The Envoy Hotel, Autograph Collection, Boston, MA [Master Thread]
Aug 17, 2018, 10:34 am
#1
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Join Date: Oct 2012
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The Envoy Hotel, Autograph Collection, Boston, MA [Master Thread]
Stayed at the Envoy Hotel down in Seaport this week. A few thoughts:
I didn't have a lot of time to explore the hotel and the amenities, as work, clients, dinners, etc. kept me pretty busy.
I was upgraded to a "deluxe" water-facing room as a Gold, which was more than expected since the hotel was showing sold-out this week. Room was decently large, though some said the center-placed bed is a little weird. Offered a $12 breakfast voucher each day, or 750 points in lieu of breakfast. I chose the points since my breakfasts were already planned with my colleagues so unfortunately no review on the breakfast.
Bathroom has frosted glass as partitions, and does have a closing frosted/patterned glass door that slides closed. However a note for those who are more than one: the bathroom has limited privacy since the frosted/patterned portion of the glass doesn't really enclose the bathroom floor-to-ceiling... you could easily get a peek if you peeked over or under. Bath amenities were by "fresh" and were actually pretty nice, and seemed to be real sample-sized amenities (as in they had barcodes on them) rather than the standard "distributed by Sysco/Marietta/La Bottega" stuff.
Additionally, the "water view" room was really just a view of the Barking Crab restaurant (I was on the 4th floor) and the bridge from downtown Boston... so if you are standing without pants on in the window, everyone crossing the bridge can most likely see you.
Room was generally nice, and there were power outlets/USB outlets EVERYWHERE, which I appreciated. Much more boutique-feel than your standard Marriott -family hotels, which I appreciated. Two bottles (full size at 16.9 oz) of Envoy-branded spring water were provided each day, which was nice. I noticed the room did not have any facilities for making coffee/tea, or a mini-fridge. These may be a deal-breaker for some, though I'm sure you could call down and ask for those, but just an extra inconvenience when it doesn't already come standard.
Unfortunately the biggest dealbreaker for me (and the reason I would not return): the air conditioning unit in my room was EXTREMELY noisy. It also doesn't regulate the temperature of the room very well. Instead of keeping the room at a constant temperature, it's one of those which will turn on very cold (and loud) for 5 minutes, shut off for 5 minutes as the room warms back up, and turn back on for 5 minutes. So it's a consistent on/off (even if you change the thermostat settings) which can feel quite disruptive.
The Envoy was not cheap (though I suppose that goes without saying in Boston) -- $400 a night including taxes on a corporate rate, which is pretty much the same as the Ritz (on our corporate rate) and the Renaissance nearby. Besides the A/C issue, the hotel was generally nice (and only a 5 minute walk to my office), but I will probably not returning if I cannot sleep at all Will probably try the Ritz, Langham, or Kimpton Nine Zero next time, though my colleagues also mentioned that Ritz is quite underwhelming.
I didn't have a lot of time to explore the hotel and the amenities, as work, clients, dinners, etc. kept me pretty busy.
I was upgraded to a "deluxe" water-facing room as a Gold, which was more than expected since the hotel was showing sold-out this week. Room was decently large, though some said the center-placed bed is a little weird. Offered a $12 breakfast voucher each day, or 750 points in lieu of breakfast. I chose the points since my breakfasts were already planned with my colleagues so unfortunately no review on the breakfast.
Bathroom has frosted glass as partitions, and does have a closing frosted/patterned glass door that slides closed. However a note for those who are more than one: the bathroom has limited privacy since the frosted/patterned portion of the glass doesn't really enclose the bathroom floor-to-ceiling... you could easily get a peek if you peeked over or under. Bath amenities were by "fresh" and were actually pretty nice, and seemed to be real sample-sized amenities (as in they had barcodes on them) rather than the standard "distributed by Sysco/Marietta/La Bottega" stuff.
Additionally, the "water view" room was really just a view of the Barking Crab restaurant (I was on the 4th floor) and the bridge from downtown Boston... so if you are standing without pants on in the window, everyone crossing the bridge can most likely see you.
Room was generally nice, and there were power outlets/USB outlets EVERYWHERE, which I appreciated. Much more boutique-feel than your standard Marriott -family hotels, which I appreciated. Two bottles (full size at 16.9 oz) of Envoy-branded spring water were provided each day, which was nice. I noticed the room did not have any facilities for making coffee/tea, or a mini-fridge. These may be a deal-breaker for some, though I'm sure you could call down and ask for those, but just an extra inconvenience when it doesn't already come standard.
Unfortunately the biggest dealbreaker for me (and the reason I would not return): the air conditioning unit in my room was EXTREMELY noisy. It also doesn't regulate the temperature of the room very well. Instead of keeping the room at a constant temperature, it's one of those which will turn on very cold (and loud) for 5 minutes, shut off for 5 minutes as the room warms back up, and turn back on for 5 minutes. So it's a consistent on/off (even if you change the thermostat settings) which can feel quite disruptive.
The Envoy was not cheap (though I suppose that goes without saying in Boston) -- $400 a night including taxes on a corporate rate, which is pretty much the same as the Ritz (on our corporate rate) and the Renaissance nearby. Besides the A/C issue, the hotel was generally nice (and only a 5 minute walk to my office), but I will probably not returning if I cannot sleep at all
Will probably try the Ritz, Langham, or Kimpton Nine Zero next time, though my colleagues also mentioned that Ritz is quite underwhelming.
Nov 7, 2021, 8:30 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,679
Weeklong stay as a gold on points. No upgrade even though the hotel wasn't particularly full. The standard rooms are TINY. You have a couple feet of walking space around the bed in some places. I bumped my shin into the bed frame a couple times. I found the mattress excessively hard compared to other brands in the Marriott portfolio.
They have added small coffee makers to the rooms. Which is a change since the last review in 2018. The room amenities claimed there was a mini-fridge, there was not. If you ned ice you will need to call the front desk to have a bucket delivered.
At the time of writing they were only serving breaking as room service.
The roof top open air bar is hopping. Enough that they have a rope line that comes out for ID checking at the front door in the evenings. This creates several issue. You get a lot of non-hotel guests riding the elevators. Nothing really stopping a drunken bar patron from ghosting behind a hotel guest and roaming the floors. On some nights the music was so loud that it could be heard thumping all the way down to the room until midnight.
The hotel needs to decide if it wants to be a night club or a hotel.
They have added small coffee makers to the rooms. Which is a change since the last review in 2018. The room amenities claimed there was a mini-fridge, there was not. If you ned ice you will need to call the front desk to have a bucket delivered.
At the time of writing they were only serving breaking as room service.
The roof top open air bar is hopping. Enough that they have a rope line that comes out for ID checking at the front door in the evenings. This creates several issue. You get a lot of non-hotel guests riding the elevators. Nothing really stopping a drunken bar patron from ghosting behind a hotel guest and roaming the floors. On some nights the music was so loud that it could be heard thumping all the way down to the room until midnight.
The hotel needs to decide if it wants to be a night club or a hotel.
Nov 7, 2021, 9:35 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
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The roof top open air bar is hopping. Enough that they have a rope line that comes out for ID checking at the front door in the evenings. This creates several issue. You get a lot of non-hotel guests riding the elevators. Nothing really stopping a drunken bar patron from ghosting behind a hotel guest and roaming the floors. On some nights the music was so loud that it could be heard thumping all the way down to the room until midnight.
The hotel needs to decide if it wants to be a night club or a hotel.
The hotel needs to decide if it wants to be a night club or a hotel.