fly co to see the yanks

i'll take a wild guess. if the museum doesn't post that it is being extended and there is no mention in a google search the it is being extended, i'll say that the exhibition isn't being extended.

Seattlenerd

Just visited the Napoleon exhibit at MFA last night. It is not being extended. As a matter of fact, two museum personnel I spoke with said attendance has been disappointing ... and the exhibit was nearly empty when I walked through it early Wednesday evening.

The Westin Copley was nice, though, although also not as busy as usual, as the convention area is undergoing renovations. Bar 10 was actually quiet two nights I was there, but picked up later Wednesday. During renovations, the breakfast buffet has moved from the Huntington to Turner Fisheries.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks, Seattle. I thought as much about the exhibit, guess I might have to go to Paris to see it. Normally, I would jump at the chance but now with the Euro so high, I am not so sure.

Yanks --

as I post more in this forum, you will get to know that I usually do extensive searches on FT and the web before posting questions. In fact, I usually search to an nth degree.

That is why that if I ask a question concerning something that is not easily found by either of the former, it is because there is no immediate answer to my query, or because -- hope against hope -- it is in the negative.

Seattle --

So, is the hotel, itself, undergoing renovations?

I was not aware of that if, accurate.

Seattlenerd

Not the rooms. Just the convention space, from what I can tell and from speaking with several staff (the convention floor escalator is blocked off). Since this hotel does a lot of convention business, it's made things very quiet. But it does not disrupt anyone staying at the hotel; as a matter of fact, if I hadn't have asked, I probably would not have noticed it.

baccarat_king

THANKS! For the detailed information. Would you happen to have an email contact in guest services?

We are looking forward to the exhibit, and then a relaxing lunch at Bravo (gotta love the -15% member discount ). Per "Preview MFA Boston" :

Barton Cove

Since this thread seems to be more about Napoleon than the Copley Westin, just thought I'd point out that the MFA is free to all on Monday, January 21, 2008 in honor of Martin Luther King.

http://www.mfa.org/calendar/sub.asp?key=12&subkey=1878

TravellerOnline

Thanks for the nice report. Will go to boston next and book a room there. Thanks.

wizzy

The hotel is sold out this week, so no upgrades were available and I wound up on a SPG floor. Last week I was able to get a corner room/junior suite (XX12), and really enjoyed it.

On the SPG floor, the only differences I see are the Heavenly Bath-branded towel (bath sheet?) in the bathroom, no $4.50 bottles of Panna (no water at all, actually), and no free internet. Any ideas what differentiates the SPG floor from others at this hotel?

SceneStealer7

I'm on my third month staying at the Westin in Copley every Monday through Thursday. I always book one of the two WestinWorkout rooms, which are on the 32nd floor (which is SPG) and 8th floor (which is not SPG). Both always have the Heavenly Bath Towel. Both seem to sometimes have free water and sometimes not (which also seems to vary by the day... sometimes there is one free bottle of Panna when I get there and once I drink it it's gone; other times they replace it every day; and still other times I never get one the entire time I'm there). The workout rooms aren't standard rooms, but there doesn't seem to be any difference between the one on the SPG floor and the one on the regular floor.

wizzy

To answer my own question, I asked at the front desk. Better view, free water (no where to be seen). I also asked about turndown service, as I received it last week w/o asking, and haven't received it this week while on a higher floor. It's supposed to happen automatically on floors above ~28. I miss my nighttime chocolate!

How often is the hotel as crazy as it is this week? Seems like I'm waiting 4-5 minutes for an elevator frequently, and when they do come, they stop 4-6 times between the lobby and my floor. The Doble conference this week seems to have meetings and hospitality rooms spread throughout the hotel, and people bopping all over the place.

SceneStealer7

The Doble conference is annoying, but there has been a conference at least every other week, so it's pretty standard. I'd say the hotel is a BIT busier this week than usual due to the spread of rooms. However, if you're staying on a high floor, you will almost always have to make at least four stops on the elevator to get down. I kind of like it when I end up on the 8th floor, because I don't care about the view that much (the room I get always looks out over south Boston anyway), and I'd rather have faster elevator service.

I've never received turndown service, and I spend half my weeks on the 32nd floor. I get free water occasionally, but haven't figured out rhyme or reason for that. It doesn't seem to have to do with the floor, as I've stayed on 32 and not gotten it and stayed on 8 and gotten it.

Seattlenerd

After regularly staying at the Westin Copley for almost two years, I've concluded there is no rhyme nor reason for the free water for Plats, and I've stayed on both the SPG floors as well as the regular floors. I used to call to get it, if it wasn't there, but it's no longer worth the hassle. I chalk it up to being one of the mysteries of hotel life.

I've also requested turn down service and not received it, and not requested it and received it. However, I always accept the chocolates, as the latest ones are dark chocolate with raspberry. ^

Another annoyance: the phone bundle, which for $16/day includes unlimited Internet and US long distance. About every other visit, I spend time at checkout having them reverse out all of the long distance charges that still appeared even though the bundle shows on my room record. Their phone/computer system is not quite up to par in making the choice of the Wired for Business bundle "stick" and take precedence over individual charges.

That said, I still enjoy staying here.

orisky

I stayed at this hotel last weekend, here are some random thoughts.

-The hotel is in a good location. 1 block from the subway, 2 (or 3) blocks from Newbury, walking distance to Fanieul Hall and the freedom trail. There's a starbucks downstairs (always a plus), with a connected mall with some high end stores.

-There are also a few restaurants around, a seafood restaurant (Turners), Palms and a sushi place. The sushi place was pretty decent.

-Rooms - I wasn't overly impressed with the rooms given how much they charge. I was upgraded to a junior suite. The room itself was a good size but I was on only on the 22nd floor so the view was slightly obstructed. The most disappointing thing was the bathroom. It was SO small. Also, the absolute most annoying thing is when a tub does not drain quick enough and you're showering in 6" of standing water, yuck. I called the front desk and they sent someone to fix it. It was better, only 3" of standing water
The toilet also didn't flush properly, didn't bother getting it fixed.

This was a family vacation so my wife and daughter were with me. We had a hard time moving around in the bathroom trying to bathe her.

I asked for a better upgrade but she said they were out of "upgradeable rooms", and only specialty rooms existed. I didn't push any further.

Water, one bottle to be found inside the bathroom. I asked for more and they brought up another two bottles, so that was nice.

Overall, the hotel is just ok. I don't think it's worth the 300+ they ask for it.

WestLA-FF

I've stayed at this hotel 5-6 times in the past 3 years.
I've NEVER received the 500 PLT points automatically - always had to call SPG or the hotel, and even that hasn't always been successful.

Most stay points also post incorrectly. In Februrary, stayed with a weekeend rate of 189, that included breakfast. Received points for only 145. Told the differenece was due to the value of the breakfast. It took 4 emails to SPG to straighten out.

Anyone else have trouble getting the correct SPG points from here?

TimMeineke

Quick report from a one night, 8 hour stay this week. Checked in almost at midnight, and went straight to the bar for a good hamburger and so-so chicken soup. I had a junior suite on the 22nd floor with a great view of the Charles. They only had diet pepsi in the mini-bar; I prefer diet coke - and then tried to charge me for a bottle of wine. There were a long line of cabs waiting in the morning. All in all a quick and pleasant stay and for a $179 rate I thought it was a good deal