Cool Hotels

The Admiral Fell Inn

Fells Point, a waterfront neighborhood of pubs, antique shops and cobblestone streets, is probably the most visited neighborhood in Baltimore not counting the Inner Harbor, which is really more of a development than a neighborhood. The business owners in Fells Point know that the very lifeblood of the neighborhood depends on keeping out homogeneous chains and letting history and character thrive. So, if you want to get a sense of the real Baltimore, with its John Waters-weirdness, its colonial history and its tough edge, you should stay at in Fells Point. And the best place to stay is The Admiral Fell Inn.

The Admiral Fell Inn, a historic inn and pub named for the neighborhood’s founder, sits at the heart of the neighborhood, right near the water. It’s been revamped, updated and remodeled in sleek boutique style, but the designers incorporated the colonial history of the place with antiques and other period details.

Oh, yes, and the hotel sometimes hosts historical reenactments. And ghost stories. And allegedly real ghosts live on premises and occasional spook the guests.

The Inn at Perry Cabin

Visiting the lovely seaside town of St. Michaels, Maryland, I got the feeling that the idyllic, Eastern Shore village wanted to attract visitors to it charming cafes and antique shops – just not too many visitors and the right kind of visitors. In other words, this is a symphony and NPR kind of place, not a beer and pretzel kind of place.

So, it would follow that the best hotel in this little, low-key town with its yachts and white jackets would be home to one of the world’s finest hotels. That's right, the world. Not just the Eastern Shore or the great state of Maryland. The Inn at Perry Cabin, owned by the Orient-Express company, was once the private waterfront residence of one of Maryland’s most prominent citizens. It’s now a top-drawer spa and resort facility that attends to every detail of its guests stay. Since it was built in the early 1800s, the white colonial-style mansion has been expanded and restored multiple times and now can house up to 80 guests.