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Admiral Fell Inn
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8 reviews for Admiral Fell Inn
The Admiral Fell Inn has a unique charm. When I walked through the doors I remember thinking that I wished the walls could talk. The Inn reminds me of some of the historical homes I have toured. The staff was gracious and attentive. The bar downstairs is well stocked and drinks are poured generously. You can't beat the location. You are a short walk to dozens of excellent places for food, drink, or sightseeing.
Why only 3 stars? The rooms are very small and uncomfortable. My room was no bigger than a walk-in closet in your average McMansion. I was with a group of people, they all had the same complaint.
Well, booked the hotel for a quick night away from Washington, looking to spend the evening in Fell's Point. The location of this hotel is perfect, right on the wharf, in the heart of this historic part of Baltimore.
Entered the hotel shortly after 4, the posted check in time, and was told, "Oh, I am sorry, I have some bad news. We had some guests from Johns Hopkins stay beyond their reservation and so we do not have a room for you. We can give you a room in one of our sister hotels. It is only a ten minute drive away." I asked why I had not been called about this and he just looked at me. I asked for the manager, demanded a room, and within ten minutes had the key in my hand. It seemed oddly like something they had done many many times. Do they just overbook all the time, or are they that poorly managed?
Despite the problem, the room was large and comfy. The hotel is charming in a sort of rundown historic hotel way. There were some stains on one of the chairs and some cracks in the plaster in the room. The hotel could use a pretty big overhaul. BUT, if you are looking to spend a few days in Fell's Point (which I do recommend), this place would do, just make sure to keep your expectations low, very low.
We are local but were looking for someplace special to stay for a weekend and celebrate our birthdays together, that wouldn't require a long trip as we travel a lot for our jobs . We chose the Admiral Fell Inn because we like historic places to stay. While I'd say our experience came out overall positive, it was definitely mixed. The Admiral Fell is a nice place with friendly staff but it needs to get its act together and live up to its "no surprises" guarantee.
First, the good things:
The location of this Inn is wonderful, especially if you're looking to stay in a historic setting near good restaurants and interesting bars. Shopping in Fells Point is meh, but you can hop on a Water Taxi just steps from the hotel's door and jet over to Baltimore's Inner Harbor for more shops, or just ride the Water Taxi around the harbor for a nice view of the night lights. (We did this - very romantic for nine dollars a person.)
The Inn staff are friendly, nice and polite. Our bed was comfortable and had a "romantic" canopy, and the room/furniture was in OK repair for a historic hotel (except for the bathroom sink - more on that later). The elevator and public rooms are well kept and elegant. Since we know parking in Fells Point is a hassle, we opted for the valet parking at 29 dollars a day.
Our weekend package included one night accommodations, chocolates (yummy), free breakfast in the morning, and some other stuff like coupon books and a CD which we did not really use. The room price we were quoted on the booking website was slightly underquoted as it did not include various taxes and fees, particularly a $9.95 "convenience fee" that was supposed to cover a bunch of stuff like long distance but in our case just covered bottled water and Internet - we didn't even get a Sunday paper. Still, the room price was OK for the area and season.
So far, so good. Now, the not-so-great stuff...
We booked online and were contacted the next day by a "Harbor Magic specialist" who asked if there was anything more she could do for us to help with our stay. I had been meaning to make a dinner reservation, but I thought I'd let her do it as I wasn't super familiar with good Fells Point restaurants. I asked her if "the hotel had any restaurants" and she replied there were two, Fin's and Meli's, and that she would be glad to make us a reservation. I asked which restaurant was nicer and she said they were both very nice but Fin's was more "traditional" and served steak. As we were going for the traditional/ historic I asked her to please make the reservation there for 6:30 pm. When we checked in, I confirmed with the desk clerk that the reservation at Fin's for 6:30 had been made. I was told all was in order.
We were not offered the "king upgrade subject to availability" we had been promised and were put in a room with two double beds. The bathroom, while huge, had a big crack in the sink and a tub that wasn't particularly deep or nice - so much for a "romantic" bath. We decided not to complain about the room because it had a decent view of Thames Street and the harbor and there was a wedding in the hotel that we figured probably took a lot of rooms.
When we went down for our 6:30 dinner at Fin, we discovered that neither the dowdy hostess or the very snooty manager there had any knowledge of the reservation that the hotel supposedly made. They were very rude to us, told us that the restaurant was separate from the hotel (different story than what we got from the hotel), claimed they were fully booked and offered to seat us in a backroom near the kitchen with nothing comped. Because they were so nasty, plus their decor was not very "traditional", we declined. We were later told that Fin and the hotel had been having strained relations as the hotel was working more with Meli's and apparently Fin took out their frustrations on us. Phooey on them, as I said we are local and will never eat there now and will warn others away also.
The hotel clerk apologized to us, booked us into Kalis' Court up the street and gave us a 50 dollar voucher, so they did fix things, but would have been better if it didn't happen at all.
At about 1:30 am we were awakened by a large crowd of people screaming in the street under our window for about 15 minutes- the hazards of staying in a bar area.
When we went to have our free breakfast at Meli's (our letter in our reservation specifically stated "Melis") we were told by the (nice) manager there that they weren' t offering the hotel breakfast until tomorrow. Back to the desk clerk who directed us to another part of the hotel where breakfast was being served - yet another "surprise". Finally, we had a late checkout of 2 pm with our package, but no one told housekeeping, who came beating down our door at 12:15 pm when we weren't dressed AND had a do not disturb sign up. By that time I was relieved to get out of there before anything else happened.
Admiral Fell would be proud of his native city, Baltimore, and all it
has to offer (crab cakes, health care, gonorrhea, etc...). However, he
might not be quite as proud of the service provided in the hotel that
bears his name.
I was in Baltimore for a meeting at Hopkins. I got the room through
Priceline, and had high expectations because apparently this is where
Hopkins puts their prospective students and faculty candidates up while
interviewing in Baltimore. My expectations were met, but only sort of.
The room: 3.5 stars
I was very pleased by the overall room quality. Usually when I get a
room through Priceline, they give you the worst room in the hotel, e.g.
the room next to the elevator, a room on the second floor, or the
janitor's closet. However, they provided me a nice room on the 4th
floor away from the elevator with a nice view of Fells Point (which, by
the way, is actually kind of pretty [for Baltimore]). The bathroom was accessible by a strange long hallway, but once inside, was clean, although definitely well-worn. There were a few loose floorboards in the bedroom, but I'll chalk that up to the "charm" of an old inn like the Fell.
The service: 2 stars
After a whirlwind day of meetings and running around Baltimore, I just wanted to check in, call my wife, and go to sleep. I arrived around 9 and there was one agent working the desk. I had to wait to check in while she took not one, but two phone calls, each of which lasting several minutes. Okay, so I had to wait maybe ten minutes. Not a big deal. She was perfectly polite. I signed some papers, gave her my credit card, and she gave me the key to the room. While I was in the room, I noticed in the fine print that there would be a daily fee of $9.95 assessed in addition to the rate. I didn't think much of it, given that, supposedly, all the fees are paid for when I booked the room through Priceline.
(Their policy: " Depending on the property you stay at you may also be charged (i) certain mandatory hotel specific service fees, for example, resort fees (which typically apply to resort type destinations and, if applicable, may range from $10 to $40 per day), energy surcharges, newspaper delivery fees, in-room safe fees, tourism fees, or housekeeping fees and/or (ii) certain optional incidental fees, for example, parking charges, minibar charges, phone calls, room service and movie rentals, etc..")
The next morning, I got a bill for the $9.95 at the door. I went down to the lobby to check out and inquire, quite politely, might I add, about the fee. I told them quite honestly and courteously, that if I had signed something saying that I paid the fee, I'd be happy to pay it, but otherwise, I would have liked for them to remove it. The first clerk I encountered was very nice and he said that they would gladly take the charge off, given the person who checked me in failed to explain the fee. He asked the other clerk at the desk to check me out and remove the fee. That's when the niceness ended. The second clerk became extremely rude to me, told me that the next time I stay here, I'd have to pay the fee. Her gestures and body language also suggested that she was not happy about deducting the fee. She bluntly and curtly said, "you're done." I (politely) proceeded to ask her whether I could get another copy of the bill, but before I could get the words out, she again stated, "You're done!" Being somewhat taken aback by her rudeness, I then handed over the keys, which she snatched from my hand. Totally uncalled for. I was extremely polite and her reaction was just ridiculous.
I'd probably stay here again, despite the little encounter with Miss Sunshine at check-out, but I would suggest that they hire slightly less rude agents to handle customers.
As for this review, as the agent would say, "I'm done."
I've stayed here and their sister hotel(Pier 5).
Location is key, and The Admiral Fell in is in a great location. You have access to tons of bars, boutiques and restaurants, $5 cab ride to the inner harbor, $7 to Johns Hopkins, and an option for the water taxi across the street($9, and is good for use from 9am-11pm)
The staff tries really hard, and is helpful, although sometimes they seemed confused. The shuttle service is mediocre, I often found myself taking one of the cabs waiting across the street instead of waiting for the shuttle(The shuttle drives for both Pier 5, and the Admiral Fell Inn, and is often a 10-20 minute wait). I should mention that if the shuttle is unavailable, the hotel will reimburse cab fare, in the form of a deduction from your room bill.
I was there for about 10 days, and had 3 different rooms. Each of those rooms was noisy in some form or fashion, loud ventilation, street noise, etc. The noise is in no way a deal breaker, but if you are sensitive to that sort of thing, or are planning on bringing an infant, you may want to take that in to consideration. (The street noise is BAD on the weekends after the bars close.)
The rooms are sort of expensive, but you're better off forking out the $$$ than staying in other less expensive hotels in the area, you might find yourself being robbed, sold crack, or in the middle of a gunfight elsewhere in Baltimore.
I would recommend this location for a weekend getaway during the summer for people in the NY/NJ area. I would also recommend staying here if you're a patient/visiting Johns Hopkins hospital. After research, this is in my opinion, the closest, and more importantly, safest place to stay that is in the vicinity of the hospital.
If you're staying there, I'd recommend "Mezze"(2 minute walk) for dinner, and "Liquid Earth"(5 minute walk, vegetarian) for lunch. The free breakfast in the hotel is pretty good, and the people that prepare/serve the breakfast are really on their game.
The Admiral Fell is ok. I stayed here each of the last two years after my Company's Christmas party, which was held downstairs. I believe there was a $20 discount as a result.
Anyways,
Pros:
1) Location. You could not be more downtown in Fells Point. If you walk out of your room you are near everything.
2) Each room is named after a famous Baltimore man or woman. For example this year I stayed in the Babe Ruth suite. While it did not come with beers and hot dogs, its cool to read a little back story about a famous Baltimoreon.(?).
3) Valet parking. While not free, still a nice service to offer in Fells Point.
Cons:
1) Both this year and last The Admiral Fell has mischarged me. Last year they did not give me the discount I was quoted over the phone. This year they charged my girlfriend's card (who booked the room), even though upon check-in, gave my card and asked any and all charges to go to me. They also tried to charge without discount again. I was told my other co-workers similar things happened to them. Poor business practice here really.
2) If I was being a nit, I'd complain about the size of the rooms, but that is the case anywhere in this historic built region. Deal with it.
3) The "ghost". A guy who I suppose is an employee of the hotel came into our party and told the story of how he "haunted the building for over 200 years" etc etc. While at least he dressed the part, he was awkward, unfunny and long-winded. I think the long winded part was him waiting for a tip (which mercifully one of the bosses gave him and he finally left). Hey ghost, your act blows. Take it out to the streets of Fells Points and entertain the drunks or something. You were a proverbial turd in the punchbowl at our office party.
The Fell is ok on the whole. Double check your bill, and tell the ghost to beat it.
I enjoyed my stay at the Admiral Fell Inn and, while there were a handful of (very) minor things to quibble about, the headline is that we high maintenance hotel guests (we have a 15 month old daughter) and the staff really met our expectations and helped us out.
To begin with, I wanted to arrange for a babysitter in the hotel. The concierge (nitpick #1: the title "experience specialist" must be a difficult burden for this young woman to bear; can we please just call it what it is? Also, the word "magic" is far too heavily used!) went back and forth numerous times. She put in a fair amount of effort trying to arrange for a hotel staff member to take the job. We ended up going with an outside agency, but I really appreciated her help.
As another commenter has mentioned, the rooms aren't huge, and there's some cracked tiles and a patch of blackish mildew on the caulking in the shower. The crib was initially set up wrong (when brought to the desk's attention, it was fixed immediately). And there was a minor snafu with the bill.
But if those facts are going to make your hair stand on end, then you probably aren't looking to stay in an old hotel in a historic district in the first place. The point here is that it's a nice old place perfectly located on the central square in the Fells Point area. If that's what you're looking for, then you've found it with this one.
Next time you visit Charm City, stay here! It's a great hotel at the corner of Thames and South Broadway in Fell's Point. The hotel is comprised of eight adjoining buildings, some dating back to 1760. Each of the 80 rooms is different in size, shape and decor and each is named after a seafaring Baltimorean from the past. Cozy, warm, bright and haunted (or so they say) though we didn't see any ghosts and we were roaming the halls until 4am last night. Prices range depending on the season (obvs) and start anywhere from $159 a night (Saturday, 11/24/07) for a two double bed room to $229 for a king bed room and $289 for a corner king suite with jacuzzi tub. Well worth the price, we stayed in a king bed room on the second floor that overlooked Thames (that's pronounced Thayms not Temz) Street and it was perfectly peaceful and quiet (and ghostless) at night, in the morning you hear the zen sound of cars driving over the cobblestones. The hotel also offers a Ghost Tour of the hotel, if your into that sort of thing. The room might be chilly when you first check-in but turn that heat on and you'll be toasty warm in no time. I'll be back here to hunt for ghosts for sure.
