The Biltmore Hotel — Hotel in Baltimore

Having read the very mixed reviews, I didn't know whether to expect old-world charm or cocaine dust on the mantle piece. The folks that slammed this place to the ground were either complete curmudgeons or the types that prefer cookie-cutter motels like Holiday Inn or Motel 6. Sure, this place was not perfect, but it made up for those cosmetic imperfections with plenty of character.

Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly-beautiful on this place - not in that order. A rather crabby woman checked us in - perhaps the general manager. She did not tell us that the key was for the bottom lock and since it was not obvious, the key nearly got stuck in the wrong lock. Two people walked by who I believe were housekeeping staff and nearly bit our heads off for being so stupid. She also did not tell us that a password was required to access the free WiFi. She was a woman of very few words, and in fact, we were left to our own devices to figure things out.

The room was charming, although clearly in need of some repair - an outlet cover was pulling out of the wall with the electric cord exposed, the bathroom ceiling had missing pieces, and it looked like a gorilla spackled the bathtub. Good god, a 5-year old could do a better job with cake icing. You needed a degree from Johns Hopkins to figure out the bloody TV remote - no guide and it had more buttons than I have ever seen. And it didn’t work very well – pushed the buttons and they did not respond.

The room looked out onto a charming courtyard - very atmospheric. Since we were directly below the room where the beautiful, but ill-fated mistress of the house had stayed, we hoped to see her ghost. But alas, Shirley never appeared to us, although I awoke in the middle of the night sensing something weird. There are people who believe in ghosts, including the much more personable night-shift guy who apparently has seen some odd things, although he was clearly hesitant to discuss this.

The lobby was beautiful and decorated with period antiques. We were able to store our bags in the office since checkout was at 11 am and we were not leaving Baltimore until 4:30 pm. There was complimentary coffee and some granola bars, which we didn't need, considering we were plowing all sorts of food in our faces at the Natural Expo East. The Mount Vernon area is very beautiful and the looming church across the street is haunting and gorgeous, although much to my disappointment, we never got inside. Baltimore is shady so you do have to be very careful, but more so in the walk between Mount Vernon and the Baltimore...

We just recently stayed here this past weekend June 9-11 for HomebrewCon. We mainly booked this because we could use some southwest points and the price was right. I was a little worried about this place after some mix reviews.

We actually arrived around 9am and were just planning to drop off our luggage before check in but the lady there was able to let us check in early for extra $25, which was a no brainer. She was friendly.

We were on the 3rd floor. Reading the reviews I was warned about the stairs. So i was fully prepared to walk my luggage up 3 flights of stairs. Going to win the weekly fit bit step contest this week!!! I was actually kind of charming and different. If you are someone who can't walk 3 flights of stairs you probably do not want to stay here.

The room itself was clean..no surprises. It was old but comfortable. Bed was very comfortable. Fridge and microwave worked. Bathroom was clean. Did have a bit of an odd musky smell but it wasn't offensive. If you are really sensitive to smells you might not like this place. My only complaint was the shower didn't ever get really hot. It got warm enough to take a quick shower but never hot to steam up the whole bathroom. TV had plenty of channels if that is important to you. We were basically only there to crash each night

The area itself in the Mt. Vernon area was nice. Had some nice little hole in the wall spots for breakfast and lunch. I felt safe walking around.

We were able to get an Uber within 5 minutes the whole time we were in Baltimore at all times of the day and night. Most the Uber drivers said they actually lived around the block. It was $5 trip each way to the convention center. We did walk one time in the morning with no problems. It is urban so you will see an occasional homeless person but never felt unsafe. I would probably not walk it at night but I would say the same in any urban downtown I stay in.

Hotel does promote a breakfast but expect some breakfast bars and apple as your options.

Overall it was fine experience. Beds were comfortable. Cool old building. If you looking to be pampered by staff and have a more modern hotel this isn't it but if you need a place to sleep for the night at a good rate and don't mind a little exercise this...

Myself and my friends were going to be staying there for two nights. I was not able to go on the trip myself, but I called the hotel and had the reservation put into my friends name. Whenever they got their, the hotel had some nasty moldy smell, and both of my friends tried to use their inhalers, and weren't even able to breathe correctly. They were given a refund but the money wouldn't be available for them to pick up until almost 3 days later. They would have to drive to Philadelphia, then drive BACK to Baltimore to pick up the money, then DRIVE BACK TO PHILADELPHIA to go to where they were going. Although everything was refunded, I still got an email saying that I was going to be charged a $79 dollar cancellation fee, even though my friends were physically unable to stay in the room. I called the hotel to see what the issue was, and explain to them that my friends did not cancel the reservation, but had to leave due to how nasty the room was, and I had a woman with a slightly northern accent get EXTREMELY rude with me. She explained that my card would not be charged, and that they knew to get the $79 dollar cancellation fee from my friends, but they would still have to pay that. My friends were given a contract saying that they wouldn't have to pay a cancellation fee. Also, they took my friends money up front. When I originally made the booking I was told that the money wouldn't be taken until we checked out on the 9th. This hotel has some people who tell you one thing, then others who tell you another thing. I wouldn't recommend staying if you have breathing problems, and also they have members of the staff who have been very rude to me. I WOULD NOT EVER recommend staying here. I never even went into the room, but with the experience my friends and I had over the phone with these people, I would NOT...