My wife and I just finished a weekend stay at the aloft near Arundel mills. IT WAS AWESOME! We have never stayed in an aloft before but had heard a lot of good things so we decided to give it a try. We are so happy we gave it a chance it was so much fun! We had a lot of interaction with the Front Desk staff who were all very friendly during our 2 night stay. We didn't go to the bar in the hotel but it looked really nice and was pretty busy so I am sure it is good. They have an interesing feel to the hotel we agree that it is very "trendy" but we really liked that part. They have a pool table in the lobby area which we enjoyed on saturday night. We had no issues with our reservation or our room. The hotel bath products were awesome! They are the Bliss brand which apparently you can buy (my wife looked it up). We will certainly be back and recommend all our friends to the aloft arundel mills. Thanks again!

We travel a LOT both for Leisure and Business. I have heard nice things about Aloft but have never stayed there. We always stay at the Hampton Inn Arundel Mills when we are in this area but this time figured we would try something different since we were only going to be there 1 night.

First, we checked in and went to our room - it was 100 degrees outside and it was 80 degrees in our room - the air was COMPLETELY off, not just at a reasonable setting.

Second, when I walked into the bed area of the room, the sheets and blanket looked as if someone had already used the bed. Not sure, I asked the front desk to move us. She did without any problem - I will mention again later but this particular staff person was the ONLY highlight of the stay. Also, in this room, the TV didn't work.

Third, we went to the new room, much cooler, bed was neat, but again TV did not work. We are very electronically savy people so it was NOT us. I called the same girl at the front desk and she had the guy on duty to come fix it - he couldn't fix it but he and his co-worker did replace it with another tv so that when we came back from dinner with friends it would be working.

So after all of this, we finally get back "home" at midnight, everything seems fine, we are all 3 looking forward to sleeping in after a great night out with friends. When at 5:45 AM - the Fire Alarm goes off and we are woken up terrified because we have our 7 year old and 6 flights of stairs to evacuate. We all rushed to grab shoes and rushed out the door - only to find, the ONLY ROOM WITH THE FIRE ALARM GOING OFF WAS OURS!!!! I called the front desk, a not so friendly person answered and actually laughed when I told him what was happening. The person comes to fix the alarm and he literally could not get it to stop, he had to rip it out of the wall. And as he did, he shook his head and apoligized profusely. He said make sure to mention this when we check out because he understands that this is unacceptable.

So, when we went to check out, the nice girl (her name was Mocha) said that she was not going to check us out because we had been through so much in our short stay. She was very nice about it and must have said she was sorry about 5 or 6 times. I was hopeful that her manager would be just as understanding......

NOPE, the manager was supposed to call me and didn't. I called her the next morning only to be hung up on. I called right back and she was laughing as she answered the phone which was completely unprofessional. I explained that Mocha was going to speak with her about my situation and said she would call me and never did - she said she didn't have a number for me (although I am a Starwood member and my profile is updated with all my information). She NEVER apoligized, only said she could give me 1000 Starwood points and "call it even" ummmm not even acceptable. She then offered me a $20 refund which I still found unacceptable so I called the 800 customer service number where they did offer me another $20 refund.

My poing here is I did receive $40 refund but considering I slept there 5 hours and 45 minutes and had several things happen to us, a free nights stay was in order. More importantly everyone EXCEPT the manager was apoligetic and professional. Whomever does the hiring at this hotel needs to re-evaluate their choice.

MOCHA was THE absolute best customer service representative before and after our incidents.

I stayed for one evening on business. The first thing I'll say is that the front desk staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. I arrived at 9am, expecting just to drop my bags, but the front desk had a room and put me into it right away. The room was clean, and neat. It had plenty of room to work, and the desk was in front of the window, so I could look out. That's always a nice touch as so many hotel desks face away from the outdoors. The beds were comfortable and the price was reasonable. The only negative was slow service in the lobby bar, and a cap'n and coke was $10. That's a little higher than necessary, even after taking into account a 'hotel upcharge'. Though, truthfully, it annoyed me only because it was so hard to get it in the first place. Service would have been 5 stars if I hadn't gone to the lobby bar.

We stayed at the Aloft Arundel Hills this week and must say this hotel (and chain) is a refreshing new addition to the hotel industry. Aloft has turned a lot of the standards in the hotel business upside down, and we were pleasantly surprised by our stay.

Upon entering the lobby the first time, we were almost stunned by what we saw. A very eclectic style, with upbeat pop/dance music, cheery staff, and LOTS of color. There was a pool table in the lobby too which is odd for a typical Starwood hotel. Check-in was a breeze, and when we entered our room, we were equally as stunned. Not your typical hotel room, but rather a quasi NYC loft kind of space. Again, lots of cool soothing colors, retro furnishings, and a room layout which was more like a Kimpton hotel. Bathroom was cool, walk in shower with big glass door, rainfall showerhead, and shampoo/soap in a dispenser. Free bottled water and free wi-fi IN ROOM, were great! Ample space overall, with a lively vibe to the room.

Staff was very good and professional, always greeting guests with "ALOHA". Read some of the other reviews about how the lobby was busy on Fri/Sat nights. We didn't think was busy at all either nite, even with the posh WXYZ bar in full action.

Oh and they allow pets with no fee and no hassle. They even provide bowls, treats, and toys for the dogs.

Overall, loved the hotel and will definitely return to another ALOFT soon.