV model cabs available from the airport, but when leaving the ship the only cabs are Ford Crown Victoria or Mercury Marquis sedans.

 

Use Priceline to try to get a good deal on a hotel, say in the $60 - $80 range, then just pay the parking fee at the port and don't worry about shuttles, cabs, or security.

[sharl]

Signman I agree with you completely. The 2 hotels over white Marsh would be a good choice & they are right off of 95. I have also used the port to leave my car. Granted you do have to pay per day, but I never worried about leaving my car there. I know it's not always possible, but if I can, I really like being able to just get off the ship & get in my car to drive home.

[Purple_Sunday]

Actually, White Marsh was one of the areas I had in mind when I mentioned the nearby suburbs. It's a good area with a nice mall, the Avenue is great, and there are plenty of restaurants/bars in the area. You can probably park for free or cheaper than the BWI area at least. You will pay more for a taxi, but if you post a message in your Roll Call perhaps somebody might be driving down from the White Marsh area and would be willing to give you a lift.

[maxs mom]

We stayed at the Best Western last year when we cruised out of Baltimore and had no problems there then. It was very convenient to the port...$8 cab ride and our car was fine. There were quite a number of cruisers there as well and no one had any problems.

[checkard]

Thanks for everyone's comments. I did cancel the reservations at Best Western and we're checking out other places. We only live about 2 hours from the port but we thought we would be able to visit Inner Harbor if we had a hotel for the night before. We were all planning to leave work at noon and head to Baltimore to get in a little more leisure time.

 

I did find a website (http://www.hotelplanner.com) that lets you put in what you are looking for and then hotels give you a bid. There's no obligation to accept any of the bids but you can then contact the hotels for further information. Anybody know anything about the Quality Inn - Harbor South at 1401 Bloomfield Avenue? That is one of the hotels that submitted a bid.

[Purple_Sunday]

Checkard - I checked out that site and did a search for the night of 11/10 (assuming that's the night you want based on your ticker).

 

First and foremost, I definitely wouldn't recommend that Quality Inn. That's not in the best of areas either. There are plenty of other Inner Harbor hotels in that same price range. I'd choose the ones that say they're in the Inner Harbor area as opposed to anything that says Harbor South.

[checkard]

Thanks for everyone's comments. I did cancel the reservations at Best Western and we're checking out other places. We only live about 2 hours from the port but we thought we would be able to visit Inner Harbor if we had a hotel for the night before. We were all planning to leave work at noon and head to Baltimore to get in a little more leisure time.

 

I did find a website (http://www.hotelplanner.com) that lets you put in what you are looking for and then hotels give you a bid. There's no obligation to accept any of the bids but you can then contact the hotels for further information. Anybody know anything about the Quality Inn - Harbor South at 1401 Bloomfield Avenue? That is one of the hotels that submitted a bid.

[madelinerose]

The Best Western is in an industrial area that, IMHO, is not "bad". It overlooks I-95 and there are many truck stops in the vicinity. The Best Western is located at the Baltimore Travel Plaza which did (or maybe still does) house the Greyhound Bus teriminal that runs between DC and NYC.

 

If I had to make a choice between the Best Western and the Quality Inn Harbor South, the Best Western would win hands down. Personally, I wouldn't stay at either.

 

Also, IMHO, staying in suburban White Marsh when the cruise terminal is in Baltimore, is not the way I would handle my stay. I am not familiar with any cruise/park hotels. We parked at the cruise terminal last October when we sailed on the Miracle....piece of cake and $10 or $12/day.

 

http://www.baltimore.to/lodging/index.html

I checked reservations for 11-10 to 11-11, 1 room, 2 adults and here's what I found: Holiday Inn $159, Days Inn $139, Tremont Plaza $139, Wyndham $179. Not all hotels are over $200, however many on this site are not close to the Inner Harbor.

 

http://www.baltimore.org/visitors/v_sleep_results.jsp?q=&scat=DHCC&neighborhood=Inner+Harbor&Submit.x=40&Submit.y=2

 

http://www.harbormagic.com/

 

Try Priceline, Inner Harbor area, 3 or 4 stars, bid $100 and see what happens. You may get lucky. Seems like your time frame would be rather slow for the Baltimore hotel business.

 

Good luck. I'm sure you'll find something that's nice. ;)

 

BTW...we once took the bus to NYC and left our then 2-month old car in the Baltimore Travel Plaza parking lot for 5 days w/no problems at all.

[signman]

I would choose the Best Western over that Quality Inn too. Checkard, how many are in your party? Have you looked at http://www.hotwire.com to get an idea about prices. What is the date you are looking for?

[madelinerose]

signman...Hi, neighbor. Definitely the Best Western if a choice must be made.

Hopefully, checkard will get it all worked out. ;)

 

I would choose the Best Western over that Quality Inn too. Checkard, how many are in your party? Have you looked at www.hotwire.com to get an idea about prices. What is the date you are looking for?