The Baymont Hotel in Brentwood looks fine from the outside. It’s conveniently located in the Maryland business park, close to Starbucks and many restaurants. It’s inside the building where this hotel leaves much to be desired.

Although it’s a non-smoking hotel, the lobby wreaked of smoke when we arrived, and the lady working the front desk said it’s due to all of the smokers who step a few feet outside the front door and congregate to smoke. As I entered my room, I was met again with the strong odor of stale smoke – in my non-smoking room. Another annoyance in the room was a heater/air conditioning unit that cycled on and off loudly all night (why don’t all hotels set-up the units so that the fan can run continuously, masking other inside and outside noises??). The room did have a high-def TV, but unfortunately, the hotel has not sprung for any high-def channels, so everything is just a bit blurry. The bed was the best part of the room – very comfortable.

The breakfast was OK – mostly breads, fruits, and a waffle maker, but no hot eggs or breakfast meats like many of the competitors offer. Lighting in the breakfast area was fluorescent, so dining there was like eating in a 7-11. There’s a “business center” – a computer and printer on a desk in the middle of the lobby. I needed to print documents for a business meeting and for some reason, the hotel doesn’t have MS Office applications loaded, so my Word documents simply wouldn’t format property in the Works program.

Management at the hotel seems to have recently learned how to make signs on their computer. There are home-made signs literally everywhere – “do this,” “don’t do that,” “X is not allowed,” etc. It was bizarre to stay at a hotel where I’m constantly being told how to behave – or – do they have problems with their clientele, warranting such signs??

All in all, the Baymont would do in a pinch. With so many other, better hotels in the Brentwood area, it would be my last choice.