I stayed here Apr 22 2010 and once again April 25. The call for shuttle transport was answered promptly once, and once by hanging up on me once they picked up. The shuttle itself was at Terminal B to fetch me within fifteen minutes, and it runs 24 hours a day; between 4 and 11 AM, it runs every 20 minutes, taking perhaps ten minutes to the airport. They will fetch or drop you at the Wood Island "T" (Metro) anytime they run a shuttle. The usual afternoon driver is helpful, makes announcements about land connections, freeway access if appropriate, pub hours, etc.
The property is large, clean and relatively well maintained (except for the considerable mold growing on the bathtub caulking, which seems to affect at least several bathrooms and is likely from using the inccorect caulk,) I noticed a couple of folks reporting slow / stopped up bath drains, though I did not have that problem) and toilets that are, shall we say, "reluctant?"
The staff tends not to respect requests - "high floor away from elevators" meant the 3rd out of 7 floors, and the clerk's excuse was "that's how the people this morning assigned rooms" - and assigning me what I actually wanted and had in my HH record preferences. (x01-x03 ands x29-x30 are enar the elevators - a strange numeration system is at work here, beginning at the elevators.)
There is a pub open 5 - 11 PM, last call 11:30 PM, with pub grub ranging from starters / small plates (but they ran out of crab anything early on) and a variety of drinks (Sam Adams on draught), and can be charged to your room.
The breakfast room opens at 6:00 AM, includes juices, coffees (available 24 hours), chopped fruit, a substantial variety of breads, individual cereals and instant oat meal, what looked like powdered scrambled eggs with cheese and ham bits one day, "cheese omelets" that looked like flat rubber drain stoppers with some plastic yellow ooze and slices of "ham" that were bathing in water the other, etc. Seems more varied and substantial than most Hamptons, but it's still Hampton (and without any biscuits and gravy that I could see).
The business room includes two computers connected to laser printers, making it easy to print out boarding passes. One computer (on the right) is fine, the other is faulty and frequently stalls or needs rebooting - and it had not been repaired by my second stay. Mentioning it to staff both days resulted in nobody writing anything down or offering to bring it to anyone's attention - a major case of "it's not my job" seems to be chronic and contagious here.
There are other functions I did not check out (e.g. pool, fitness, etc.) and a pantry with frozen items, snacks, etc. (I was in late, out early both times.)
Nothing else is nearby / convenient / close other than the highway - the nearest businesses are what looks like a City or Commonwealth motor maintenance facility and the FedEx facility across the street.
This property can often be had - on HH websites- at half the price of the Hilton or Embassy Suites at Boston Logan proper, and is a good alternative for BOS travellers. (OTOH, HI&S Cambridge is a $15 shuttle or $35 cab ride away.) Just don't expect to be dazzled with brilliance, it isn't going likely to happen here; be ready to remind them what your room preferences are, because they really don't care.
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 26, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Reason: add / update for second stay