Hotel Monaco Opens Latest Hotel in Baltimore

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 31st 2009 at 3:02PM

A former railroad headquarters has been turned into a luxury hotel in Baltimore, The Hotel Monaco Baltimore is a $65 million boutique hotel that is part of the Kimpton group. The hotel's Beaux Arts building dates back to 1906 and served as the headquarters for B&O Railroad. The 202 guestrooms and suites are done in warm colors and offer high-speed wired and wireless Internet access in all guestrooms and suites (alas only complimentary for KimptonInTouch guest loyalty members), 24-hour room service, state-of-the-art flat-screen HD 37" TV in guestrooms and 42" TV in suites, a fully stocked mini bar with gourmet and organic options, L'Occitane spa-inspired bath amenities, terrycloth robes and an In-room safe large enough to accommodate a laptop computer. You can bring your pet with you or, if you get lonely, you can have a companion goldfish delivered to your room for the duration of your stay.

The Baltimore Sun says that the hotel is opening at a time when hotel occupancy rates in the city are lower (down to 58.2 percent in the first half of this year versus 62.3 percent in the first half of 2008). This is due both to the recession and because more new hotels are opening in the area. Last year the total amount of hotels rooms within a one-mile radius of Pratt and Light streets was 6,782 but this year it has jumped up to 7,985 rooms.

To attract the city's attention, the hotel has been holding preview dinners in its restaurant, the B&O American Brasserie. The hotel is also offering an aggressive opening rate of $129 per night for rooms that will cost $329 or more after October.

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