Holiday inn express Baltimore

Has anyone done the sleep park and cruise package at the Holiday Inn express out of Baltimore? The website says it is only 1 mile, 5 minutes from the cruise port so it sounds like a pretty good deal for 109.00. Any info would be appreciated. Also can anyone tell me how the shuttle service works for these packages. How do you schedule a ride to cruise port and when your cruise is done how do they know to come and pick you up?

i haven't ..but if it is the one near the stadium, it is in a mediocre neighborhood...not the best, not the worst, but probably OK for a night.

if it was me, i would try one of the places out by the airport such as the Country Inn....I actually had a park n fly at the Sheraton and just took a car service for about $40 bucks to the pier....give or take.....(out by the airport)

SKIP the Best Western Conference Center....THAT area is horrible..the hotel itself is attached to a rest stop/bus station and the whole area is lousy.....

Has anyone done the sleep park and cruise package at the Holiday Inn express out of Baltimore? The website says it is only 1 mile, 5 minutes from the cruise port so it sounds like a pretty good deal for 109.00. Any info would be appreciated. Also can anyone tell me how the shuttle service works for these packages. How do you schedule a ride to cruise port and when your cruise is done how do they know to come and pick you up?

We stayed there before our cruise. It is not the one near the stadium. It was a bit longer than 5 minutes to get there due to traffic. When you check in, you schedule the time you want the shuttle to take you to the port. They give you a business card with a phone number to call when you are getting off the ship so they can send the shuttle over to get you.

The hotel was very nice and they had a decent breakfast in the morning, Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs and the usual continental breakfast stuff. We did not feel it was unsafe to leave our car there for the week. The hotel was more on the outskirts of the city and not in the city.

We stayed there before our cruise. It is not the one near the stadium. It was a bit longer than 5 minutes to get there due to traffic. When you check in, you schedule the time you want the shuttle to take you to the port. They give you a business card with a phone number to call when you are getting off the ship so they can send the shuttle over to get you.

The hotel was very nice and they had a decent breakfast in the morning, Belgian waffles, scrambled eggs and the usual continental breakfast stuff. We did not feel it was unsafe to leave our car there for the week. The hotel was more on the outskirts of the city and not in the city.

so just wanted to ask if anyone lately stay here? We are looking for Jan 2014 and thought it did look nice...so didn't know what anyone else thought lately

hOLIDAY INN EXPRESS

1701 Russell Street Baltimore , Maryland 21230

ANYONE STAY HERE LATELY?

Bump. I was just coming here to ask about this specific HIE!

hOLIDAY INN EXPRESS

 

1701 Russell Street Baltimore , Maryland 21230

 

ANYONE STAY HERE LATELY?

This is the Holiday Inn Express at The Stadiums. It is about 5 blocks south of the M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens football). This area is in a light industrial area and low income residential area. It might be okay for a one night stay but I would not want to leave my car parked there during a cruise.

hOLIDAY INN EXPRESS

 

1701 Russell Street Baltimore , Maryland 21230

 

ANYONE STAY HERE LATELY?

Interested in hearing if you decided to stay there again. Someone recommended it to me on the Carnival board and I booked it through a hotel/parking website for only $109 including the parking and shuttle.

Would like to read some recent thoughts.

We stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in White Marsh with their cruise-n-park package. It is a nice area, the staff is friendly, the beds comfortable, a hot breakfast, and the shuttle service back & forth to the port goes smoothly. It is a little bit more than $109.00 but well worth it with restaurants & a small shopping center nearby.

I'm driving up from NC, so that's on the wrong side of the city for me.

As noted, I've already booked at the Holiday Inn Stadium and was hoping for some comments from anyone who has stayed there lately.

Interested in hearing if you decided to stay there again. Someone recommended it to me on the Carnival board and I booked it through a hotel/parking website for only $109 including the parking and shuttle.

 

Would like to read some recent thoughts.

We did just stay at HIE Baltimore at the Stadium on March 7th for the night before embarkation of our 10 night cruise.

The accommodations were adequate, as expected. We did not notice any excessive noise from the Casino construction. The road closures did not seem to impact the HIE to the extent that they did in December.

I had emailed the manager prior to our stay to request that he match a competitor's rate, and received an email confirmation that he was willing and he stated that my reservation was adjusted to reflect the lower rate.

About a week prior to our stay, I emailed again to book shuttle service because we would be travelling from a significant distance and would arrive late in the evening (on a previous visit, the shuttle was all booked up upon our arrival). I received no response to this email. I tried again several days later, and again no response.

Upon our arrival, I was presented with check-in forms to sign and initial that did NOT reflect the lower rate that was agreed upon. The ladies working at the desk were not exactly receptive to my explanation of a lower rate. I refused to sign the forms, and said they would need to provide me with their WiFi password so I could search and provide them with the email from their manager. This was not well received, but I prevailed. Once they painstakingly read through all email communication, they appeared to contact the manager to have the lower rate approved, and printed new check-in forms. At this time, they wanted additional fees for parking, which I also declined because they were included in the competitor's package that they manager agreed to match. I refused to fork out for parking and suggested they contact the manager yet again. They went to the back, and appeared to get approval, and we finally proceeded with the check-in on the terms that were agreed upon in the email communication.

I was able to book the shuttle at our desired time (likely because Royal Caribbean had sent out an email indicating the ship would be delayed). I conferred with the HIE desk staff, and they confirmed that regardless of delay, guests would be shuttled in the order that they booked rather than according to their time slot. As it turned out, Royal Caribbean sent out subsequent email communication to significantly scale back their delay, so shuttle service ran as booked. I have no complaints with the shuttle service to the cruise port. Paul (our driver) was courteous and professional. He even made an early trip to the port to confirm the ship was indeed in, and offered to have my husband ride along.

The breakfast included the basic pastries, cereal, pancakes, bagels, ham, powdered eggs, yogurt, milk, juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, fresh fruit etc., that are normally included at such hotels. The ladies in the breakfast room worked diligently to keep the tables clean, and keep products topped up. They were both friendly and efficient.

Upon returning from our cruise, we did have to call the hotel to request shuttle pick-up. It did seem that we waited for a significant amount of time compared to many other hotel shuttles that were arriving to the cruise port , but I have no idea if the shuttle was in use when we called. Once the shuttle arrived, the driver was friendly and professional.

We had no issues with parking. We returned to our vehicle in the same condition as we left it. There was a significant snowfall the day/night before, but the property was well cleared of snow.

I feel we got decent value for the price paid, and we may return to this property again for our next cruise out of Baltimore. I did receive a couple of recommendations of other hotels from fellow cruisers, so will look into those options before making a final decision. We will choose the option that gives us the best value for decent accommodation, safe parking, and reliable shuttle service.

Thank you so much for all the detail!

I did book through a discount park-n-fly/park-n-cruise website (which I've never done before), so the rate is already very low. The booking is showing on the hotel's loyalty website, too.

I always have a folder in my carry-on with all my flights/hotel/shuttles/boarding/excursions/etc. documentation - just in case I actually need them. I just know the one time I don't have it all handy is the one time I'll need to "prove" something to someone! :p

I may go ahead and email asking for the earliest shuttle. I realize embarkation in Baltimore may or may not start late, but since I get early boarding, I'd like to be there when it starts, even if it doesn't start on time.

The recent reviews on Trip Advisor are pretty good. I'm going to stop obsessing about it. It's one night. As long as I can sleep reasonably well, I'll be fine! Thanks again.

I stayed here on 5/3. No problem finding the hotel.

Everyone I encountered was extremely pleasant, from the check-in desk, to the shuttle drivers, to the breakfast room attendant, to the housekeeping staff.

The pool did not appear to be open (water looked gross), but I had no plans to use it so it wasn't a factor.

Used the free shuttle to and from the Inner Harbor on Saturday evening and enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours eating, drinking and wandering around. It was a very vibrant scene.

From the time the shuttle left the hotel until I was checked in and waiting to board was a total of only 20 minutes. Very painless.

When we returned Sunday a.m., called and waited about 20 minutes for pickup. Again, very easy.

I would definitely stay there again, but I imagine with the casino due to open by Labor Day, that their rates will double or triple and it will no longer be a viable option, should I decide to sail from Baltimore again.

I know this is an older thread, but doing my research and trying to find hotels with the "parking" deal for our precruise stay.

I see that it has been mentioned that this is a sketchy neighborhood and "poorer" area.

Can someone tell me what you might have seen to make you think this? I was on google earth and pulled myself down on to the map to look around (went all the way around the building and the street). To me, it just looks like it's situated on a main street and there's a bunch of shopping around. What am I missing? :confused:

The hotel is in a working class area. It's right off of I95. It's not the ritzy part of Baltimore, but would the city put a casino right next to multi million dollar homes? It's in a major US city so there is traffic and people from all walks of life. With the new casino right next door with 8 or 9 restaurants in it you don't even have to take the complimentary shuttle to the Harbour for dinner because you just walk across a side street. We were a three generation family cruising out of Baltimore last May and we have a lovely stay in this hotel. We got an amazing rate from stay123 dot com and they still have the same offer even though the casino is next door and would make this hotel even more desirable for others. In Maryland casinos are not allowed to have hotel rooms attached to them like say AC or Vegas. So lots of gamblers from out of town would want to stay here, cruisers want to stay here, people going to sporting events want to stay here. So if all those people with money to spare want to stay here it's not an unsafe place. If you aren't used to being in the inner city you might think this area is not the cleanest, quietest, nicest area. We thought it was fine (from the Philly area born and raised). Staff is amazing, breakfast is very good, shuttle is great, and the location to the port and free parking for a week is the best deal at any hotel!

The hotel is in a working class area. It's right off of I95. It's not the ritzy part of Baltimore, but would the city put a casino right next to multi million dollar homes? It's in a major US city so there is traffic and people from all walks of life. With the new casino right next door with 8 or 9 restaurants in it you don't even have to take the complimentary shuttle to the Harbour for dinner because you just walk across a side street. We were a three generation family cruising out of Baltimore last May and we have a lovely stay in this hotel. We got an amazing rate from stay123 dot com and they still have the same offer even though the casino is next door and would make this hotel even more desirable for others. In Maryland casinos are not allowed to have hotel rooms attached to them like say AC or Vegas. So lots of gamblers from out of town would want to stay here, cruisers want to stay here, people going to sporting events want to stay here. So if all those people with money to spare want to stay here it's not an unsafe place. If you aren't used to being in the inner city you might think this area is not the cleanest, quietest, nicest area. We thought it was fine (from the Philly area born and raised). Staff is amazing, breakfast is very good, shuttle is great, and the location to the port and free parking for a week is the best deal at any hotel!

Thanks so much for your description and reassurance. It honestly didn't look like a bad neighborhood to me, but then again, you never know. It actually looks like the main street in our town by the casino. So, I don't think I would have a problem with staying there at all.

What type of breakfast did they serve if you don't mind me asking?

I agree with the best deal...I think it's probably one of the cheaper rates I will pay for a pre-cruise stay AND with parking for the week? That can't be beat. :)

Breakfast was your basic hot free breakfast at a chain hotel. Scrambled eggs, toast, bagels, cereals, waffles (or was it pancakes?), sausage, fruit, yogurt, juices, milk, coffee.

One thing you want to do is reserve your shuttle to the port as soon as you check in. Get the first one of the day for cruise passengers if you can. And then be in the lobby 15 minutes before your time. We had people that were supposed to be on our shuttle who overslept and they bumped two people up from the next shuttle (I think they run ever half hour). Baltimore was the most streamlined port I have ever checked into a cruise from in my life. Getting their early means you get in line (actually, in chairs in line) earlier to get on the ship faster!

As for rooms at the hotel, two beds (queen sized I think) are the lower floors, single kings are the upper floors of the hotel. You can ask for rooms not facing the street but overlooking the parking lot if you want it slightly quieter. Try to get a parking space that is covered depending on the weather and what time of year.

Tricia

Breakfast was your basic hot free breakfast at a chain hotel. Scrambled eggs, toast, bagels, cereals, waffles (or was it pancakes?), sausage, fruit, yogurt, juices, milk, coffee.

One thing you want to do is reserve your shuttle to the port as soon as you check in. Get the first one of the day for cruise passengers if you can. And then be in the lobby 15 minutes before your time. We had people that were supposed to be on our shuttle who overslept and they bumped two people up from the next shuttle (I think they run ever half hour). Baltimore was the most streamlined port I have ever checked into a cruise from in my life. Getting their early means you get in line (actually, in chairs in line) earlier to get on the ship faster!

 

As for rooms at the hotel, two beds (queen sized I think) are the lower floors, single kings are the upper floors of the hotel. You can ask for rooms not facing the street but overlooking the parking lot if you want it slightly quieter. Try to get a parking space that is covered depending on the weather and what time of year.

Tricia

Thanks for the awesome info.

We will definitely be giving them our shuttle time when we check in. What's usually a good time to head to the port with factoring travel time on the shuttle? How early are you allowed to arrive?

Chairs in line? I'm confused?

We purchased the FTTF on Carnival this time, so would we be getting in that same line or is there some place else that you go to wait to board?

We will be booking 2 beds (since we travel with our daughter), so that's good news if it's located on the first floor.

Thanks for your help. :)

When you are done doing your boarding paperwork/getting your cabin key/card you head to rows of chairs. If you are a really high up member of Carnival (we did Royal Caribbean in May 2014, but same procedures) or have paid to get on the ship earlier you will be in the first two rows of seats. They are very strict about not saving seats and sitting in every seat (no putting bags on a seat so you don't have a stranger next to you). When the ship is ready for passengers the port staff will release passengers by the rows. It is very orderly and quick. The sooner you get to the terminal, the sooner you get in a seat to wait. Keep your cell phones in your pockets. If they see you on them they will give you a warning, second time they can take your phone. No phone use of any kind (texting included) in the terminal. Homeland security rules. And don't even think about taking photos in there. On the way out of the terminal when you return, don't take your phone out until you have picked up your bags and are physically out of the building. I was calling the hotel shuttle when I was in the baggage claim area and I was yelled at. I hung up on the front desk person at Holiday Inn but had gotten enough info out of my mouth (Hi this is Tricia ______ we got off the ship... CLICK) that when I called back 4 minutes later (when I was outside the building) they said the driver had already left because he figured out where I was! That is great customer service!

We got on the 10am shuttle which got us to the terminal by 10:20. Check in took just a few minutes. We were in the fourth row of chairs to get on the ship (First two rows are long time customers of the cruise line and people like you who have paid to get on the ship faster). We were on the ship by 11:10.

I don't think there are any hotel rooms on the first floor of the HIE-Stadiums. It's only a few stories tall to begin with. The king rooms have body wash (all products are bath and body works) but the 2 queens don't (my parents had a king, we had a 2 queens because our daughter was with us). I joked with a staff member that my parents were lucky they had body wash. Five minutes later he found me in the lobby and handed me three little bottles. Little things like that by the staff make this a great place to stay. They work really hard to make things right if you have an issue or question.

When you are done doing your boarding paperwork/getting your cabin key/card you head to rows of chairs. If you are a really high up member of Carnival (we did Royal Caribbean in May 2014, but same procedures) or have paid to get on the ship earlier you will be in the first two rows of seats. They are very strict about not saving seats and sitting in every seat (no putting bags on a seat so you don't have a stranger next to you). When the ship is ready for passengers the port staff will release passengers by the rows. It is very orderly and quick. The sooner you get to the terminal, the sooner you get in a seat to wait. Keep your cell phones in your pockets. If they see you on them they will give you a warning, second time they can take your phone. No phone use of any kind (texting included) in the terminal. Homeland security rules. And don't even think about taking photos in there. On the way out of the terminal when you return, don't take your phone out until you have picked up your bags and are physically out of the building. I was calling the hotel shuttle when I was in the baggage claim area and I was yelled at. I hung up on the front desk person at Holiday Inn but had gotten enough info out of my mouth (Hi this is Tricia ______ we got off the ship... CLICK) that when I called back 4 minutes later (when I was outside the building) they said the driver had already left because he figured out where I was! That is great customer service!

 

We got on the 10am shuttle which got us to the terminal by 10:20. Check in took just a few minutes. We were in the fourth row of chairs to get on the ship (First two rows are long time customers of the cruise line and people like you who have paid to get on the ship faster). We were on the ship by 11:10.

 

I don't think there are any hotel rooms on the first floor of the HIE-Stadiums. It's only a few stories tall to begin with. The king rooms have body wash (all products are bath and body works) but the 2 queens don't (my parents had a king, we had a 2 queens because our daughter was with us). I joked with a staff member that my parents were lucky they had body wash. Five minutes later he found me in the lobby and handed me three little bottles. Little things like that by the staff make this a great place to stay. They work really hard to make things right if you have an issue or question.

Thanks again for the awesome description.

So there's not a priority line for checking in...like to get your key card and stuff? Just wondering because NCL has a latitudes line...which is for previous cruisers or VIP.

Making note not to pull out cell phone in port...AT ALL. :eek:

There maybe a separate check in line. But there were about 30 check in desks and almost no one in line so I can't remember if my parents went to a different line than us, I think they might of. But we finished checking in about the same time as they did because we walked together before they went to the first row of seats and we went 15 feet over from them in the 4th row of seats. They got to the first "Welcome Aboard" photo op about 3 minutes before us and waited so we could all get a photo together.

So pretty much, if you get on the first shuttle from the hotel you will be on the ship very early regardless if you paid to get on in the first group (row/section/ect) or not. My parents have been on a million RCI cruises and have the highest level of status and we weren't that far behind them to get on. Carnival probably has the same set up. People arriving at 2pm are going to have a longer wait. I've been to a few terminals in Florida, one in SC, one in VA. Baltimore's is clean, airconditioned (or heated now I'm sure), efficient with friendly staff....unless you have a phone out! ;)

Tricia

I should say that our cruise ship left at 4pm and they started boarding at 11am (give or take a few minutes). We got on the first shuttle at 10am. If for some reason there is a cootie outbreak on the ship and they have to disinfect it they may not let people on at 11am. Once you are in your row of chairs don't leave, unless you have to run to the rest room. They had lemonade and water in big dispensers at the end of our row if people wanted something to drink. The hotel will know what time your boarding will start and they usually do the shuttle starting an hour beforehand.

Awesome. Thanks for the wealth of information. I feel better preapred now. :)

This is a good hotel for you, Mitsugirly, because it's right on 295 which will take you directly into DC. Just be careful about spending a lot of time in the new casino since you like to gamble. MD casinos are notoriously tight. I know, I worked at the one at Arundel Mills. :)

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