My family always stays at The Abacrombie while visiting in Baltimore, so I was only happy to recommend it to a friend when they wanted to visit. I had heard that there had been some changes with the restaurant, but had not heard that there had been a chnage in owners since our last visit. When my guest arrived there was no one at the bed and breakfast. Luckily she had been given the code to the door, or we would have been stuck outside waiting for someone to show up. When we entered, we still couldn't find anyone- I had to search every floor until I cam across a housekeeper on the second floor who was very pleasant. The room was clean, but had a musty, damp smell. There was a broken vase on the window sill, which my guest cut her finger on quite badly when trying to open the window to air out the room. When I went to find a band-aid the housekeeper had vanished and the woman who was in charge(?) at the time seemed unfazed and aloof at the fact that we needed a band-aid and that there had been a broken vase left in the room. I am saddened to say that my guest's stay was less than pleasant, with an absent staff. I was mortified at having given the Abacrombie such high praise and regret to say that I will no longer be recommending it.

First of, the hotel and restaurant are separate businesses. We really enjoyed the restaurant and highly recommend it but this review is for the hotel. We stayed here a year ago and had a great experience but our recent stay was quite the opposite. We arrived mid-afternoon and there was no one from the hotel around. The manager from the restaurant actually gave us our key and told us where our room was. The room wasn't bad but the furniture was damaged, the TV on an angle, and the loudest AC I've ever heard. I'm a sound sleeper (and had quite a bit of wine at dinner) but the AC woke me up numerous times. The pillows were more like a folded blanket stuffed in a pillow case. There was not one more than 2 inches thick. The next morning at breakfast the hotel employee refused to address my wife. He even asked me if she wanted more coffee. I stonly suggest finding another place to stay.

The poor service really overshadowed our stay here. It was hard to get anyone's attention.

At the restaurant, we sat down at a table and were given menus. 30 minutes later we had yet to order and it became obvious that we were being ignored (the staff was around, just not coming over). After 15 minutes I pulled aside the waiter and asked to order. He said he would be right back to get our order but then never came back over to our table. After 20 minutes I went up to the manager and asked if we could order. He said that someone would be right over and that they thought we were not ordering (although we had menus the whole time). 10 minutes later we had still not ordered and decided to get up a leave.

Over in another area of the restaurant, there was a table that was begging for bread. They had been waiting for they full party for awhile and were hungry, but the wait staff appeared to be ignoring their requests as well. We spoke with these individuals and they were also disappointed and hungry.

All in all the food smelled good, but we did not get to eat it....

Otherwise, the room was small but seemed clean and well kept. The house itself is in a good location and has a lot of charm.

We stayed one night at the very comfortable Abacrombie B & B in early November, 2007 while visiting our granddaughter at Baltimore's MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) nearby.

Our room ($115 a night, midweek for two people, $88 for a single) was on the second floor, immaculate and charming with an en suite bathroom. More expensive rooms go for $135 and $155 but the least expensive room was fine. Limited number of rooms. It is an historic building, well-preserved, with a fine dining restaurant (Wednesday through Saturday) with only a few tables on the first floor. It was not open on the Wednesday that we stayed so we did not eat dinner, but we had an excellent complimentary breakfast with fresh fruit, cereals, fresh coffee cake, etc. The bed was the most comfortable we have had in a hotel or B & B and the room was reasonably large, enough for a several day stay, with a TV, clock radio and phone, hairdryer. The bathroom was small but had everything we needed.

Penn Station is a short (5 easy blocks) walk away, and a train from there goes to BWI airport. Connections are easy throughout downtown Baltimore though we had a car available. Parking is free next to the B & B, but next year they plan to expand the B & B, probably into the parking area.

We had a recommendation from a relative who had been there so it did not bother us not to find reviews before we went. This is a great place to stay while visiting Baltimore, at least in the off season. It is not air conditioned so it might be less comfortable in the summer.