CITY GUIDES | NORTHEAST
The Best Hotels in Baltimore:
Harbor Luxury and Old-School Grandeur
By Maria Rodriguez | Aug. 20, 2024
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.
I’ve stayed in Baltimore enough to know the right hotel can do a lot of work here. This is a city where one neighborhood can give you harbor views and polished service, while another gives you old brick, a good bar downstairs, and the feeling you picked the place with some actual intention. That is what makes putting together the best hotels in Baltimore useful, because where you stay here ends up shaping the whole trip more than in cities where every hotel feels like it was built by the same consultant.
Some Baltimore hotels lean into history, some into waterfront ease, and some just understand that a weekend away improves dramatically when the room has some personality and the lobby is not trying to resemble an airport lounge. These are the Baltimore stays I’d book first.
Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore
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For views of the harbor that will make your friends wish they were there, Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore has you covered. This luxury hotel is the place where modern design meets impeccable service, and the rooftop pool? A perfect spot to contemplate your life choices while sipping a cocktail. It’s the kind of place where even the towels seem to have their own personal stylist.
Best for: Harbor views and rooftop-pool energy
Kimpton Hotel Monaco
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In the heart of downtown, Hotel Monaco is your go-to for a dose of quirky charm and historical depth. This former headquarters of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is now a place where the rooms are decorated with enough eclectic flair to make your Instagram followers jealous. Plus, they have a nightly wine hour, because who doesn’t need a free glass of something to help decompress after a day of sightseeing?
Best for: Downtown stays and historic bones
The Ivy Hotel
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If you’re looking to stay somewhere that feels like a cross between a grandparent’s lavish estate and a private club, The Ivy Hotel in Mount Vernon is your spot. This boutique hotel has a level of opulence that makes you question how you ever survived without velvet-lined walls. Rooms here are so comfortable that you might end up considering room service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Best for: Splurge weekends and Mount Vernon charm
Hotel Revival
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This is the kind of hotel that understands a room is only part of the assignment. The 107-room Mount Vernon property leans into local identity, with art throughout the hotel, Topside on the 14th floor for rooftop drinks and city views, and B-Side downstairs with cocktails and karaoke rooms. It is a good pick for people who want their hotel to feel plugged into the city instead of sealed off from it.
Best for: Mount Vernon stays, rooftop drinks, and travelers who like a hotel with some social life
Hotel Ulysses
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Hotel Ulysses looks like somebody gave a very talented eccentric a historic Mount Vernon building and a serious budget. The hotel is in the 1912 Latrobe Building, has 116 rooms, and backs up all that visual swagger with Ash-Bar for breakfast, brunch, cocktails, and aperitivo, plus Bloom’s for the sort of nightcap that can quietly turn into a second one. It is the Baltimore stay for people who are bored by neutral upholstery and do not mind a hotel having an actual point of view.
Best for: Design obsessives and anyone who avoids cookie-cutter hotels
Sagamore Pendry Baltimore
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For those who think a hotel should involve more than just a fancy bed, Sagamore Pendry Baltimore in Fells Point delivers. With its historic charm and waterfront views, this is a playground for anyone who enjoys a good mix of old-school luxury and modern indulgence. If the classic wooden bar doesn’t tempt you to sip something strong, the outdoor pool area surely will.
Best for: Fells Point weekends in waterfront luxury
The William Fell Baltimore
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The William Fell has the great advantage of knowing exactly why people book a hotel in Fells Point in the first place. The 80-room property looks out over the waterfront, sits by Broadway Square and the pier, and gives guests The William Fell Tavern and Anchor Bar without asking them to work very hard for that first drink. This is the hotel for a Baltimore weekend built around the neighborhood doing most of the work.
Best for: Fells Point waterfront views in the middle of the action
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