Hotel Review: Hotel Revival Baltimore, MD

After making a reservation for a 9 night stay at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor, I received a call from the hotel advising that they’d need to move us for one night during our upcoming stay as the NFL had booked the entire property and needed to keep all the players in a bubble due to COVID.

They were initially going to have us stay at the Sheraton around the corner, but then they gave us the option to stay at the Hotel Revival Baltimore. We jumped at the chance for that because the Hotel Revival was a property we were originally considering instead of the Hyatt Regency.

The Hotel Revival Baltimore is part of Hyatt’s Joie de Vivre brand – a collection of boutique hotels – and is in Mount Vernon, a neighborhood just to the north of downtown Baltimore. We only stayed one night, but it was a lovely place to stay and so would be a hotel we’d certainly consider if we visit Baltimore in the future.

Here’s a full review of our stay at the Hotel Revival Baltimore.

Building

The hotel is in a building which used to be a mansion owned by the founder of B&O Railroad, John W. Garrett. It then became home to Garrett’s daughter Mary Elizabeth Garrett, a philanthropist and suffragist.

It later featured an exhibition from the Baltimore Museum of Art and was then rebuilt into a 12 story apartment building before being converted in 1983 to The Peabody Hotel. In 2018 it was rebranded as the Hotel Revival and joined the World of Hyatt loyalty program as one of its Joie de Vivre properties.

Check-In

The check-in process wasn’t the smoothest it could have been, but that wasn’t the fault of the hotel. The Hyatt Regency had neglected to advise the Hotel Revival that we were being relocated there for one night, so there wasn’t a reservation for us on their system.

The front desk agent was very friendly though and after giving the Hyatt Regency a quick call, got us checked in as quickly as she could. The Hyatt Regency advised her of my hotel status during the call, so as soon as she was off the phone to them she thanked me for being a Globalist member (Hyatt’s top tier).

Globalist status offers guaranteed suite upgrades provided there are suites available when checking in. There didn’t seem to be many guests at the hotel the night we stayed, so she was able to upgrade us to a Junior Suite Deluxe which appears to be their second highest suite level.

Our suite was room 1004. The hotel had stylish signs in the hall as well as local artwork at each end of the hall.

Suite

When entering the Junior Suite Deluxe, the bathroom was off to the right and the suite straight ahead. Although it wasn’t a one bedroom suite (i.e. having a separate living room), it was nice and spacious, especially seeing as we were only there for the one night.

The king bed was very comfortable with lovely, crisp sheets and had a bench at the end of the bed.

To the left of the bed was a desk and chair. The shelves had a number of different ornaments, as well as several comic books.

To the right of the bed were two sets of large windows which let in a lot of natural light. Next to one of the windows was a small dining table and a couple of chairs.

There was a pretty good view out of that window seeing as we were on the 10th floor.

Behind the table was a unit featuring a dresser and mini fridge, along with a TV, tea and coffee making facilities and ice bucket with drinking glasses.

I was particularly pleased to see the tea and coffee setup. I’d left my travel electric kettle at the Hyatt Regency seeing as we were only moving to the Hotel Revival for one night, so it was nice that they had an electric kettle rather than only a coffee maker like most hotels provide.

They had a couple of English breakfast tea bags and the front desk had someone bring a couple more up. I’m not a coffee drinker, but apparently Counter Culture coffee is meant to be very good.

To the right of that unit was a second table and chair by another window, as well as a couch and ottoman.

The view from that window was even better as it overlooked the Washington Monument. Fun fact – the Washington Monument in Baltimore was the first one built in the US for the first President, earlier even than the one in Washington D.C.

The room’s closet contained a safe, luggage rack and hairdryer.

Bathroom

The bathroom was, in effect, two rooms. There was an initial room (albeit without a door closing it off from the bedroom area) with a sink. It was a shame that there wasn’t a door to this section because it meant using it after Shae went to bed had to be done by the light on my phone as the main lights would’ve been far too bright in the bedroom.

In the bathroom itself was a walk-in shower with the toilet behind it, providing a little privacy if two people wanted to use the bathroom at the same time. The shower door only went halfway, so some water sprayed out when showering.

Overall, we really enjoyed our Junior Suite Deluxe. It was stylish and tastefully designed without being gaudy or opulent, had great views out of both sides of our corner room and, being a 450 sq ft suite, had plenty of space.

The only negatives related to the bathroom, although those were more minor issues.

Breakfast

Our stay was in December 2020 which meant many of their operations were impacted due to COVID. They didn’t have a standard breakfast offering which was a shame as that would’ve been free thanks to my Globalist status.

They did provide a to-go breakfast though which was better than many other hotel to-go breakfasts we’ve experienced during the pandemic. With us only staying for one night, I’m not sure if the breakfast packages get changed up daily or if it’s the same every day. The morning we had breakfast there the packages contained a decent muffin, two hard boiled eggs, yogurt, granola topping, orange slices and grapes and a bottle of orange juice.

Amenities

It’s a shame that COVID was an issue during our stay as it meant we didn’t get to experience everything that the hotel has to offer. There’s a restaurant and karaoke bar on the floor below the lobby, a rooftop restaurant and fitness room, but those were all closed during our stay. They were doing renovations on the third floor during our stay, so the fitness room might reopen once those are completed.

The Hotel Revival has a lot of lovely seating areas in the lobby which would be nice to take advantage of in the future if we stay there again.

Pet Policy

The Hotel Revival Baltimore is a pet-friendly hotel and doesn’t charge a pet fee which is excellent. They only accept dogs and have a weight limit of 75 lbs which is a more generous weight limit than many other hotels. That wasn’t an issue for Truffles though seeing as she’s only ~10 lbs.

Opposite the hotel is Mount Vernon Place which has plenty of grassy areas to walk around with your pup.

COVID-19

The hotel seemed to deal with COVID about as well as can be expected. Masks were required for all guests and staff and all their staff members did well with wearing them. All of their amenities like the restaurants, bar and fitness room were closed.

When entering our room, there was a sticker on the door confirming that it was sealed for freshness. When checking in though, the front desk agent had someone check the room to ensure it was as should be expected which means someone went in right before us, then replaced the seal. On the one hand it’s good that they ensured the room was ready, but it feels like that defeats the purpose of having a seal confirming that no one’s been in the room since housekeeping cleaned it.

Service

Service was good during our stay. I’d asked for some more English breakfast tea and it was promptly brought up. The front desk staff when checking in and out were also very friendly.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is free for all guests. For some reason my computer had issues connecting to it and so I had to rely on my phone as a hotspot during our stay.

Check-In & Check-Out Times

Check-in is at 4pm and check-out is at 11am.

Location

The Hotel Revival is in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. It’s a cultural area and is home to the Peabody Library, museums, historic homes, churches and more.

There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance of the hotel; a list of some of them was provided by the hotel.

We had lunch at San Pablo Street Tacos which was very tasty.

For dinner we got Thai food from Thai Mekong. The som tum (spicy papaya salad) I ordered was possibly the best som tum I’ve had outside of Thailand.

Parking

The Hotel Revival normally offers valet parking, but that was suspended during our stay due to COVID. Instead, guests can park their own cars in the secure parking garage a couple of blocks away.

The hotel provides you with a clicker during your stay, so you have unlimited in and out privileges. I’m not sure how much they’re charging for parking right now; I have Globalist status and a promotion at the time meant they were offering free parking.

Cost

With the Hyatt Regency relocating us for the night, they covered the cost of our stay at the Hotel Revival. If we’d paid for the Junior Suite Deluxe ourselves, it would have cost $222.64 including tax for that night. Standard room types were available for that night which were closer to $125 with tax.

This hotel is a category 2 property in the World of Hyatt program which means it costs 8,000 points per night. That’s a potentially great redemption during normal times as the room rates are presumably higher and so means you get even more value out of your points.

Final Thoughts

Shae and I enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Revival Baltimore. Our suite upgrade meant we got a more spacious room with great views and stylish design, their staff members were friendly and we loved the Mount Vernon neighborhood.

If we head back to Baltimore in the future, we’ll certainly consider staying at this hotel again.

Truffles Approval Rating

Truffles gives this hotel four paws out of four – pawfect! The fact that they don’t charge a pet fee was wonderful and our room was nice and quiet.

There was a park straight across from the hotel and the neighborhood is good for walking around.

Our Rating

Room = 4.5 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 3.9 / 5 (This is based on amenities available during normal times)
Food = 4.3 / 5
Location = 4.7 / 5
Service = 4.4 / 5
Dealing With COVID-19 (A new – hopefully temporary – category for our hotel reviews) = 4.3 / 5
Overall Value = 4.2 / 5

Total = 4.33 / 5

Address

Hotel Revival Baltimore, 101 W Monument St, Baltimore, MD 21201