If you're not Platinum, and you're paying with points (not cash), I'd not necessarily expect an upgrade in either Boston property as they're pretty darned full in the fall.

The Sheraton is worn, though it has nice folks. The Westin is more up-to-date, though it can be more snooty. Personally, for a special occasion I'd go with the Westin, even sans upgrade.

Yikes, sorry about that. I must have been looking at the Westin at the Seaport when I posted before.

Personally, 12k for the Westin vs. 10k for the Sheraton is a no brainer -- pony up the extra couple thousand points. 16k would make me think a bit more. If I'm literally just going there to sleep and it's just me, then I'd probably go with the Sheraton. But if I'm going to be spending waking hours in the room and/or I have a guest, I'd go for the Westin, even at 16k.

This is from the perspective of a Gold, not a Platinum. Even if upgrades were factored into the equation, I'd rather have a smaller but nicer room than a larger but crappier room. There's just no excuse for the water stains and flaking plaster I had at the Sheraton. :td:

What makes this even more frustrating is that the Westin Copley probably ranks in the bottom 50% of all Westins anyway. There are other "big city" Westins such as Chicago River North and DC Grand that are much better properties. I haven't tried the Westin Waterfront in Boston yet but it's so far from anywhere that I'm really not interested.

Westin Copley
 

Just stayed at the Westin Copley over Veteran's Day weekend and had a very good experience.

The hotel was sold out while we were there - so there was no Gold upgrade - but I thought our room was very comfortable, if not huge. Even with the hotel totally full it never felt crowded, we never waited for elevators, and were able to walk in to the restaurants in the hotel and get tables.

No complaints at all about the room or the service. The Heavenly Bed and Shower were good, as usual, and the room service breakfast was prompt every day.

It was great to be able to walk to Newbury Street, the parks and the Freedom Trail, and the face that the hotel was connected to TWO malls via skywalk saved us a lot of bundling up for shopping.

I thought it was well worth the 12k low season points and would happily visit again.

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Sheraton Framingham. I have been staying there the past few months and every now and then they have a "Business Partner Reception" where they invite folks who book on corp rates. It's hosted in the Club Level Lounge and it's free beer/wine and food (even if not plat).

They have hotel representative there chatting about the area and hotel and the SPG program. They hold a 10,000 point drawing if you drop your business card in a bag.

Oh, I guess I'm elated because I just got a message saying I won the 10,000 from the last drawing :)

^

While it's no five star, the staff is nice, the rooms are being remodeled, and the accommodations are more than acceptable. Give them a try if you're out in the Natick/Framingham area.

Watch out for the gym/work out area at the Sheraton downtown. It costs $10 per visit unless your are on the club floor or get club access.

As a Gold the Sheraton will occasionally give me Club access even when I am not on the club floor. However they do this more often when I am in the south tower and that means an elevator ride to the lobby (or convention floors) and back up to the club lounge. It makes it pretty difficult to just go get breakfast or to join people for a drink at night.

Would club access w/o being on the club floor mean complimentary gym access as well?

For Platinum members, yes. That is one of their benefits at Sheraton and Westin-branded properties. For others, probably not, unless the hotel wanted to be especially generous or just had a complimentary gym service for everyone.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

the last several times i have stayed in boston it has been at the westin and it has been ok. checked in yesterday at the sheraton and was very pleasantly suprised. upgraded to a club floor which have their own express elevators and free internet. the lounge had a nice happy hour with good snacks and reasonable priced drinks with a great view of the river. they also serve a complimentary breakfast up there. my daughter who is with me and was at the westin last year says the sheraton is much better. was intially concerned the location was a bit out of the way but you are only two block from newbury street here and there are plenty of restaurants and bars right around the corner. only odd thing was we had reserved jr suites and when they upgraded us they upgraded us to to regular size rooms on the club level so we are actually in smaller rooms. we are only two and we have two rooms so it is not a problem.

Is the Westin Waterfront that bad that nobody mentions it here? I know its not quite in downtown, but its only a mile or so from there, location cant be that terrible can it? Other than location, is it not worth the C&P vs the Copley?

The Westin Waterfront is the best SPG hotel in Boston, bar none. It is a terrific hotel...great large rooms, terrific Platinum suite UGs, flat screen TVs...excellent food...very posh.

Now that sounds like one ringing endorsement. For the price, I think it cant be beat...any particular room/floor I should shoot for?

Have you not read the Westin Boston Waterfront Master Thread? Pages full of comments.

As a former Bostonian who for a few years post-moveaway still had to travel there for business often, I laugh at the people who suggest properties in non-urban car-centric nowhere suburbs like Waltham and Framingham. If you want to be in the "city" (not a term we use in Boston in quite the same way as "the City" in NYC), and want an SPG property, you are talking about the Sheraton Boston, the Westin Copley, the Sheraton Commander in Cambridge right by Harvard Square, and the Westin Waterfront. All are within minutes of the rapid transit system (the T), none require a car, all would be a pain/expense to have a car. IMHO the others are not "Boston" hotels in the sense of being in the city urban area at all, and probably should not be in a "Boston" thread. Unless you think the Sheraton Edison NJ should be in a NYC thread :)

Westin Waterfront has had its challenges; there are enough posts from me in the Master thread from 2006-07 about it, but I do like the property, and like the attitude of the folks there in trying to make things better. The Silver Line T (bus-operated but in a dedicated rapid-transit tunnel with free transfer to the train/trolley lines) is right across from the hotel. Actually closer to the hotel than where the Copley Green Line T is from the other Westin, or the Mass Ave Green Line T is from the Sheraton Boston, or the Harvard Square Red Line T is from the Commander.

Westin Copley and Sheraton Boston are more immediately walkable to interesting/over-touristed areas (the Back Bay, Newbury St. etc.), and the Commander is walkable around Harvard Square. But the waterfront/South Boston Seaport area is building up too with some good restaurants, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and great views of the water and the skyline from the Westin Waterfront. You are close to the rest of Boston from the Westin Waterfront if using the T. You're also walkable along the whole waterfront walkways and up to the North End if you're looking for a couple miles of nice walk to get ready to get overfed (or to go passagiata walking it off afterwards!)

The only reason I'd ever stay at one of the suburban properties would be if I was visiting family right nearby who didn't have a guest room, or had client meetings right in the same area, and was renting a car. I'd never suggest them for visiting Boston.

"Westin Copley and Sheraton Boston are more immediately walkable to interesting/over-touristed areas (the Back Bay, Newbury St. etc.), and the Commander is walkable around Harvard Square. But the waterfront/South Boston Seaport area is building up too with some good restaurants, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and great views of the water and the skyline from the Westin Waterfront. You are close to the rest of Boston from the Westin Waterfront if using the T. You're also walkable along the whole waterfront walkways and up to the North End if you're looking for a couple miles of nice walk to get ready to get overfed (or to go passagiata walking it off afterwards!)"

I would edit the above to say that the Sheraton Boston and Westin Copley (attached to each other) are in the #1 location...so, you go out your door, and poof, you are in the middle of everything. With the Westin Waterfront, you have to travel a few miles ($10 taxi?) to get to Back Bay. The only advantage of the Sheraton Boston over the two Westins is that it has a nice Club Lounge if you get Platinum UGs.

I don;t think it matters which floor...higher floors have somewhat better views, but you're not actually on the water at the Westin Waterfront, you're attached to the convention center, positioned inland by a few blocks. I was upgraded to a high floor corner suite and had glimpses of Boston Harbor, but I wouldn't call it a Harbor front or Harbor view room.

I thought the room size, decor, amenities, etc. were as nice as any US Westin. The food in the lobby lounge or the restaurant was excellent. There is also a Starbucks in the lobby. The attitude of everyone I met was great, and I will stay there again. Keep in mind that the hotel will be very busy if your stay overlaps with a convention at the adjacent convention center, Boston's largest convention center (but the same comment applies to events for the other Boston hotels at the Hynes convention center).

I also like the Westin Copley, especially if you get a 12 or 13 room (oversized, pie shaped with great river/city views)...but it tends to be more money, but not all the time. The refurbished rooms in the North Tower at the Sheraton Boston are also nice, but the hotel is much busier/noisier, and the corridors are dirtier...all three hotels tend to be pretty busy with convention attendees...with the Sheraton Boston also frequented by airline crews (including Virgin Atlantic^), and more families/tourists. SB and WC are also walking distance (15 minutes) to Fenway Park.

OK, as the person you were quoting, I'll agree if you are not a walker/public-transit-user. Assuming it's not a ridiculously late time (which granted for Boston shutting down the T, "ridiculously late" starts early). But why not take the T? It's right across the street from the hotel. I agree that staying in one of the Back Bay properties (NOT directly attached to each other, BTW, but rather about a 1/2 mile walk through the Prudential Center mall and skybridge indoors) is ideal if being in the Back Bay is the sum of your Boston visit. However if a visitor wanted to see the seaport areas, and Cambridge, and Downtown Boston (which is NOT the Back Bay), and the North End, and the Freedom Trail etc., the Waterfront is as if not more convenient than the Copley properties in terms of distance. Boston is a walking city as well as a city with a good (well except for the Brookline B train) public transit system. It's not a "cab-it" city like Manhattan (and I lived years in both). Heck, Boston cabbies still don't have their available/unavailable lights working properly (from an ex-New Yorker's view) - you can never tell from the lights whether a cab is free or not in Boston.

As to the view - The higher your upgrade, the better the view :) I've gotten some very nice harborview suites and cityview suites high enough to see quite clearly. No, it's not right on the water. But it's about 5 minutes walk at a Comcastic Turtle pace to get to the water. You can easily walk to Legal Seafoods Test kitchen, to Pressed Sandwiches, to Aura in the Seaport Hotel, to No Name on the Fish Pier, and a some other places to eat if you don't want to go further afield nor eat in the hotel some day.

BTW I do agree about the nice pie-shaped large rooms at the Westin Copley - years ago when my North End apartment suffered a water deluge from the upstairs apartment, my insurance agent decided that I deserved to stay at the Westin Copley on the insurance company and landlord's dime, rather than the dump the landlord was offering. Since I was then Westin Premier (pre-starwood, dating myself) I got a dandy upgrade and lived out of that for a couple of weeks. Sweet!

If you're into views and can swing the upgrade, the club floors at the Sheraton Boston, on the Charles-river-facing side, also have gorgeous views.