Our family recently returned from a one-nighter in Baltimore after staying at the Marriott Courtyard Downtown. Our stay was complimentary as an incentive for acquiring the Marriott Rewards Visa card. Nice perk. Over the years we have stayed at some of the other properties in the harbor area such as: Hyatt Regency Baltimore Holiday Inn Downtown Renaissance Harborplace Baltimore Marriott Waterfront As a comparison point, we were happy with the Courtyard in terms of its cleanliness and great location and see it as a decent option. The hotel is situated on Aliceanna Street near the "Little Italy" area. There are quite a number of nice condominiums and hotels nearby as well as some brand name stores such as Haagen-Daas, Starbucks, etc. You have a nice walk (about 15 minutes) to the National Aquarium, water taxis and the other amenities nearby. It can get pretty hot during the summer but its manageable. Check-in was smooth and the staff were friendly. The lobby was comfortable with the standard "Courtyard Cafe", an attractive bar area and lounge. Our room was large and very clean with the fourth floor offering balcony views of the harbor and the area skyline. The fourth floor is also home to a nicely landscaped patio section complete with an indoor pool and fitness center. It's a rather large space where you face an an adjacent office complex connected to the hotel. It's attractive yet somewhat strange to peer in on folks hard at work during your leisure. On the downside, this is not a full-service property so there is no one to help with bags and, if you go on the weekend, a strong possibility of no baggage carts readily available. Our breakfast buffet was comped due to very slow service. The staff also seemed stressed and a little inexperienced. It wasn't a big deal as everyone was nice. Overall, this hotel is a notch above the standard "Marriott Courtyard" but is notihing fancy. I would rank it as a 3 1/2 star and a solid choice despite being a few blocks off the water. We were happy and could see us staying again in the future.

I chose this hotel, situated on the inner harbor of Baltimore, largely based on price and location. Little did I know that courtesy and service made me especially happy I picked this hotel. I was visiting Washington with two teenage boys, my son and a friend, and decided to take them to see Baltimore and catch a ball game. My husband decided to cut short a conference on the west coast and join us. Trouble was, he caught a red-eye flight and arrived at 7:30 in the morning, pretty tired. I called the hotel, explained the circumstances and asked if we could have access to our room at 8:30 am instead of at 3 p.m. The staff could not have been more understanding and accommodating, and gave us the room at the time we requested -- and didn't charge us a dime extra. The room was large and the beds comfortable, so my husband got the rest he needed before the game. Only negative thing I can think of regarding the hotel was the pool -- it's kind of small, but a bigger problem, it only opened at 5 pm during the week and closed at 10. The hours were inconvenient, to say the least. But that's a minor point.

Hotel is in the Little Italy section of Baltimore, in close walking distance to the Inner Harbor. I went with my two young daughters and had the Aquarium Package. For the price this was a great value. The girls loved the indoor pool and free breakfast. Also, getting two tickets to the Aquarium and free parking were big savings. We easily walked to the Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. Girls loved the Science Center (ages 9 and 7) - go early and beat the crowds. The staff were very helpful and friendly. I would stay here again for the price.

My husband and I decided to take a short break on a Saturday night and booked a room at the Courtyard Marriott. We live in Baltimore so we are familiar with most of the hotels, their rates and amenities. We chose the Courtyard because of its location in Inner Harbor East, where we could walk to Fells Point, the new movie theatre, and to many restaurants and bars. We booked an upgraded room with a whirlpool tub. The room was fine but small and the "upgraded" bathroom was clean but pretty bare-bones (no mini-fridge, one comfortable chair very close to the bed, which made it difficult to get in or out of bed on that side, harsh lighting in the bathroom). The rate, with tax and parking (not included) was more than $300.00, which is on the high side for a weekend night in an Inner Harbor hotel. There is a small breakfast room off the hotel lobby. It did not appear to serve any meal other than breakfast. In other hotels with similar "breakfast rooms," the breakfast was included in the room rate, It is not included here, unless one books a rate with breakfast. The Courtyard should post a notice to that effect at the entrance to the breakfast room because patrons at two other tables were (like us) surprised to be given a bill for breakfast, because they thought breakfast was included. At $10.00 each for a breakfast buffet that was OK but no better than the free breakfasts in similar hotels, we all concluded we would not have ordered had we been aware it was not included. It's a nice hotel with a good location. However, for a much lower rate, and a much more luxurious room (with a great breakfast included), I would recommend Henderson's Wharf, in Fells Point. There are also two new Hilton properties right around the corner from the Courtyard. We will give them a try next time.

Stayed here two nights while on business. Would stay here again for sure. Staff are friendly and very helpful. The restaurant does a fair to average breakfast. Wireless internet access is free. Location is excellent.