Rodeway Inn Baltimore - Inner Harbor South

Thanks, Rodeway Inn, for respecting smokers’ rights. People talk trash about those of us who smoke, and I understand that’s their right, but 90% of you drink alcohol, and some of you are alcoholics. People act as if alcohol being legal makes it fine, even though it kills people in more than one way. Cigarettes can too, but I worked as a nursing assistant for 22 years and met many veterans who started smoking as young as 12, lived into their 80s, and didn’t die or get ill from smoking-related lung cancer or other conditions. My great aunt died of lung cancer without ever smoking. Smokers pay for rooms too. I understand you wouldn’t allow smoking in rooms inside the building, since that would be bad for the hallways. But places with exterior doors could set aside at least a few rooms for smokers, perhaps at the end of the building so we can step outside away from neighbors. People can get drunk, party, and be a menace, while I’m treated like I have a plague for smoking quietly and peacefully.

We were in town for a wedding and stayed only because finding another hotel would have made us late. The room was so bad that we slept in our clothes on the edge of the bed. The cigarette stench was so strong I had to wash my luggage afterward. I would not recommend this place. The front desk woman was very nice, but the room looked nothing like a place I’d want to stay. The posted photos don’t seem to belong to this hotel. There was a mouse trap outside one room, a badly stained chair that should be thrown away, and mold and mildew throughout the bathroom. The walls had holes and poor patches, and the furniture was old and disgusting. In the middle of the night, the biggest, juiciest roach greeted me in the bathroom.

I booked because it was cheap without checking the reviews or knowing which parts of Baltimore to avoid. After reading them and learning more, I was scared I’d made a terrible mistake. But our stay was totally fine. We didn’t find bed bugs, cockroaches, or dirty sheets, and the thin walls didn’t keep us awake. We didn’t feel unsafe. Maybe they’ve renovated recently, called an exterminator, or hired better housekeepers, though I don’t know why the reviews are so negative. A security guard patrolled the parking lot at night with a large firearm and an even more impressive posterior. None of the expensive equipment in our car was stolen.

The room was awful, with a bug on the bed within minutes of arriving, though it wasn’t a bedbug, and a cockroach coming out of the bathroom door handle. There were burn marks on the bedding and tub, and a puddle from a ceiling leak. The mattress needs replacing, the pillows were terrible, and we were glad to have brought our own pillows and blankets. We slept with the lights on to keep bugs away. At least they didn’t ask for a deposit, they’re working on room updates, and we had somewhere to sleep for the night. It’s two miles from the casino. For $73, the room served its purpose. You get what you pay for.