Safe Neighbourhood Belle Grove Road, Baltimore (New Best Western)?

[olya1972]

Hi, everyone. I am concerned about leaving a car for a week of cruise in a safe area. We booked "newly renovated BWI Best Western North Inn and Suites " on Belle Grove Road in Baltimore for a Park and Cruise package. Can anybody comment on the area, please. Thank You.

[mitsugirly]

I am looking at this place too and I see you didn't get any answers. Did you end up booking this place and if so, how did things go?

[KGBLUE301]

I just booked through trinity reservations. 2 rooms 8 people total 208$. Includes breakfast and free shuttle to cruise port. The reviews i read and even on tripadvisor looked good. And up to 14 days free parking.

[smalltimecruiser100]

Hi, everyone. I am concerned about leaving a car for a week of cruise in a safe area. We booked "newly renovated BWI Best Western North Inn and Suites " on Belle Grove Road in Baltimore for a Park and Cruise package. Can anybody comment on the area, please. Thank You.

 

The hotel is actually in North Linthicum and is within close walking distance of the Light Rail(North Linthicum Station)that goes into Downtown Baltimore(within a couple of blocks walk to the Inner harbor) and BWI Airport (directly into International Terminal E). I would say North Linthicum is a working class middle income neighborhood. I have only parked there(at the Light Rail) for several "O's" Baseball games and had no problems. Grant it was only for a few hours at a time, not a week but personally, I think it's pretty safe area. Never stayed there but used their rest room which was very clean. The Rose restaurant next door is surpose to have good food

[cruzinlady1947]

I use this hotel all the time. Never had any problems. It used to be Sleep Inn. Really nice since it was updated and changed hands. Nothing wrong with it before, but it was getting a little tired in the furnishings. Really nice now.

 

Just stayed there last month. Good price and customer service. I book through Trinity Reservations or Stay123. Trinity, you pay the full amount up front. Stay123, you put a 20% deposit and the final balance at the hotel.

 

 

Gwen :)

[mitsugirly]

I use this hotel all the time. Never had any problems. It used to be Sleep Inn. Really nice since it was updated and changed hands. Nothing wrong with it before, but it was getting a little tired in the furnishings. Really nice now.

 

Just stayed there last month. Good price and customer service. I book through Trinity Reservations or Stay123. Trinity, you pay the full amount up front. Stay123, you put a 20% deposit and the final balance at the hotel.

 

 

Gwen :)

 

Thanks for your input. I'm glad to hear you had a good experience each time. I guess that explains why the hotel say "Sleep Inn" when I look on google earth.

 

I have seen the pictures of it newly updated and it looks real nice.

 

My only concern is that people have complained about the transportation to/from airport/cruise port. Did you have any problems with this and them being late?

 

I'm going back and forth between this place and the BW right next door. Either place would work for us.

 

Was the Shell gas station still right across the street on the corner?

What about the Checkers food chain? Those are the only 2 places I see right there and hopefully they are still there.

[olya1972]

MITSUGIRLY, Quality Inn (or is it Sleep Inn?) next door is owned by the same company. They share parking lot. There was a long wait to be picked up from the hotel to go to port, over two hours for us on February, 13th. The van was over packed and one person had to sit on the floor. one on the non-existing seat in the fourth row and luggage was not secured and kept sliding on my daughter's head, who was sitting in the last row. From the port the wait was about two hours. There was only my family in the van on the way back (5 people). The hotel was clean, understaffed. If I had to do it over again I would not park there and use their shuttle, but park directly in the port's lot. It was o.k. to sleep in. By the way, when we pulled into the parking lot the night before it was completely full. They told us to park next door in Quality Inn, but that was full too (it was around 11 pm Thursday night). As we were circling around one car pulled out and we got a spot. Their employees have to leave cars on the sidewalk on the side of the building because of full parking lot.

Edited March 3, 2015 by olya1972

[mitsugirly]

MITSUGIRLY, Quality Inn (or is it Sleep Inn?) next door is owned by the same company. They share parking lot. There was a long wait to be picked up from the hotel to go to port, over two hours for us on February, 13th. The van was over packed and one person had to sit on the floor. one on the non-existing seat in the fourth row and luggage was not secured and kept sliding on my daughter's head, who was sitting in the last row. From the port the wait was about two hours. There was only my family in the van on the way back (5 people). The hotel was clean, understaffed. If I had to do it over again I would not park there and use their shuttle, but park directly in the port's lot. It was o.k. to sleep in. By the way, when we pulled into the parking lot the night before it was completely full. They told us to park next door in Quality Inn, but that was full too (it was around 11 pm Thursday night). As we were circling around one car pulled out and we got a spot. Their employees have to leave cars on the sidewalk on the side of the building because of full parking lot.

 

What the building says on google earth is "Sleep Inn", which I'm thinking use to be the old name before the remodel. I believe it's now called Comfort Inn since the remodel. Is that the one you stayed at? The actual address is 6921 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. Comfort Inn (Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Cambria Suites, Econo Lodge among others) are all a part of the "Choice Hotels". I know this because my daughter has an account with them and we sometimes use it to book at a reduced rate with points.

 

What's next door is a Best Western. Their physical address is 6055 Belle Grove Road even though they sit side-by-side. They are not owned by Choice Hotels (that I know of). Unless there's yet another building located beside the Comfort Inn that I don't see on the map or online. :confused:

 

We are flying in, so no need for us to worry about parking. That won't be a concern for us.

 

Since we will be flying in, we will need the airport shuttle to the hotel from them and of course the shuttle to the cruise port. This is what I'm worried about because I have read a few reviews saying they are SLOW...and people waiting hours for this shuttle.

 

I'm thinking that I don't want to take my chances on this shuttle from Comfort Inn. I would really like to know if anyone has stayed at the Best Western next door and had any of the same issues with their shuttle?

 

 

Since you were just there on Feb 13th, can you remember if the Shell gas station was still there across the street on the corner? Also, do you recall seeing the Checkers restaurant (fast food) across the street as well?

[olya1972]

Yes, there was Checkers Restaurant right across the street. We stayed in Best Western 6055 Bell Grove Road.

[mitsugirly]

Yes, there was Checkers Restaurant right across the street. We stayed in Best Western 6055 Bell Grove Road.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 

I'm really getting worried now about the shuttle service to the cruise port and the reports of it being slow....it seems to be that way at both places.

 

Since you said they share the same parking lot, did you find that the shuttle service to the cruise port was taking BOTH hotels at the same time? Maybe that's the reason they are both getting the negative feedback about shuttle and the reason it was so packed full?

[olya1972]

It seemed that Best Western had one van used as a shuttle dedicated to Best Western customers. That included running the same shuttle to both, cruise port and airport, with airport appearing to have a priority.

Even though the wait was long, if you have your heart set on going this route, it really is not a big deal. We waited in the comfortable hotel lobby, tea, coffe, TV with FOX in one corner and CNN in the other available. Just for us comming from NYC (3.5 hrs ride) it wasn't worth the ordeal.

In the cruise port the story is different, for the port authorities make you leave the building with your luggage after certain hour (?9 or 10 am?) because they have to start processing incomming cruise passangers. There are benches outside.

Edited March 4, 2015 by olya1972

[mitsugirly]

It seemed that Best Western had one van used as a shuttle dedicated to Best Western customers. That included running the same shuttle to both, cruise port and airport, with airport appearing to have a priority.

Even though the wait was long, if you have your heart set on going this route, it really is not a big deal. We waited in the comfortable hotel lobby, tea, coffe, TV with FOX in one corner and CNN in the other available. Just for us comming from NYC (3.5 hrs ride) it wasn't worth the ordeal.

In the cruise port the story is different, for the port authorities make you leave the building with your luggage after certain hour (?9 or 10 am?) because they have to start processing incomming cruise passangers. There are benches outside.

 

Although it might not be too big of a deal waiting at the hotel with the amenities, we did pay for the FTTF and expected to arrive early enough to use it and get on the ship first (after the VIP people) and be able to explore and get pictures before everyone comes onboard (I take tons of pictures each cruise for my reviews). Arriving at a later time pretty much defeats the purpose of spending this extra money to get on early.

 

I have been told also that the hotel will not take anyone to the cruise port until they get a call from the cruise line saying they are allowing passengers to board the ship now. To me, that also defeats the purpose of having FTTF because I can guarantee that this means passengers are already at the terminal and getting on and by the time we arrive, there will be a ship full of people already on the ship. :(

[megr1125]

It's easier to just park at the pier, pay the 15 bucks a day and not fart around waiting for shuttles that go when THEY want....

 

Just find a place to sleep, forget about shuttles, and drive to the pier. Airport area hotels are cheaper as a general rule and there are many options...

 

It's an easy 20 minute-ish drive to the pier

[mitsugirly]

It's easier to just park at the pier, pay the 15 bucks a day and not fart around waiting for shuttles that go when THEY want....

 

Just find a place to sleep, forget about shuttles, and drive to the pier. Airport area hotels are cheaper as a general rule and there are many options...

 

It's an easy 20 minute-ish drive to the pier

 

 

The OP never came back to post and the later half of this thread is about the shuttle service because we are not driving in, we are flying in. So, we have to have a place to shuttle us to the cruise port. Trust me, with all of these shuttle issues, if I was driving, I would have went ahead and decided to park at the cruise terminal. :)

[olya1972]

Mitsugirly, did you check the taxi prices from airport to the port or from airport to some centrally located hotel where you can do some sightseeing and then taxi price from there to the port? There is nothing in terms of sightseeing (from what I saw on drive to and from the port) in the vicinity of those two hotels on Belle Groove road. If the difference is affordable to you, it is worth it. I would imagine it would be about under $200 extra for all taxi rides back and forth. Also, what time is your flight back? We were the last people in the port on disembarkation day with this shuttle bussines.

[mitsugirly]

Mitsugirly, did you check the taxi prices from airport to the port or from airport to some centrally located hotel where you can do some sightseeing and then taxi price from there to the port? There is nothing in terms of sightseeing (from what I saw on drive to and from the port) in the vicinity of those two hotels on Belle Groove road. If the difference is affordable to you, it is worth it. I would imagine it would be about under $200 extra for all taxi rides back and forth. Also, what time is your flight back? We were the last people in the port on disembarkation day with this shuttle bussines.

 

 

We are really not interested in doing any sightseeing prior to the cruise (or really even after). This cruise is costing us an arm and leg (2 1/2 times the amount we "normally" pay for ANY cruise as of date) and want to try to keep our cost at a minimal.

 

I have not checked in to pricing for a taxi to and from any of the hotels. I'm not sure where I would check?

 

$200 :eek: That is something I definitely don't want to pay extra for transportation cost when it's something that should be included with the cost of the hotels.

 

We do have time to play with on our return flight since it doesn't leave for a good 4 hours after we return on the cruise. But, once again, not really looking to do anything extra money wise.

[megr1125]

The OP never came back to post and the later half of this thread is about the shuttle service because we are not driving in, we are flying in. So, we have to have a place to shuttle us to the cruise port. Trust me, with all of these shuttle issues, if I was driving, I would have went ahead and decided to park at the cruise terminal. :)

 

Got it, I am confused...

 

Stay where ever, and take a cab. Less annoying and about 35 bucks..

 

There are several in the W. Nursery Rd area near the airport (in Linthicum) and they'll take you within a 3 mile radius to get something to eat, though there really isn't any place to get stuff if you forgot. OR stay by Arundel Mills...there is plenty to do, and aside from the outlet mall, there is a liquor store, a Safeway grocery store and Maryland LIVE casino.

 

Cab from there might be a little bit more, but most of those properties, if not all, have airport shuttles...

 

Still don't lock into trying to get a shuttle to the pier.

 

That said, you can call the Hyatt Place BWI direct, as they have a package and can instruct you on how to go about booking that....

 

There's also a Country Inn, almost every Marriott brand imaginable, Hilton, Sheraton, Westin, Aloft, Wingate, Hilton Garden Inn, several other Hilton and Holiday Inn brands...

 

By Arundel Mills you have, again, several Marriott brands, a couple Hilton varieties, an Element (Starwood) probably a few I am forgetting...

Edited March 6, 2015 by megr1125

[olya1972]

If money is a concideration, there is no cheaper option that I was able to find through all my searches then your original plan for Sleep and Cruise through Trinity Reservation. It is really not that bad. If I couldn't spent a little extra, I would be very content with it. The reason I felt it was not worth it for me is exactly because I could have spent a little more and chose not to do it. For the price, it was a perffect option.

Edited March 6, 2015 by olya1972

[almendrada]

Subscribing, as I'm pretty much in the same situation as mitsugirly. Thanks everyone for the tips!