Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore

Elite '08

517

499

Teri C.

Las Vegas, NV

I got to experience the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore hotel in two ways - as a guest in their hotel and as a guest when they were the venue for a wedding reception.

From the start, the hotel allowed on-line check in and I was given the opportunity to request an early check in and a higher floor.  We arrived at 10:30 am and our floor on the 14th floor was ready for us!  We were so pleased that we could check in and get some much needed rest.  

The room looked standard, although the BF was a bit disappointed with the price we were paying for the room for what we got.  It was a bit darker than some of the other rooms we visited.  (Our room had one King size bed, while the rooms with two doubles appeared larger and were more lighted.)  We also had no view since it faced the other buildings.  The highlight was the Sleep Number bed, of course.  (I did notice some dark stains along the white comforter though, which is not so pleasant.)  And the closet door/mirrors were broken.  They were sliding doors and we were missing one altogether!  Also, it looked like they never vacuumed the closet ever because of the carpet discoloration.

When we met up with the wedding couple later on that day, they were disappointed to learn that their personal welcome bags were not given out to their guests yet.  They had to speak to the staff to remind them about the bags, which was frustrating on their part.

The next day, we were disappointed to see that all of our toiletries were not replenished.  It was quite apparent we needed more soap and shampoo, except that we didn't get anymore.  When I called down for housekeeping (the various buttons on the phones didn't work, I ended up hitting "O" for the operator), they said they would take care of what I needed.  After waiting almost half an hour, I heard a staff member in the housekeeping closet down the hallway and went to catch up with him myself.  He apologized for taking so long, but in the end, I had to send the BF off to the wedding rehearsal without me since it had taken so long.

On the very last day of our visit, we heard someone fumbling with the door and by the time we crawled out of bed to check, no one was there.  When we did leave our room to catch up for the post wedding brunch, our "Do Not Disturb" sign was missing, but we got another one and put it on our door after making sure it was closed.  (I can only assume it was housekeeping trying to get in, but because we had both the door locked and the dead bolt on, the key didn't work.)  Returning back to the room after brunch, I noticed our door wasn't closed completely.  Looking around, nothing appeared to be missing but it certainly upset me that someone had attempted to come into our room.  (I'm assuming housekeeping came in, saw that we were still checked in, and left.)  

We had requested the late check out, which is 1 pm, which was pretty easy to do.  When we asked the bell hop about airport shuttle services, he was pretty friendly with helping us out.  However, when we returned in the evening to request such a service, a different bell hop said it was too late for an airport shuttle.  (Airport shuttle from the hotel is $15/pp.) And when we requested a taxi, he half-heartedly went outside to wave one down.  He came back to tell us that he had called for two taxis and that was it.  We ended up walking up a couple of blocks and waving our own taxi down.  ($27 flat rate to the airport from downtown Baltimore)  The light rail is also about three blocks away and that will take you to the airport too.

Overall, our stay at the hotel was just okay.  There was nothing particularly special about our visit and service was alright.  There were some really nice employees while there were those that were just average.

The cocktail hour and wedding reception was a different experience though.  The waiters and bar staff during the reception were professional, friendly, and had a smile on our face.  One of the bartenders that worked the reception definitely added to the great time we had.  The waiters serving the food and clearing the tables did a fine job from where I saw.  Even the staff assisting with the post-wedding brunch were friendly too.  

There's also a bar on the same floor of the lobby with a self service popcorn machine.  Nice touch!

The hotel is walking distance from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 1st Mariner Arena, and the Inner Harbor.  However, walk a few blocks in the other direction  and you're in an area that appears to be not as safe.  Nonetheless, it is centrally located with a Starbucks downstairs.  

Overnight parking is $28/night.

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