Hotel at a Glance: Pier 5 Hotel

Pier 5 Hotel’s Experience Specialists are happy to help you plan a personalized walking tour around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, located steps from the property. They know the harbor like the backs of their hands and can offer in-the-know recommendations about its many attractions. Some, like the National Aquarium, are within walking distance; hop on the shuttle to get closer to others, including the Maryland Science Center and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

• Perks with this deal: daily breakfast for two, a bottle of wine, and a $25 gift card toward a future stay at a Harbor Magic hotel
• Two onsite restaurants: McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks serves up Maryland blue crab and razor clams, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House specializes in USDA Prime steaks.
• A room with a view: Harbor-view king rooms overlook the Inner Harbor. All guest rooms are outfitted with flat-screen TVs, Wolfgang Puck coffee, Voss bottled water, and blackout drapes.
• Best spot for a night on the town: Power Plant Live!, an indoor/outdoor entertainment complex with an array of restaurants, bars, nightclubs and shops; it’s a five-minute walk from your hotel.
• Break a sweat: You’ll have access to the nearby MAC wellness center, which houses four saltwater pools, a four-lane lap pool, squash courts, and exercise studios.

Baltimore, Maryland: World-Class Museums and Historic Waterfront Neighborhoods

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor—a busy port that was redeveloped as a tourism district in the mid-20th century—has become one of the city’s best-known and most beloved landmarks. Water taxis ferry visitors from one historic, cultural, or family-friendly attraction to another. Sites along the routes include the star-shaped Fort McHenry (where US forces repelled the British during the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”) and restaurants where you can sample the city’s famous crab cakes.

You’ll find several unique museums here, too, from the National Aquarium—which houses more than 16,000 sea creatures in realistic habitats—to the wonderfully oddball American Visionary Art Museum, one of the country’s leading institutions for outsider art. For a stunning view of the skyline, the Inner Harbor, and Chesapeake Bay, head up to the 27th floor of the Baltimore World Trade Center, where you can see the city from 360 degrees at the observation deck.

Baltimore is made up of many little neighborhoods, each with its own personality. Mount Vernon, one of the oldest, has been a fashionable part of town since one of the country’s first monuments to George Washington was built here in 1829. Today, the neighborhood’s elegant 19th-century townhouses share space with The Walters Art Museum and the Lyric Opera House. In Fell’s Point, lively taverns and restaurants line the cobblestone streets of this waterfront district that was a pit stop for sailors in the 1700s.

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