First of all, I received the discount offered by the hotel to Johns Hopkins patients, which helped substantially. I only wish I'd known about it before I stayed four nights in Baltimore two weeks ago; I could have saved about $200!

Yes, it was difficult to find the entrance to the parking lot, and yes, it was necessary to locate a tiny sign at ground level and then figure out how to get over to the hotel. Though the hotel itself is visible from the interstate, it is accessible only through parking lots of other businesses--not an ideal situation when one is tired and it's after dark.

Upon entering the lobby with its small seating area, I noticed a couple or three people sittting around, and I wondered how come they seemed to be sitting there watching people check in. However, that didn't seem to present any problem. I was very happy to find that the juice machine used at breakfast had been left on, and I had a couple of cups of cranberry juice before going to my room--much better than soda. The clerk was efficient, and check-in was uneventful.

I had asked for a ground-floor room with two beds. That's exactly what I got. Everything was clean and in working order; the beds were confortable. Noise was not a problem.

I must caution anyone wishing to venture into the surrounding area after dark, however. I needed to go to the nearby WalMart not far from the hotel, and I felt definitely uneasy in that store. That WalMart had trash in the parking area; the store seemed poorly kept, and people seemed to be wandering in and out. I was glad to leave it and return to the hotel.

At breakfasat the next day, a very solicitous lady made me a waffle herself and delivered it to my table. She was glad to find the cups for me, and then asked if she could do anything else. Her attitude was very upbeat, her interactions with the other staff very heartwarming, and I felt that it was just like home.

Driving into the city that day was easy; staff provided good directions--better than MapQuest--and I felt that overall, I had gotten a very good value.

Suggestion: if you're traveling alone, you would probably want to get to the hotel before dark and then stay put.

Our stay at the Fairfield Inn North Baltimore was ruined by a harrowing experience upon arrival. As we approached the hotel around 10:00 p.m., we saw the very tall Fairfield sign in the distance. As we approached the sign, we discovered that there was no driveway to enter there. We had missed the narrow, unlighted, and unmarked driveway some distance behind us.

We were on a four-lane divided highway, so there was no way to back up to the entance, even if we had seen it. So I tried to turn at the next intersection, thinking that the entrance might be on the side of the property. The turn put me onto the on ramp of an Interstate highway!

Not wanting to drive four or five miles to the next exit to turn around, I stopped and backed up a few feet and found myself in the middle of a busy intersection with cars whizzing by and turning in all directions. It was very scary, and I finally had to drive through the intersection against the light just to get out of everyone's way.

Sure, I could have driven down the ramp, but the point is, the Fairfield Inn should not have created this situation for me. When I asked the desk clerk about this problem, he said three or four people miss the entrance every day. Then he gave a lengthy explanation of other property owners adjacent, etc. He was polite but offered no assurance that the problem would be addressed. He seemed rather resigned to the fact that it would not.

So, if you are going to stay at this hotel, approach carefully and look for a narrow driveway that appears to lead you into the parking lot of the adjacent business but then extends to the Fairfield Inn lot.

I informed the Marriott Company of this situation and hope they will correct it before someone is serious hurt. All I got out of the stay was a dent in my bumper, and, oh, a day-old donut for breakfast.

After reading some of these reviews, I was expecting to find a horrible, run down, dirty motel. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't see any evidence of the homeless or the drug rehab. The rooms were clean, breakfast decent, the staff was helpful. Even on a busy weekend morning with one elevator, we never waited all that long. It was a short easy ride to the inner harbor.The only downside was the location of the pool.
Maybe some people are just very sheltered and don't get out much from Anytown, USA. If I was planning to spend a lot of time in the hotel, I might have booked an up scale place in the harbor. But as a place to sleep after a long day of sightseeing and activities, it was perfect.

Hotel is next to a drug rehab halfway house with a Section 8 apartment complex behind it. Need I say more?
Once was a Susse Chalet hotel, part of a chain of very well-managed hotels. Not any more.