19103_aa

I think most would agree your best bet if you must be near the Convention center is the new Intercontinental. Both the Seaport and Westin Waterfront are very much lacking.

RichardInSF

Sounds good except it isn't that near the convention center. It looks like it is about a half mile away. I realize this is the Starwood forum, but haven't read anything elsewhere on the Seaport, how do you know it is bad?

lestismore

just left Boston- the W lobby is fantastic, spacious etc. for me there is not very much around the W. But if you're staying there because of the convention access- could not be better located. For almost everything else would need to travel a good distance, take cabs, or public transport.

fly co to see the yanks

stayed at this property this past weekend. mostly good results, particularly with the rate paid. the first night was $149 and the second night was the last two digits of my birthyear. no idea how they came up with that promotion, but it resulted in a great price. my alternative was $179 per night at the sheraton. the westin copley was $229'ish per night for the weekend. no thanks.

checking in was a bit of a problem. there was only person working the expansive front desk. the agent was at a normal check-in area and no one was manning the SPG elite station. there was a line so i started at the regular queue but eventually wandered over to the elite station. after five minutes or so, someone came out from to work the elite station. as you can imagine, i walked by the front desk many times throughout the weekend and there was never more than one person working. and, there was usually a line. odd.

when i was finally checked in, i was given a nice suite on the 8th floor. each room had two nice bottles of panna water and two coffee packets (one regular, one decaf in each room). unfortunately, when housekeeping came the second day, i was left all decafs (i.e., 4 decaf packets). whatever.

random observations: the hotel is about one year old and it is holding up quite well. i didn't notice any scuffs on the furniture, etc. (conversely, i stayed at the westin melbourne recently and it has not aged well.) the bed was amazing and the A/C unit was very responsive. it was easy to raise/lower the fan and adjust the room temperature. the shower was great with a single head speakman. both rooms were VERY clean. i was happy with the room. the couch in the second room pulled out into a bed, i believe. i didn't try to open it but it looked like a sofa/bed. i give the room a solid "A."

wired internet was free and each room had a cord. that was nice.

the gym was a disappointment. considering the size of the room, there was a paucity of benches and equipment. there was one rack of dumbbells and two adjustable benches. i can see this being a problem during peak times. there were also machines but everything was widely spaced. for example, there were four stationary bikes along a big window. the bikes were very widely spaced in an area that could have easily had 6-7 bikes. also, most westin gyms have a basket of fruit (green apples, etc.) this property didn't have any fruit.

for lunch on saturday, i had a very tasty open faced tuna sandwich in the restaurant. the food was prepared quickly and service was good. the same can't be said for the starbucks in the lobby. despite more than adequate staffing (overstaffed?), they were slower than molasses and completely incompetent.

room service trays in the hallway were not picked up all day saturday. it was kind of gross, actually.

there is no turndown service.

during the week, the USA Today is provided. on the weekends, there is no newspaper service. i think the Boston Globe would be a better newspaper choice and it should be provided everyday at a property of this level.

i used the silver line from the airport and to get into town all weekend. what i tended to do was take the T into town and a taxi home. the T service was easy and relatively fast even with connections. taxis back to the hotel were $10 roughly.

i thought this was a great stay, particularly given the price. and, the hotel plant itself far outshines the westin/sheraton copley.

fly co to see the yanks

1) funny, one of the lightbulbs in my room was also burned out. weird. but, you are correct, housekeeping should check this. apparently they don't.

2) i thought the Service Express agents weren't particularly polite.

3) wireless coverage in the room? i didn't know the hotel had wifi. i used the cord and it was free.

4) there was no fruit at the front desk or in the gym.

MarkXS

Fruit apparently is random.

Turndown has happened, apparently is random

Dead lightbulbs apparently are consistent

Yes, there's wireless in the rooms. They must have access points on each floor or there wouldn't be a signal. However it was pretty weak. I prefer to use the wireless so I can move the laptop around, sit in the easy chair or sofa or bed when browsing, desk when working.

Note that you do get charged twice if you start with wireless and switch to wired, or vice-versa, but they've always taken the duplicate charge off the bill for me. You sure it was free? Were you on a package rate that maybe had it bundled in?

jswede1507

What

Stay at this hotel when it is raining all day. It is a nice new hotel. It is not Westin or Sheraton Copley by any means. Just on location alone.

fly co to see the yanks

yup. i wasn't charged. when i plugged the cord into my computer and opened the browser, it went right to my homepage. no westin screen at all. i logged off each night, so it wasn't a one-shot thing.

my wireless card never registered a signal. i was in a suite all the way at the end of the hall, however.

i wasn't on a rate that included internet. and, even if i was, i am sure i would have had to approve it and they would have backed it out. i can't imagine that they could program the internet to avoid the westin splash page.

weird.

fly co to see the yanks

i have no idea what you are trying to say.

why don't you take a deep breath and try again.

magiciansampras

I think he's trying to say the location sucks and that if it is raining outside you can't do anything whereas at Copley you can walk around the mall.

But I could be wrong.

fly co to see the yanks

well, you could take the $100 per day in savings and do quite a bit of cabbing...and have lunch or dinner....and stay in a much newer nicer property.

and, the location didn't bother me. the T and the cabs were pretty quick and inexpensive. but, then again, i live in manhattan and am used to the subway. i prefer to avoid the own-a-car culture in favor of mass transportation or taxis.

magiciansampras

True.

When all is said and done though, I've recommended against staying at the waterfront Westin for friends of mine that are coming to visit Boston. The reason is that it's like staying in Brooklyn if you're going to visit Manhattan; sure, you can take the subway, but it's just not the same thing.

fly co to see the yanks

point taken, though this property is in boston. brooklyn isn't in manhattan. this property is much easier to get to/from the airport (than going to/from LGA/JFK to/from brooklyn) and cabs are just as cheap from this property to anywhere else in boston as from/to other intra-boston spots.

jetsetter

I just booked a friend at this hotel, and noticed the following in the confirmation email:
"Package Handling Policy
There is a package handling fee for all incoming and outbound packages. Please contact the hotel directly for the exact fee."
This really left me with a negative impression. The only other place I've experienced something like this is in LAS.

In retrospect with all the negative reviews I probably should have tried to get my friend in to the Intercontinental Boston.

Is there any update as to whether the hotel has a club lounge or not?

fly co to see the yanks

at this point, this is a normal charge. i don't agree with it. i am with you...it's silly and very nickel-and-dimey. but, it certainly isn't isolated.

no lounge....though if you want coffee (with brutally slow, incompetent service), there is a starbucks in the lobby.