Hilton Boston Back Bay {US-MA}
 

I've just booked 2 nights (7/31 - 8/2).
Have you ever stayed there? Is it close to anything? (Shopping, Fenway, etc)

About two years ago when I was working in Boston for about 4 months, I stayed there 3 times. This was all I could tolerate. The hotel was very run down, the rooms all had a musty smell, and I found the location somewhat inconvenient. They never acknowledged my gold status (i.e. never would look for an upgrade). I found the room service passable.
The hotels I really enjoyed were the Four Seasons, Copley Place, the Boston Harbor Hotel and Le Meridian. For a decent hotel in Cambridge I like the Hyatt. They always upgrade me to RC and they have a shuttle into the city that is very convenient. I will be staying there in August.
Now I might be speaking out of turn since this is a two year old observation. Does anyone have a more recent experience?

traveltoomuch,

if u can cancel the reservation do it,

very bad hotel, I booked 3 night in Dec. 98, however the frist thing i did when i got to the room I made a reservation at the westin for the rest of my stay (2 nights) I only stayed for about 9 hours (I arrived late around 11:30 pm)then checked out the next early morning... I couldnt sleep that night... the room smells!!. when we checked in (a friend and I)I asked for an upgrade(I think it was my third stay with hilton after becoming Gold VIP)he asked me why I am asking for upgrade!! I told him cause I am Gold.. he smilled and said we dont upgrade, you still can be upgraded for extra money...I declined.. well, the first room we had was clean but still smells and the toilet was unflushed and some hair all around... called the front desk asking him to change the room... I thought he was going to put us in a suite as a compensation.. but it was another smelly room... my friend was so upset and told me to ask for compensation.. I laughed and I told him if I did they gonna kidnap us... LOL... so it is better to keep quiet..

the hotel is in a poor condition.. and it wasnt cheap..I dont remember what the rate was but i remember that the rate at the westin was a little bit lower..

I would give that hilton property 0/10.. is it still as it is?... hope not

10 days later I stayed at the chicago hilton and tower for 5 nights.. top service...10/10

good that you asked before going there ...this is one of the advantage of this board

good luck

KSA_USA

Some of us Flyertalkers stayed there at the first ever FT get-together in Boston earlier this year.

Depressing property.

We tried to use the HHonors check-in and were told to "go to the back of the line". The concierge desk was unstaffed. The hot water did not work for a while (the manager halved the rate). I was in an "updated" room, which was a really odd shape and quite small. Then the clerk argued with me over miles and points because of the reduced rate. (But Hhonors customer service credited me over the phone later on.)

I felt like I was staying at a one star motel.



[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 07-21-1999).]

arturo wan to kno ef yu git phree fone kawls?

Yikes! Glad I asked.....I will be changing my reservation! Nothing I hate more than a smelly hotel. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Come on guys ... don't hold back ... tell us how you really feel ... http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Adam ~ This raises a question ... how often are your hotels "audited" to assure they meet minimum standards? How often are hotels "defranchised" for poor performance (rare/occasionally/often) (or does Hilton own most/all of their hotels and wouldn't really defranchise them?).

Holiday Inn has been very active lately in this area trying to improve their image. I personally know of two H.I.'s in the same city that were defranchised until they made major renovations to meet H.I.'s new standards, and I read a story that this was now common practice for H.I. to defranchise low quality hotels until they improved.

Hard to disagree with such talk as we've just heard. I haven't stayed there in about ten years. I was just going to say it was nothing special at best and barely adequate at worst. My only dissagreement is that I actually think it is a pretty good location- near Fenway and Newbury shopping! Come to think of it, I don't think I ever got my HHonors points here either! I usually stay at the Marriott Copley Place, with Lenox as a backup and the Sheraton Boston & Towers(huge) a distant third choice but quite adequate when there is no big convention overruning the place!

Speaking as a former Boston native, Back Bay Hilton is at a good location, especially compared to most locations in Cambridge or other suburbs.

However, if one has a choice, I would not ever recommend one to stay at either the Hilton or Sheraton, perhaps the two worst properties in downtown Boston! Instead, I would choose the Westin/Mariott/Fairmont at Copley Place for convenience, Mariott Custom House (a time share but 5000 AA miles!), and the Four Seasons and Ritz (4 Season is better) are obviously the high end choices.

The Charles Hotel at Harvard Square, Cambridge is a small and lesser known luxury hotel that is as good as the the two previously mentioned. If you go there, try to enjoy either the award winning cooking of Joey Adams at Ambrosia or Henrietta's Table, a restaurant whose emphasis is cooking with locally grown (fresh, organic) vegetables served a la carte style. Both restaurants are inside the hotel, along with Le Pli, a spa. You will also be in walking distance to Harvard and the Red Line!

Whether or not you stay at Le Meridien, be sure to go to their Saturday afternoon chocolate buffet where the desert chef(s) flexes his(their) muscle! The name pretty much says it all. Milk is optional.

wow, i consider myself very lucky! in my relentless pursuit of hhonors points, i was going to stay at boston's back bay hilton last thanksgiving while visiting with my girlfriend's family in cambridge ...even though there were several much closer properties (but no hilton).

in the end, we switched to the cambridge hyatt - not because it was more convenient and certainly more sensible - but simply because the back bay "value rate" offered on hilton's web site was only valid with a discover card, even though the hilton web site would let you book it and guarantee it with any card...the web site didn't let you know you couldn't actually pay for it with any card. it was only when confirming with a reservations agent that i found this out. i wonder what would have happened had i actually arrived without a discover card!

(what's up with that logic, anyway? the way to reward loyal hilton optima cardholders is by doing an exclusive promotion with the discover card? hmmm...)

the hyatt was fine, btw, although the pool was out of service when we were there, but they offered a shuttle to the marriott so you could use their pool. also, there was much confusion at the front desk over a meeting planner's coupon i gave them for a $100 discount. (they explained they had never seen one before and were unsure how to apply it; ultimately, they accepted it.)

i highly recommend the jazz club at the charles hotel... intimate room and an eclectic schedule featuring top level talent.

i, too, have seen holiday inns lose their franchise - the one that comes to mind most recently is a holiday inn express in liberty, NY that became a ramada or ramada lite or whatever it is that they call their no frills brand.(it was barely tolerable when i stayed there when it was a holiday inn, it was absolutely wretched last year as a ramada.)

[This message has been edited by UK Stages (edited 07-21-1999).]

Yes, UK Stages, I forget to mention that the Regatta Bar is also inside the Charles Hotel. It, along with Scullers, are the two premier jazz spots in Boston.

Well, I am now staying at the Westin at Copley Place! (Earning Starwood points instead of Hhonors).

Thanks to all!

I realize that you have solidified with the Starwood property, and that miles/points are a priority, however:

If you enroll in Fairmont's frequent guest program, you can upgrade for $25. The Fairmont Copley Plaza has some humongous suites with very old furniture, the famous Oak Room, etc. Finally, should you take this route and choose door #3, I will send you a Fairmont upgrade certificate to use (so you don't have to wait to get them in the mail and no, I will not post this in the coupon connection thread http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ). Regardless, have fun!

[This message has been edited by rhw88 (edited 07-22-1999).]

[This message has been edited by rhw88 (edited 07-22-1999).]

rhw88 is right. This is a very nice hotel and Fairmount does have a good frequent stayers program (Presidents Club). Actually all their properties are pretty darn good, just too few of them.

i worked on a convention in Boston in 1997. we stayed at the marriott, hilton, sheraton, westin, copley plaza, and others.

i agree - the hilton smelled terrible there, but the copley plaza was worse.

i didn't think the room service or the hotel service was too bad at the hilton.

i actually liked the sheraton, marriott, and the westin.