The Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore has impressed the editors at Conde Nast Traveler.
The magazine lists the hotel among 121 of its favorite new hotels in its “Hot List 2012.” Only about a dozen U.S. hotels made the list, putting the Harbor East gem in the company of The Saguaro in Scottsdale, Az., Mr. C Beverly Hills in Los Angeles and Hotel Americano in New York.
Here’s the magazine’s take on the Four Seasons Baltimore:
The specs: A glassy Inner Harbor 256-room tower that easily outdoes every other hotel in town. Plush-but-generic rooms are secondary to an excellent restaurant and fourth-floor infinity pool backed by a bi-level sundeck and grill.
The look: Very beige, although the lobby’s six-foot quince-and-rose-filled flower arrangements impress, as do rooms’ huge bathrooms, which have walk-in showers, soaking tubs, and lots of sinkside space.
The experience: You’ll see Baltimore’s gritty side as you drive into town, signs of moneyed Old Maryland as you near the water. The glittering harbor is cluttered with schooners and yachts, and the hotel seems made for the lunching ladies who drop their Bentleys in the valet circle. The high-ceilinged marble lobby opens into a restaurant, Wit & Wisdom, helmed by San Franciscan celeb chef Michael Mina. It’s already one of the city’s best spots for gussied-up Upper Atlantic staples like blue-crab gratin, griddled rockfish, and lobster—which is served both straight up and cheekily swaddled in cornmeal in crustaceous corn dogs.
If only… the spa were better. It’s big, yes, but the technicians aren’t especially charming or skilled.
Bentley-driving lunching ladies?
View the entire Hot List 2012 slideshow at Conde Nast Traveler
