Matt

I'm going on a business trip to Baltimore soon. I found a couple of hotels just next to the north-west part of the Johns Hopkins University campus, near the intersection of St Paul Street and West University Parkway. Is this an unsafe area? I will need to be near the Inner Harbor during the day, but I can't find any reasonably priced hotel anymore. Any other safe area within reasonable taxi distance? Thanks.

gail

While I am not always a Priceline fan, we got good price on Inner Harbor hotel a few years ago. Priceline works well for this area since Inner Harbor is a small and distinct area - not like in some cities where area boundaries are a little odd.

We got Wyndham which is not one of the hotels right on Inner Harbor but a block or 2 off the water - still Inner Harbor area and worked fine for us.

Matt

thanks. I never used priceline, but do you get lower rates for a given hotel than booking with, say, expedia? This particular hotel you mention has currently a good rate, but bad reviews...

mom2boys

I stick closer to the Inner Harbor for hotels. I can't vouch for the exact hotel you mentioned but Hopkins is not in the best part of Baltimore. If you plan to venture out in the evenings, the Inner Harbor has plenty to do & is well travelled.

Judy24

I think there's some confusion here.

Matt mentioned a hotel by the Johns Hopkins University, which is in a very nice part of town. I think mom2boys may be thinking of Johns Hopkins Medical Center, which is not in such a great neighborhood.

Matt, are you referring to the Inn at the Colonnade? I know it's on West University Pkwy, but it's west of St. Paul. It's a lovely hotel, but not cheap. Not sure what cabfare would be to the Inner Harbor, but Baltimore is not that big. A suggestion for a decent place at the Inner Harbor would be the Marriot at Camden Yards. Since it's a little west of the IH (but still walking distance) it's usually less expensive than the Marriot Waterfront. Other lower price options would be Holiday Inn or Days Inn, but I have no personal experience with them.

Matt

Thanks a lot Judy, indeed I had found scary posts about JH hospital and I was wondering about JH University. Yes, one of the hotels is the Inn at the Colonnade, the other one the Hopkins Inn. What kind of area is it? Are thre restaurants, bars, cafes? It´s about 3.5 miles from where I need to be, so I guess cab ride should be 8USD or so?

kelliebellie

I don't know anything about Baltimore, but I do know that the Edgar Allen Poe house is in the middle of the ghetto, so I'd stay away from hotels in that area.

When we got to the door of the Poe house, there were some wide-eyed tourists asking if we were the taxi.

Judy24

Matt, the area around JHU is very nice. Nothing at all like the area surrounding the hospital. Just keep in mind that it is an urban setting, and use all usual precautions.

I've never stayed at the Hopkins Inn, but have passed it by. It looks much smaller than the Colonnade, and is probably less luxurious, and therefore I would imagine less expensive. The location is good for walking to some small casual places (Donna's comes to mind) in Charles Village. There's also a Ruby Tuesday around the corner on Charles St. Lots of college kids, obviously. I've stayed at the Inn at the Colonnade, which is very nice, and has a great restaurant on the first floor, but it's farther to walk to Charles Village area. Sorry I can't help you with cabfare, since I always had a car.

However, having said all that, it does sound like you'd be happier in the Inner Harbor, especially if you need to be there during the day. There's much more to do there, both day & night, and you can walk everywhere.

gail

Matt - don't use Priceline unless you are informed about rules (such as no cancellation, you "bid" on a specific star rating and area, but get whatever hotel they want to give you - you don't have a choice).

Have not read reviews of Wyndham. It was a big glass-and-steel type hotel which seemed more suited to business and convention travelers than leisure travelers. But we had not complaints about rooms, service, etc. Only real downside is that it is a couple of blocks to heart of Inner Harbor - for the money we saved, I did not care. And it was closer to Camden Yards than other Inner Harbor hotels, which worked for our purposes.

Matt

Thanks all. Last question: What about the Admiral Fell Inn? (888 south broadway). It seems like a nice area and close enough to Inner harbor. hotel is only slightly more expensive than the ones near JHU. (Unfortunately all the Inner harbor hotels I looked at are full.)

sprin2

The area around Hopkins University is very nice and a great urban residential area with some restaurants, shops etc. It is a straight shot down to the inner harbor. We use to live up there and loved it.

The Admiral Fell's Inn is very nice and in a fun section called Fell's Point. I believe there is a water taxi to the inner harbor, it's a quick cab ride.

zztop

I live in Balto. Been to the lobby of the Admiral Fell Inn. It's very nice. It's in an area called Fells Point which is just fabulous. Great restaurants, bars, and shops. You can take a water taxi (if they're running now, not sure) to the Inner Harbor. You can't go wrong in Fells Point.