Best Western Plus Hotel & Conference Center — Hotel in Baltimore

Probably the WORST HOTEL stay I've ever had. I've had to travel a lot over the years and this may literally be the worst hotel of them all. This review is much longer, but google is limiting how much I can complain about this place, so I’m trimming my review. The worst part was the nighttime shuttle driver. He left the pickup point well ahead of schedule and then we waited for more than THIRTY MINUTES before his final pick up of the night. It was wonderful getting to hang out in downtown baltimore at 11:15 on a Saturday night. NOT. While making about my third call to the hotel to inquire about the shuttle driver (before realizing he had left ahead of schedule), a person with significant mental difficulties approached my wife and I. Here I am trying to confirm another shuttle trip for the night when suddenly my wife and I are feeling even more uncomfortable.

I moved us as far away from that individual while keeping the shuttle pick-up area in sight. Turns out the driver did leave considerably ahead of schedule (at least seven minutes early b/c we arrived there seven minutes before the 11:00pm pickup. The hotel front desk couldn't get a response form the shuttle driver and then GAVE ME the shuttle driver's cell number and wanted me to do their job to call him. We are on a tight budget and that's why we stayed here rather than a much nicer place. We budgeted for the room and their free breakfast (which was even worse than you'd expect a free breakfast to be). No, we didn't budget for an uber or a taxi b/c we crazily thought the hotel shuttle would be fine. Indeed, the morning shuttle driver was super friendly and helpful. (That's a big reason why I didn't give one star in all categories.) We used the free Charm City Circulator to get us to our destinations during the day instead of paying for parking all over the city.

After waiting approx. 37 minutes in the Baltimore night air, the shuttle returned - on time and not early - at 11:30pm. The shuttle stayed parked for at least 30 seconds and I was afraid of us being left b/c that was the final shuttle of the entire night! So, when no employee exited the shuttle, I approached it to get in. The driver finally exited the shuttle and started yelling at me for not waiting for him. I'm not a mind-reader; if I was, I would've known to have never stayed in this dump of a hotel.

The shuttle driver, to put it simply, treated my wife and I in a way that can simply be described as racist.

When we finally returned to the hotel, it was close to midnight. I went to the front desk to complain about the racist employee and to inquire what the heck had happened with this whole shuttle service debacle. Then, the shuttle driver popped up from the back office and went up and stood next to the several front desk employees in a very threatening manner. My wife asked me to leave it be because she was afraid the guy was going to go postal on us.

That night was no better at this awful hotel. By the time we had unwound from all of our stress, it was roughly 1:00AM. Then, people started coming and going up and down the hallway for more than an hour until I couldn’t take it anymore. I called the front desk and they finally got the loud, rude people to shut up so that we could get a whopping five hours of sleep before the very mediocre breakfast and checking the heck out of this...

We were in town for a medical procedure at John Hopkins Hospital .Hotel is showing signs of age, decor/ furniture dated with visible damage in room 604( refrigerator cabinet was strained and would not remain closed),picture on wall crooked, scratch marks on furniture and all walls could use a deep clean.Light on the wall by the tv was missing the bulb. Overall, the room was very poorly lit even if you turned on all the lights.The beds, were very soft, so if you have a bad back this may not work for you. The a/c in the room, worked very well. Only two set of towels in bathroom on arrival. A second set, was dropped off by the housekeeper in the morning. These towels, were obviously older, dingy and on their last leg! They didn't give you that " fresh" clean appearance and were not soft. ||All the hallways and elevators had No a/c! They were very uncomfortable. ||The room rates are reasonable especially if you book directly with name and get the discount for John Hopkins patients. We stayed here because of the location, free parking and they do offer shuttle service to and from the hospital which is a wonderful service, if needed. They have other specials stay and cruise and also if you are flying out of Baltimore Airport. I believe you have to book by calling the front desk. Several complaints of cars being broken into,we didn't have that issue. The area appears sketchy- it is directly across a huge truck stop.You are given a parking pass to place in your car upon checking in. You of course, have to sign a release to receive the parking pass.||Our checking in was with a female- I believe her name was Brandi- she was very pleasant. I did question her on the $150 deposit that is done separately from your room charges.I did acknowledge this when we booked, however I did not realize that the charge on your credit card, was not returned when you check out but may take upwards of three to ten days! So, if you use a credit card instead of a debit charge, I would think this could be completed more efficiently. Electronic reversals are done all day long. Just a pet peeve of mine as holding your credit hostage should not be the norm, especially when they are hosting guests in rooms with damage.||We did not use any other the amenities available. ||Our person checking us out was a male. When he was asked for the final folio, he looked at me like I had horns on top of my head! Very bizarre! He did provide one after a second request .Strange response as this is standard terminology in the hotel/ travel industry. ||So, would I stay here...

Let's start off on a positive note. Breakfast was buffet style, and pretty darn good. This is probably the closest Hotel to the port. The close proximity is what made us try this out.

Unfortunately, everything else is not very positive. We had a ship check in time of 12:30. Upon check in at the hotel, we asked about shuttle sign ups. We were told that the shuttles run between 12-2, and was first come, first served. Well, before 9am, and we were down for breakfast, I noticed there were already folks waiting for the shuttle. We waited until 11, and went down to the lobby to wait. The next hour went by pretty quick, as everyone was talking cruising.

A little after 12, a table with a shuttle worker appeared out of nowhere. That table was bumrushed by not the folks that had been sitting there for hours, but, people that came from I'm not sure where. Long story short, the folks waiting the longest were now last on the list.

There were between 80-90 folks waiting to go, and shuttle/van space for 15-20. At about 1:30, I decided to order an Uber. I was tired of playing this, too many people , to few transportation. The wife had told the shuttle monitor that we ordered an Uber. He insisted that we cancel the Uber because we were next in line. We shouldn't have been next, but we were. Cost me $5 to cancel the Uber. Made it to Port by 1:45, was on ship by 2. Certainly not the 12:30 check-in we were hoping for.

Now upon return, we had quite the opposite problem. We had checked luggage to retrieve. By no means early off the ship. KD Elite had a couple smaller vans, but , directed us to the waiting 40 passenger bus. I knew this was not going to end well when we were the first people on the bus. The driver assured us, we would leave soon. We'll, of course an hour later we pulled out. What a horrible ship and shuttle experience. I blame the hotel for this fiasco. They sold the service and it didn't go well. This was for the cruise on the Legend beginning 4/24. Also, when you arrive the Saturday before the cruise, be aware they have a comedy club in the hotel. A very popular Comedy Club. Parking was horrible. Not many handicapped spots. We had to park as far from front door as you could get. I was half tempted to call them and ask for a shuttle ride to the door.

After some research, this was a good option. After experiencing this first hand, never again. We have stayed at several hotels around Baltimore, with shuttles of some sort to the port. In all other cases, they had sign-ups when you checked in. Do yourself a favor, stay clear of this free for...