Hilton HHonors - Hunt Valley, MD for Orioles game?

I live outside of Philly. In June, I will be going with my wife & mother-in-law to the Orioles-Phils game at Camden Yards. Staying 2 nights. There are no HH properties at the Inner Harbor. I searched reviews, thought about the Colinade 4 miles away which received decent reviews on this board. Parking, however, looked difficult and the hotel said taxis were hard to get before and after the game.

I was reading about Hunt Valley,MD which has an Embassy Suites and a Hampton Inn. Looks like there is a "light rail" stop near the ES. This drops you off at the Ballpark and brings you back after the game. I was going to book the ES unless there is something I should know about the hotel or the light rail. Nothing found when searching.

Anyone ever stay at Embassy Suites Hunt Valley or take the Light Rail? Thank you.

Having lived in Baltimore for four years, I'm well acquainted with the Light Rail system. When I lived in the suburbs, I used to take it all the time to the games. It's quick and easy. However, to do so, I would not stay in Hunt Valley to go to the games. Hunt Valley to Camden Yards is almost an hour on the Light Rail. Far too long in my estimation. Since you're coming down from Philly, my suggestion would be to stay near the airport and drive in to the city to the Patapsco light rail station. It's three stops south of the park and takes much much less time to get back to. Your choices in the area are the Hampton Inn Glen Burnie (I've stayed there.. not too bad.. has restaurants nearby.. actually lived behind the shopping center across the street), the HGI BWI Airport, ES BWI Airport, or the Hampton Inn BWI Airport. The airport hotels might have a shuttle to the airport where you can pick up the light rail or to one of the other stations closer.

Hope this helps. E-mail me if you need additional information. Go O's (lifelong O's fan)

My husband says the Hampton Inn by BWI is always a decent reliable place to stay. He likes the HGI as well, but says it's more expensive & often full.

It's about a 20-25 minute trip on light rail from the BWI area. The Hampton does have shuttle service to the light rail station.

However, we've never had a problem with getting in & out of the Camden Yards area when driving. We just park over by the Ravens stadium & walk the extra distance.

gs88, I stay at the Hunt Valley Mariott twice a year (for two local SciFi conventions) and the Light Rail from there is about 60+ minutes, as Bluehen1 noted. Also, you *may* need to switch trains (I take it from BWI to HV and back, and you do have to switch).

However, I have landed at BWI, taken in a night game at Camden, and then headed up to HV (the trains run quite late on weekdays - around 11pm or so).

The Hunt Valley station is in Hunt Valley Mall. It's about a couple hundred meter walk to the Embassy Suites. The Hampton is some distance away, so I'd call to see if they offer shuttle service if you choose it.

I have stayed at the BWI Hilton Garden Inn and loved it.

I also enjoyed the Hampton Inn Arundel Malls (incredible continental breakfast spread and plenty of restaurants in the mall). The HIAM does have shuttle service (it is well off-site of BWI), but they pick you up and drop you off right next to the BWI lightrail stop. So you could stay there and then use the shuttle to get to and from the light rail stop.

And it is about 20 minutes from BWI to CY on light-rail, but the stop is right next to the stadium (it's quite a large commuter rail station).

For that matter, driving from the airport to the city is a lot easier than coming in from Hunt Valley. There's also a regular Hilton in Columbia that's probably closer to Camden Yards than Hunt Valley. Hint regarding parking: if you're driving from the Airport or Columbia, drive past the ballpark. You will find a number of commercial parking lots that charge the same or less for park and lock and are as close to the ballpark as the vast majority of spaces in the ballpark lot.

I never had luck parking near Camden Yards. It was always easy to get in but hell to get out. I don't leave games early either. The easiest I ever had it was when I lived 12 blocks from Camden Yards and used to walk home.

When I lived outside the city, I always used the Patapsco Light Rail station because parking's free, it's a quick three stops and all trains go through the station and it's accessible from I-95, I-97, and I-895. Then it's a very quick drive to the airport area or Glen Burnie. I moved before Arundel Mills was built so I can't give any information about there other than to go to Gunning's on Rt. 100 for some great Cream of Crab soup (actually should be called pudding it's so thick).

There's also another hint about riding the light rail. There are two stations that serve Camden Yards (Camden Yards and Convention Center). They're not that far apart. When heading home after the game, you want to get on the light rail at the station furthest from your destination (i.e. use Camden Yards for going north and Convention Center for going south). You should be able to get on a little easier at these points since the stations won't be as crowded going in your direction.

Also make sure to buy your ticket as a round trip and not two one ways. It will save you time heading back to where you're staying.

Thanks for all the great advice. Are the BWI Hotels located "too close" to the airport ie. can you hear the planes??

Also, Is the Light Rail safe to take at night. (3 people 1 senior citizen)?

gs88

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gs88:
[BAre the BWI Hotels located "too close" to the airport ie. can you hear the planes??[/B]</font>

The Arundel Mills HI is well off-site, so it was nice and quiet. The HGI is also down the roads a way, so as I recall it was pretty quiet, too (I'd been up 36 hours when I checked in, so I passed out for a couple hours and didn't hear nuthin. *grin*)

gs88.. with all the people at the game, you'll be fine taking the light rail. I'd be more concerned if you were traveling alone.

I used to live near the airport and could hear them all the time.. but I'm sure the hotels are well insulated for sound.