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.

This hotel is a great option in the downtown area. The hotel is in convenient walking distance to Little Italy, a movie theatre, great restaurants and the Whole Foods on site is a big plus. There are an abundance of cabs waiting and the hotel has a small lounge that is open late for drinks. The room was clean and comfortable. Parking is $22 a day and you can come and go unlimited with your room key. Great deal super close to the inner harbor.

Note: I rate hotels solely based on the quality and irrespective of the price. If ratings were based on both the price and the experience, it would be impossible to discern any useful information, therefore with my ratings, one can determine exactly how good the hotels are and then compare prices separately. Generally, the more expensive hotels are better, but not always.

I would rate the Courtyard Marriott as a fairly nice hotel, although the room was somewhat small. The room was new and clean. There is wireless Internet access, and there were supposed to be fridges/microwaves available for free, but they had run out the night I requested one. My only complaint was that there was a speaker on the wall that emitted a continuous very soft staticky noise which was tremendously annoying when I was trying to fall asleep. I only noticed it after turning off everything else in the room, so if you have extremely good hearing it may be bothersome to you and I ended up turning on the fan to help drown out the noise. I am not sure what the purpose of the device is, maybe it acts as a fire alarm. The hotel is expensive, which I think is more due to the location than the amenities, and there is an additional maybe $15 of taxes on top per day, due to Baltimore state tax.

There is a Whole Foods store inside of the same building which you can go to for groceries and they also sell a hot breakfast which is cheaper than the one in the Courtyard restaurant. Ask at the front desk how to get there. There are taxis waiting outside continuously for your convenience. There do not seem to be any places to go to within walking distance of the hotel, however.

Overall, I was pleased with my stay, but not the price.

As a fairly frequent visitor to Baltimore (known as Fenway South) during Red Sox vs Orioles games; this location and Courtyard was a great find! I had stayed in inner harbor (YIKES$$$$$) times before and had decided to stay cheaper close to the airport for the weekend - but found this location days before the weekend and was psyched I did!

First - I'm a rewards memeber so I stay at lots of Marriotts (at all levels) and are seldom disappointed - but being a city person I know the "location" can be the "make or break"in a city - especially in Baltimore which definaitely has a "gritty" side/feel to it (not necessairly a bad thing - but a consideration for safety).

This location in Harbor East was excellent. We (two females) felt perfectly safe walking in area both to and from Inner Harbor, and Fells Point in both day and night. We walked and took the water taxi ($8.00 for the day - great value and just two blocks to this hotel from the landing). I really liked that on this side of the harbor you had both the conveience of walking to all inner harbor has, and in the other direction (about four blocks) you were in Fells Point with all it's shops, restaurants, local Foodie Market (like Lexington Market in Philly and so many other cities) and bars (local and touristy) galore. We ate a "Angie's" in the open market (local counter service and you can't beat a great down home lunch for most under $5.00!) Note: there are also two water taxi stops in the Fells Point Area (from inner harbor) so you have that option too and then you can easlity walk back to hotel.

The hotel itself is new, clean, spacious. Restaurant on site for breakfast buffett (not complimentary) - we didn't partake - not with great local breakfast joints so close - but buffet looked pretty good. Service was pleasant (and it was a very busy weekend) and responsive. All the usual amenities of a Coutyard and even more so - several computer to use free of charge, had a small bar and nice sit down areas with flat acreen TV's, couches, tables etc. One late night after game we got take-out from a inner harbor restaurant - took the water taxi back and ate in this "living room" area (not to stink up the room) - it was great. Others were having wine and beers another section watching TV. Nice touch.

The best thing though for this "inner harbor" convenience and to be so close to Fells Point and Little Italy area (which is just another few blocks north of the hotel (save that for next time!) was that the cost was extremely reasonable ($179.00 AAA rate for Sat). All other hotels in the inner harbor (and the Marriott Inner Harbor which is a block next to this Courtyard) were in the $300-$500 range. To stay at the airport (Springhill Suites I had booked was $139.00) and to have to take the light rail to and from this inner harbor area for the difference of approx $40.00 was a no-brainer! You were right in local inner harbor area - great deal!

My choice for all future trips to Baltimore - can't beat the quality and certainly the location. Also for those of you whom drive - parking garage is right next to entrance - reasonable for a city.
And also - Whole Foods in same block of buiidling - great take out eats, good stuff for picnic etc and a new Starbucks right around the corner opening very soon.