The Ivy Hotel

An opulent 1889 mansion with ultra-pampering service and 18 elegant rooms, plus one of Baltimore’s most lauded restaurants.

Lacking. Among the amenities is a light-filled natural spa overlooking the neighborhood where treatments include a lemon verbena body polish.

23 fireplaces. Local green marble. Stained glass lining the showstopping central staircase. Life was literally beautiful for 19th century industrialists, as The Ivy—whose brick walls are shrouded in its namesake—will attest. Guests rave over the 400-thread-count Frette sheets (impossible to leave), and the fact that each room is Cozy with a capital C: fitted with heated limestone floors in the bathroom and a flickering gas fireplace that’s downright necessary in Baltimore’s winters. (Ask for Room Thirteen for a canopied four post bed and dining nook housed in the mansion’s rounded turret.) Service here is exemplary; staffers will treat you like they may have treated the original owner, from private car service to daily turndown, all included in your rate.

It’s what you call a B&B&B—better than a B&B. Here, breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktails, and midnight snacks are all included in your rate.

From your channeled leather banquette overlooking the leafy courtyard, Magdalena restaurant feels as transportive as a movie set. Your dinner is equally cinematic: Nantucket Bay scallops served with Scottish game ravioli, apple, red wine and Cambodian peppercorn.

Magdalena : a fine-dining bistro with a focus on seasonal, local ingredients