Hotels near BAL

[margo]

What is the neighborhood like near BAL? We like to stay close to the station. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[bmorechris]

Immediate neighborhood can be a bit sketchy at times, especially night when the area is relatively empty. My Mom was just north of the station a few weeks ago going to a play, her and her friends had a couple guys deliberately cross the street to follow them and then they began yelling at mom and friends. Fortunately the venue provided a staff member to escort them back to their cars. Best bet is to use the free charm city circulator bus to head 10 minutes south to the inner harbor or harbor east, or just grab a cab or uber. Plenty of hotels, restaurants, and entertainment options.

Sad and difficult time in Baltimore right now with the level of violence, the places you would likely visit are relatively insulated from the more dangerous areas.

 

[margo]

Thank you very much for this advice.

 

[niemi24s]

I highly recommend the use of Trip Advisor to select a hotel. Its mapping feature shows their locations and clicking on an icon will open up a page containing photos, amenities and hundreds of reviews. There's also a link to each hotels website for addition information and rates. Here's what the Trip Advisor map shows:



Hotel reviews will often give sordid details like gunshots, drug dealers, police sirens, etc. but first -hand info such as given by Bmorechris are invaluable.

 

[Maverickstation]

I would NOT recommend staying close to Baltimore Penn Station.

There are some very good hotels to the east of downtown Baltimore in the Harbor East area, and they run from mid tier to high end.

This has become a very happening area where there are always lots of people walking around, stores, a movie theater, and a Whole Foods Market.

A quick trip on Uber, or Lyft will get you to, and from Penn Station for your train.

Ken

 

[Maverickstation]

This is a website for the Harbor East area, including a hotel listing.

http://www.harboreast.com/

 

[niemi24s]

And here's what Trip Advisor shows incorporating that latest input:



If memory serves, the Harbor East area is in the vicinity of the Cruise Terminal so some hotels there are probably pretty swanky.

 

[MARC Rider]

I am at Baltimore Penn around 5;30 AM and 6 or 8 (2 nights a week) PM as part of my daily commute. If I have to drive to the station, I park in the lot north of the tracks on Lanvale St. I've never had any problems with crime, etc., though this is the city, and you see homeless people and other urban "characters" who might appear disconcerting to some people from more rural or suburban areas. The crime situation in Baltimore is over-hyped. I mean, it exists, but's it's mostly confined to certain neighborhoods, which don't include the area around Penn Station. The area north of the station (cleverly called "Station-North") is being gentrified as an arts and entertainment district. The entire area is perfectly safe in the middle of the day, at least safe from crime. The traffic on Charles and St. Paul streets can be dangerous for pedestrians. Stay on the sidewalks and obey traffic signals. An as others have pointed out, there are no hotels in the immediate vicinity of the station. You will need to take a taxi/uber/lyft/downtown circulator bus to the downtown/Inner Harbor area, which has plenty of choices.

 

[margo]

Thank you all for your advice. Love this forum.

 

[oregon pioneer]

I stayed in Baltimore when traveling with my husband in 2013, and again when alone in 2015. I was glad to have learned the ropes the first time: don't go north of the station. Don't go east or west outside the several-block wide corridor between the station and the harbor/Little Italy area. That corridor seems quite safe and full of tourist and professional-oriented service businesses. The corridor is served by the free Charm City Circulator buses.

The first time we went, we stayed at a B&B that was only a few blocks south of the station. It was very nice, and they gave us good advice about where it was OK to walk and where we should take the bus. Unfortunately, I believe old age caught up with Joe and Becky, the hosts. The B&B is gone.

When I traveled alone, I stayed at the HI hostel which was accessible by the Circulator bus. It was unbelievably inexpensive, and I really liked the international crowd. But I understand that staying in a hostel is not for everyone. There are several other nice-looking hotels on the Circulator route that runs by the station. Like others, I recommend checking them out with TripAdvisor.

 

[RPC]

In 2015 my family stayed at the Hampton Inn across from Camden Yards. The rates are reasonable on days the Orioles aren't playing and the staff and free breakfast were great. Easily reached from BAL via light rail and a few blocks walk.

 

[trainman74]

I've stayed at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco, which is in the downtown area. The train connection is that it's in a building that was once the headquarters for the B&O Railroad. It's right on a Charm City Circulator route, which I used to get to and from Penn Station, and to get to the B&O Museum for sightseeing. (I also walked to Camden Yards to see the Orioles, although it's not one of the closest hotels to the stadium -- if I recall correctly, it was about a 20-minute walk each way.)

I will caution that it's a bit on the expensive side (it's considered a 4-star hotel).

 

[Carolina Special]

One way to preview your planned walk is to use Google maps in street view mode and move up the road you plan to travel. That way you can get an idea how comfortable you are walking through the area ahead of time.

I did that for a trip I planned to Baltimore a couple of years ago, specifically between the Inner Harbor area and the train museum. Sadly, I had to cancel the trip at the last minute.