Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore/White Marsh — Hotel in White Marsh

This place is something different entirely. Out of all of the hotels I had went to, this was so far the worst. I had never felt more disregarded and racially profiled in my life. When me and 2 friends checked in for our stay at 3pm to celebrate my birthday, we experienced a lot of stares from the people around along with multiple cop cars being in the area. We were greeted nicely however we still felt uncomfortable due to the stares and glances we received for being the only few black residents there. While the men including myself went to get preparations for the room a random white male resident came past our way and accused us for using illegal substances at our door. He even went to the extent to try to barge into the hotel room we stayed in making demands to check the room while my female friend had to barge the door closed by herself. If it wasn't for my friend understanding the hotel policy (stating that she can not open the door to anyone while the name placed on the room and card holder was not present) the staff wouldn't have removed the man from our door. Before coming back I received a call from my friend as she try to explain the situation and telling me that we had to leave. When I came back to the hotel I try to figure out what was happening, and we was told that we had to leave within 30 minutes because there were accusations of us smoking in a non smoking room without proper proof or an investigation being made. When talking to the staff they were very hostile and went along with whatever the white male said and made the final decision (without any manager on duty to speak to and make the proper evaluation) to kick me and my friends out. It felt as though the staff only took one look at us and instantly sided with the other resident, despite our warm greetings and impressions made in the beginning of our stay. The staff even went to the extent of telling us that we could be charged 500 dollars extra for the violation as the male resident threaten to call police; disregarding everything we could say in this situation. While leaving the same Hilton staff member awkwardly said “sorry about your birthday” with a wave and smile as we left with a full cake in our hands and bags. As we calmly left the premises my friends were distorted, confused and eventually began crying as we settled into another hotel. For the entire night I had to comfort my female friend from crying non stop about the experience of the man trying to barge through the door and for the birthday she was hoping for me all weekend. The entire day felt ruined. As I try to speak to the Hilton staff the next day on the phone as far as what happened the staff would leave us on hold for long periods of time. Despite being constantly led on and denied to speak to a manager, I had to kindly leave a voice mail for the manager that was on duty. I didn't receive any call backs or emails regarding the situation. Again being disregarded and ignored. Luckily for us, another person was registered in the same room the next day. Without any words from the manager or Hilton staff, the money and security deposit was somehow magically sent back to us that day. Even though we had received our money back my mind couldn't ignore the situation. Everything felt completely off. I couldn't ignore the fact that we were not only falsely accused of something but wrongfully kicked out as well. The other residents checking in without complaint was given proof that they had no grounds to kick us off the premises and purposely was trying to avoid a lawsuit being made. This was far the worst experience I have ever had at a hotel stay. My birthday was the only day I was able to truly do something for myself throughout the hardships I endured for a whole year and I was denied that satisfaction. All because a white resident disturbed the peace and didn't...

The hotel was clean, quiet, they had protective protocols in place to protect the customers and themselves from too close contact during this critical time. The only thing that I really didn't care for was how they served the continental breakfast from across the counter. The bagels were wrapped in plastic and the orange juice and other items were closed but when it came to the coffee I'm really not that comfortable with someone else fixing my coffee without gloves on. I've gone to other Hiltons during this pandemic like for instance in Memohis, TN, they put out Danishes, muffins, closed bottles of juices, yogurt, fruit etc. the coffee was at your leisure to make with the closed creamers and you had to bag it yourself and go no sit down off course. I like their concept regarding that portion of the stay and their choices of the breakfast. wrapped Bagals are ok, but its better and safer to me if they offer prewrapped items instead of something that someone with COVID could have access to wrap for you... we just don't know. The property could have done a better job putting down salt so that the ground wouldn't be so slick and their guest could possibly fall. Especially walking through at night, you can't see all of the ice patches. The front desk staff was nice accept for the person that registered me in when I arrived. He was polite at first, but he didn't explain that by me showing up after midnight because I traveled through that terrible snow storm it made me fall behind in time. The point that I'm trying to make is he was suppose to inform me that my reservation turned into a no-show and I did inform the person that booked it, that there was a possibility that I may arrive after 12, but that particular guy failed to inform me that the no-show status would automatically generate and what the charges would look like or process of the situation. The guy that was on staff by the time arrived, he reinstated it, but I received double charges because of the initial no-show that the system generated. As well as the charges when I called in to book the room, those charges would be there as well. So basically, I had 3 pending charges on my credit card without notice. I got settled in my room and my bank alerted me of the charges, when I called the guy at the front desk he sounded real nonchalant about just waiting for the charges to drop-off. I was traveling from out of town and he didn't know my situation, if I could afford to wait for those extra $200 to just drop off, but he was nonapologetic and I really didn't feel good about that at all. Needless to say, I went downstairs early that same day after getting a couple of hours of shut eye... a nice gentleman explained to me what went on regarding the multiple charges and he did what he could to correct the situation and before I left the following day, the charges were posting on my credit card accordingly. I am terrible with names but I wish that I remembered, because he was so professional. If management reads this review he was a kinda tall older gentleman that worked on the first shift on Dec 17, 2020. I want to personally thank him for helping me to...

Lobby When first entering the lobby i was taken aback by how beautiful it was. This lobby is equipped with a dining area, two seating areas with fire places, a snack bar, and plenty of art as talking pieces. The lobby was clean and the curtains draped from the pillars greatly added to the scenery

Staff The staff was a bit short at times, but never disrespectful. I believe they are currently understaffed, as most places are, but they work with it the best they can. During my stay i didn't have a single instance where i needed to contact a staff member and couldn't find one. Housekeeping services collected my trash daily from outside of my door as they walked past.

Room The rooms are out dated and many things are on the tipping point of failure. It was explained to me that this was due to lack of income during the pandemic. As much as i do understand this, i wish i could have taken a bath without the water draining in 5 minutes due to a leaking drain stop. I also wish the air conditioner hadn't smelled foul and rattled at night. I ended up fixing this myself because maintenance wasn't available and discovered it was because the air filters hadn't been cleaned in a very long time. The rattling was from the air passing around the edges of the clogged filters and shaking the plastic. The rooms were well stocked though, and definitely clean. They're working well with what they have. As a side note, you can hear conversations in adjacent rooms as well as the hallways. The walls aren't very thick. Due to a no party policy this wasn't an issue at night when i was trying to sleep, just a nuisance when I'm trying to wake up and get ready.

Amenities I was placed directly across from the gym and the indoor pool. I didn't get a chance to try the pool because it's rather small and the hotel was almost full during all three nights of my stay, so naturally the pool was always crowded. The gym has fresh towels, cleaning cloths for the equipment, free weights, an elliptical, treadmills, and a yoga mat. This might be pretty basic for a gym, but it's a really nice amenity that i haven't seen in too many hotels. The gym was also almost always empty so i had full access with no over crowding.

Location The location is amazing. It's set right next to a mall and within walking distance of multiple restaurants and even a Dunkin donuts for my morning coffee. However, don't expect a view. I went to the top floor to see the view. On one side it was nothing but traffic, and on the other side it wasn't spectacular. I don't mind this so much because a hotel manager can't decide what gets built next to it, but i thought I'd bring it up for anyone who uses it as a tipping point in their decisions. The location is also about a 15-20 minute drive from a state park as well as some access to beaches. On the other hand it is also about 15 minutes from Baltimore city and everything it has to offer.

TLDR The hotel is great but expect a few broken things here and there. Worth the money imo because it's really clean and the lobby is nice. Not...