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​Five Best Hotels for a Staycation in Baltimore

Enjoy spas, cocktails, and soaring views right in your own backyard.
By By Cassandra Miller

Baltimore is a great place to go on staycation, especially when you check into one of these five character-filled hotels, and experience the city with fresh eyes. Offering home bases in some of the city’s most tourist-friendly neighborhoods, our top staycation hotels include waterfront oasis Four Seasons, boutique hotels in historic homes like The Ivy Hotel and Admiral Fell Inn, and beautiful downtown fixtures the Lord Baltimore Hotel and Hotel Monaco.

Admiral Fell Inn
888 S. Broadway, 410-522-7380
Neighborhood: Fells Point
Rates: $169-$299

To take in the most of the Fells Point waterfront tourist district, the historic boutique hotel Admiral Fell Inn is a few cobblestone steps away from dozens of bars, restaurants, and shops. Once a safe haven for sailors in the 1800s during the height of Fells Point’s bustling seaport days, the inn has been thriving as a home base for tourists and staycationers, offering rooms with Jacuzzi whirlpools and balconies. The Admiral Fell encourages guests to bring pets to make friends with Barnacle, the hotel’s bulldog.

Four Seasons Baltimore
200 International Drive, 877-992-0654
Neighborhood: Harbor East
Rates: $489-$14,000

The Four Seasons is the go-to for a resort experience in downtown Baltimore. If the marble bathrooms with integrated televisions and in-room espresso machines don’t make you feel indulgent, the infinity hot tub and spa services that include chakra balancing and tarot card readings will. The hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Wit & Wisdom, is a regular on national and regional best lists. Located on the waterfront in chic Harbor East, the hotel is easily walkable to Little Italy, Fells Point, and Inner Harbor attractions like the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center.

Hotel Monaco
2 North Charles St., 443-692-6170
Neighborhood: Downtown
Rates: $179-$879

Hotel Monaco is in a Beaux-Arts building that once served as the headquarters for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and has stylish details like marble staircases, crystal chandeliers, and Tiffany stained glass windows. The boutique hotel offers personalized touches like earphones with extra pads in the fitness center, kids’ welcome gifts, on-loan pet goldfishes, rental bikes, and leopard-print robes. The hotel is uber pet-friendly with pet bed loaners, food and water bowls, and even staffs a Directors of Pet Relations. Booking is a cinch with an online calendar that easily lets guests see the best prices and availability of rooms. Its bar, B&O American Brasserie, also has a great happy hour and top-notch cocktail program.

The Ivy Hotel
205 E. Biddle St., 800-964-1283
Neighborhood: Mt. Vernon
Rates: $520-$1,500

The Ivy Hotel offers guests the experience of living like a 19th-century railroad baron. Once a private mansion and now a luxury boutique hotel, The Ivy takes away the stress of extra fees by prohibiting gratuity, not fluctuating its rates, and including nearly everything in its nightly package—breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktail hour, valet parking, limo service within the city, two pay-per-view movies a day, a stocked in-room refrigerator, robes and slippers, and on-site activities like games in the billiards room. While The Ivy houses the award-winning fine dining restaurant Magdalena, Mt. Vernon is full of an array of dining options and cultural attractions like The Brewer’s Art and free-admission Walters Art Museum.

Lord Baltimore Hotel
20 W. Baltimore St., 410-539-8400
Neighborhood: Downtown
Rates: $150-$300

With 23 stories and 440 rooms, The Lord Baltimore Hotel is a grand dame in downtown Baltimore. Originally built in 1928, it is listed as a National Trust of Historic Preservation Historic Hotel and has hosted guests including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While the hotel has lots of history, a multi-million-dollar renovation was completed in 2014 with updates to every part of the building, including its three eateries—a French bistro, tavern lobby bar, and bakery. The hotel also just opened the only rooftop bar in the city, LB Skybar, which offers impeccable views of the downtown skyline.