Great Location in the Inner Harbor, but Swim at Your Own Risk!
We checked in to this Baltimore Inner Harbor hotel on Friday, 7/6 and checked out on Sunday, 7/8 during record-breaking temperatures. On Saturday it got up to 108! While we waited in the lobby on Friday night, a staff member offered my daughter an ice cream pop which was a really nice touch. We were also upgraded to a partial harbor view on the 9th floor for being Marriott Rewards Members which was great The room was very clean, decor was nice, aveda toiletries were provided, and the bed was quite comfortable. Apart from the noise on the streets (sirens, etc.) which couldn't be helped being in the city, we had a great night's sleep. Since we had a king room, we asked for a rollaway bed for my daughter and it was brought up and the bed made very quickly. The staff was very friendly and professional except at the Hotel's indoor pool.
There is a small indoor pool at the Renaissance Inner Harbor that is 3 feet in the shallow end and 7 feet in the deep end as well as an outdoor area to get some sun (too hot for us to do that this past weekend). My five year old daughter was very excited to swim in the pool, and we were impressed to see two lifeguards at the pool on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the hotel ought to save their money since the lifeguards were busy braiding each others hair at a desk behind a pillar which blocked their view of the pool. For an hour from 3-4, we observed the "lifeguards" sitting and socializing behind a pillar, eating, and talking to one another. When one left the other would walk near the pool holding her cell phone. They were busy checking text messages, email, etc. It was obvious that my husband and I were paying more attention to almost thirty people including quite a few young children in the pool. If the general manager of this Renaissance Hotel is reading this, you ought to tell the Marriott brand to save their money and just put a sign that says "swim at your own risk...no lifeguard on duty" sign nearby the pool. We were also disappointed that there were no towels available poolside which we realized after our daughter jumped in (I called down to the front desk twice in an hour to bring us some towels, but eventually I had to go find a housekeeping cart in the hallway and get a towel there). The lifeguards told me that they asked for towels, but they didn't think they would get there til 8 o'clock!
This hotel was in a great location. It was connected to a mall and there was a walkway connecting to another small mall across the street. Also, the National Aquarium where we spent most of our Saturday was a short walk away. We had some great tapas and Sangria at La Tasca in the mall across the street on Saturday. There were also great happy hours all over the city offered Friday. We ended up going to Phillips seafood on Friday night where they had a happy hour with drink and food specials from 4-7 Friday night and piano music. On Sunday, we had brunch at The Cheesecake Factory in the mall across the street overlooking the harbor.
Overall, we had a great, albeit steamy, weekend at the Renaissance Inner Harbor Baltimore. The Marriott brand continues to impress, but they really have to reassess whether they should be paying lifeguards. To me, it seemed like a lawsuit just waiting to happen....Swim at your own risk!