craz

if you plan to do anything North of Boston, Salem,Rockport,Glouster etc etc then the Sheraton in Wakefield ,Mass is a Great location

sbtinme

Flews, other posters are correct. Boston is a little unique in that there is lots to do both in the city and in the surrounding areas, but travel time to get from one to the other can sometimes be mind-bending. Just b/c something is 6 miles from the hotel doesn't really mean it's "close by" if you know what I mean.

I have spent a good hour on I-93, or I-95, or I-495 over the years trying to just move 3 miles. That's the extreme, but it's certainly not uncommon.

In Boston, the best plan is to stay close to what you wish to do/visit. Otherwise, you'll likely end up spending too much time trying to get from one place to another.

Another approach would be to stay at the Sheraton/Westin Copley DT and then move out to the S Colonial or the Element/aLoft Lexington later.

30 years ago, we took a family trip to BOS. We'd never been and chose to stay in Revere (yuck). On the map, it was only 4 miles from Boston and thought that sounded perfect. Boy, were we wrong! It ended up being a total dump in a sketchy area and drives into BOS took 30 minutes. It made for a miserable experience.

mersk862

Third stay here in the past year as a Plat.

Stay #1 was walked to the nearby Marriott Residence Inn despite checking in at 9 pm. Found that a bit annoying as a SPG Plat on a weekend night

Stay #2 was when my reservation was lost and then I showed the email showing it. Was told hotel was full and I was out of luck at 1 am. After arguing with manager for 15 minutes, room magically found.

Stay #3 (tonight): show up at 9 pm, told room is not defeathered and that it wasn't in our reservation (again pull up confirmation showing this). Go up to room, wait for housekeeping to fix this, who tells us only has 2 pillows and not four (need four). Also find blood splotches on comforter. Absolutely disgusted especially when with family.

Not returning to this dump. Elevators still are horrible, service is bad. I'll stay at another hotel next time...shame Hyatt doesn't have a convenient property for me here.

frequentjohn

This place is a dump but I would have to stay here because it is the only *wood property near EMC in Hopkinton since the Sheraton in Milford, MA switched to Doubletree. The only redeeming quality is the health club is actually a full Boston Sports Club so it is much more substantial than your typical hotel gym. It is also right next to the Mass Turnpike but can be a long drive to downtown because of traffic.

soy

Currently under renovation (stayed early Dec). Rooms getting new carpets and furniture. Lifts being worked on. Gym is also being made over. I think the BSC link is ending and the new fitness centre will be much smaller.

Wish there were more options in the Boston metrowest area.

Flews

Had two great one-night stays here in September. Upgraded to newly renovated suite each time. Very nice new lounge. Outstanding service. No complaints at all.

Yes, this property has issues. But the renovations, and staff commitment to turning things around, was evident throughout. We got great value for the price.

Cheers,

gnp001

I stayed there for about 6 weeks. Not much style, the club was decent and the guy in the club was great. The suite they put me in was oddly shaped and just created with a big room. Again, it's clean and decent, but nothing special at all.

frequentjohn

Thank you for the update. I will try it again after the renovations are complete. That's too bad about the BSC. I loved the full health club. Rarely a wait for equipment even during peak hours.

soy

The first wave of renovations are almost done for the fitness center and the results are very impressive. The old 'hotel only' gym is converted to a meeting room and the new gym fills the split level room that used to make up the main part of the old BSC gym. Its much better than expected, with 6 threadmills, 3 cross trainers, 3 bikes and a full set of weight machines. All span new (lifefitness branded equipment) located in a timber floored room with white walls. I would say it is as impressive a hotel gym as I have seen in the US.

Unsure what they will do with the other gym room (the one with the rowing machine) but at the moment it houses the old equipment. Maybe they convert it to a yoga/stretching room?

No updates to the pool area and the steam room no longer works. Unsure about the sauna as it was off, when I checked.



Other than that the room renovations are now complete on levels 5 & 6 at least and are in-process for the restaurant and lobby.



All in all, this is an good improvement. Renovated rooms are better and as someone who likes a decent fitness center, this is definetly the best by far in the Metro west area. The lifts even seem to move faster....though I may be imaginng this


New girls staffing the lounge far more friendly than those in the past.....even if the lounge offerings are still much the same.

soy

Been back a few times since and renovations are now almost complete. All that remains to be finished is the restaurant (Postern Grille). New lobby is much fresher than before.

The elevators do appear to have improved, and there is not half the waiting there used to be. The lounge offerings have also improved and one might even be tempted to try some of the evening snacks now if pressed.

Overall this property has made some big strides - albeit from a very low base - and is now at a decent standard for a suburban business hotel.

sbtinme

Effective April 20, this hotel begins charging overnight guests to park. A whopping $17 for valet parking and $12 (or was it $15?) for all others. I'm speechless.

I was none too happy when the Westin Waltham and shortly thereafter the Sheraton Needham starting charging for parking, but at least both offer proper garage facilities and are much closer in to Boston itself.

To charge for parking in Framingham is really a kick in the teeth! It's akin to being asked to shell out $5 while you shop at Safeway! This is marginal hotel in a marginal location with a VERY marginal parking lot.

Flews

Wow. I couldn't agree more. This makes no sense at all. I have a multi-night stay coming up in a few weeks, which I think I will now cancel and tell them why.

Cheers,

haibane

There were a lot of flaws with this hotel. I stayed here last night. When I got there I didn't know anything about the parking. This is of course a big pain because its not that nice of a place. (4 points in Philadelphia felt nicer)
There were no Amenities in my bathroom (shampoo/conditioner etc...) I didn't even bother calling room the FD as I have some I bring for occasions like this. I went to the restaurant, and I had some decent food. The only down part was both of the bartenders were complaining the entire time they were working. A waitress came up, and they all began complaining about the work they were having to do now. The elevators weren't working very well near my room (second set of elevators further towards the back)
I could barely fit in the main elevators without ducking. (Castle design was neat until this happened). The air conditioning didn't seem to work. The thermostat was set to 50 when I got in there and it was 78.(luckily I was exhausted) The thermostat on the AC unit didn't work either. Basically it seemed like the hotel needed to close for maintenance and get their heads straight. Unfortunately, this is the most ideal hotel for me when visiting certain customers.

Nomadic22

Good news! Sheraton Framingham is no longer charging for self-parking.

Rooms have been nicely renovated along with lobby and restaurant. Gym has also been updated and surprisingly very spacious. However, the hallways are very dated and the elevators are very slow in the morning.

Plats get access to club lounge (good hot breakfast) but upgrades are limited at this property. Ask for a room facing away from the busy front road and without a connecting door to avoid hearing your neighbors.

While this is an older property they've done a fairly good job of renovating it and is the only spg hotel in the Natick/Framingham area.

Flews

Good to hear. We cancelled our last stay because of the parking charges. Thanks for the update.

Cheers,