I have been both at Le Meridien and at the Commander in the last 12 months. Le Meridien rooms are a lot newer / rennovated vs the Commander, which is more historic Boston style. I would probably pay maybe 15%-20% higher cost for the Le Meridien, but I also tend to find myself spending more time in Back Bay / Boston so the location is a bonus for me. Hyatt on Mem Drive is nice but not close to public transportation or to restaurants / shops, so that would be third on my list. Nice property, but not as convenient.

Thank you, leemaj.

I'm going to be primarily working in the Kendall Square area, so the LM is going to be a smidge closer to where I need to be, and public transport is fairly low on the priority list.

I'd ended up exchanging emails with the GM of the Commander due to some real failures of the room during my January stay, and he's promised renovations will be completed there by the end of February, so I'm curious to give them another shot as the lounge is nice and I loved their beds.

In a similar vein, what gives me pause about the LM is the absolutely terrible ratings/reviews on spg.com. What's your take on their SPG recognition, staff, and general willingness to be flexible if you needed to make changes to your stay while there?

Thanks again.

I'd be inclined to pick a hotel at Kendall Square if that's the work location. In addition to the chain places, I once stayed in an interesting boutique hotel in an old firehouse that had quilts and other "Americana" touches. It was fun.

In the past when the hotel was empty, SPG recognition has been hit or miss, have been upgaded to suites, including presidential before, and have gotten a nicer view other times. Last time I stayed there I had 2 rooms booked when the hotel was sold out, and I asked if they had a third room available (some friends decided to show up last minute). While it wasn't available at check in, someone ended up cancelling and they held the room for me. They even went out of their way to allow us to switch rooms midway through the stay to get them closer to each other / get adjoining rooms.

If you are working in Kendall and aren't taking the T then I think both are decent options.

Suite to Presidential Suite move due to air con fail, but nice stay at LM Cambridge
 

Introduction I was at the Le Meridien Cambridge for 3 nights over the first weekend in April 2017. Originally, I was pre-upgraded to a Suite due to my SPG Platinum 100 status and the fact that I had two SPG Pro groups (20+ rooms) staying at at the hotel.I have stayed at this hotel too many times to count when in Boston/Cambridge. I really like the hotel, with its airy, open, and inviting modern lobby and modern, clean design for its guest rooms. I also have had very good luck with the hotel team in helping out and accommodating my groups. I also like the location, just a short 5-10 min (0.3 mile) walk to the Central Square T stop, a few minutes walk to the MIT campus, and with numerous wonderful restaurants and shops in the blossoming Central Square vicinity. Craigie on Main, one of Boston's finest restaurants, is literally a 2 minute walk. Check In Because I arrived with one of my groups, check in was seamless--they always have my group room keys ready for me. I was assigned a corner suite on the 8th floor. Room I originally was assigned one of the corner suites, a room type I love. Unfortunately, I was moved due to air con issues to the Presidential Suite. Both are reviewed below.CORNER SUITE (room 827):My first suite assigned was a corner suite on the back side of the hotel. I enjoy these corner suites, as they offer just enough extra space while not being so large as to be ridiculous for a single business traveler. The entrance:To the right of the entrance hall is the nice sized bath:The bath products (for those who care) are fine by me:You walk from the entry hallways into the living room with tons of natural light:Just out of view is the doorway (with true door) to the small bedroom:All in all, it is a very comfortable space for me--one of my favorite suite configurations that I frequent in the entire SPG system, to be honest. The only weakness may be the fact that the bathroom is not adjacent to the bedroom, but that is pretty common in my experience.I unfortunately had two problems with this particular suite on this visit: the chairs to the desk literally folded back all the way when you sat in either of them, and the air con was not working!They did bring a replacement for the chairs on request--though it took two tries!After complaining a few times about the air con, the hotel manager graciously moved me to the Presidential Suite.PRESIDENTIAL SUITE (room number 834 if I remember right?)As many times as I'd stayed here, I'd never been in the Presidential Suite. (I'd occasionally been in a different but larger entertainment type suite--much larger than the corner suites--located behind the elevators, which have a small bedroom and small bath but very large living area. I actually prefer the corner suite to that.)The Presidential Suite was HUGE. Its design was also curiously traditional compared to the more modern, clean design throughout the rest of the hotel. The manager mentioned that they weren't sure on the next refurbishment as to whether or not they would refurbish the Presidential to match the more modern style. My vote would be to do so, though I had a very comfortable stay for the most part.The main entry to the suite (you actually enter through a regular door off the righthand side of the foreground below):Looking back on the entry vestibule, you can see that you enter from the door on the left side:To the right side of the above entry vestibule is a spacious powder bath:Also down at the end of the leftward hall was the entry to the kitchen:The stove actually didn't work, as we discovered later when trying to re-heat some take-out:Walking from the entry vestibule into the main suite, you have a living area:I used that living area space on the Saturday night of my stay to watch the Final Four basketball games, including my UNC Tar Heels defeating Oregon in a rebounding thriller. The TV is surprisingly small here for such a big suite, ironically.To the left of this living area is the dining area, which connects back to the other side of the kitchen for convenience:We used the dining table to eat dinner during the period between the two Final Four games, actually.Just adjacent and around the corner from the dining room table was a bar area with more seating against the wall (next to the doorway into the kitchen):To the right of the central living area was another odd seating area that we never used, along with a doorway into an odd office space:Just past this odd area and office space were the double doors into the bedroom:The view from the other side:To the left of the double doors above was a small closet for extended stays:Just beyond the closet was the door into the very spacious but dated bath:There was a separate toilet room:A walk in/ADA shower...with a faucet contraption that barely sprinkled water. The water pressure was so pitiful, I was afraid I was going to have to use the sink! I asked for it to be repaired, but the maintenance engineer said it just needed to be replaced. For the Presidential Suite?Almost around the corner from the toilet room was the recessed/almost hidden bathtub. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was curiously half-hidden from view from the main bathroom. Very strange.The Presidential Suite was enormous and very traditionally appointed with quite dated furnishings, as you can see for yourself. It is a surprise that the hotel's top accommodation is so dated...and then has a barely functioning shower!The other major issue with the Presidential Suite was the unfortunate and tragic miss on electrical plugs. There was but a single plug in the bedroom--across the room from the bed behind a chair! I had to ask the manager and maintenance to bring a power strip and move the bed so they could plug it in so I could have plugs bedside.BUT, the air con in the Presidential Suite worked like a charm. The bedroom thermostat indicated 60 F, but I imagine it was closer to 66 F. The air worked even better in the main living area than it did in the bedroom, but both were more than sufficient for me! That made me VERY happy.Even though it was quite cold outside (the view from the bedroom window): Service Service was mixed, but overall I would say it was quite good.Obviously, there were several misses as the team tried to fix the unfixable air con in my original suite. It took 3 visits from the engineer and them my opening the windows to let in cold air...before I finally realized the thermostat itself was just wrong/broken. With the window open, the air con believed it to be too cold and turned on the room heat. Oh no.There was the unfortunate fact that the hotel suite had 2 "broken" chairs. They were replaced, but it took 2 calls. In the end, I was thrilled that the hotel solved my air con issue, which was the biggest problem for me, by moving me to the Presidential Suite. I didn't really need that massive suite but its being so cold made the rest of my stay very nice. The letdown on the plugs was solved quickly with the power strip. The letdown on the shower was never solved...but I preferred dealing with that issue than having to worry about bad air con!Service at the lobby/bar restaurant was slow but very friendly and always trying to help.The valets all know me from so many stays. They always are incredibly friedly and always trying to help.All in all, though the stay wasn't perfect by any stretch, I still appreciate the team's efforts to always admitting there may be a problem and always trying to fix it for me. Dining Dining at the hotel has been revised since previous years. The main reception area has been turned into a W-esque living room of sorts, with a bar and bar seating, along with bar-like high tables and chairs. We had dinner there on two nights with different clients, and largely enjoyed the simple fare. Service was terribly slow, though. I think staffing could resolve that problem. The servers were all very friendly and trying hard, though!Room service was wonderful...as it has been for many years here. Location As mentioned above, I love the location. It isn't in the middle of the hub-bub like the Sheraton Commander in Harvard Square, but it is easily accessible to that being only 0.3 miles from the Central Square T stop (just 1 stop from Harvard Square outbound and 1 stop from Kendall Square in the other direction). The Central Square area has seen a massive resurgence in great restaurants, and so there are tons of wonderful places nearby. MIT is just a short 5-10 min walk towards Kendall Square. Overall I still really like this hotel. It feels like a nice modern boutique hotel as opposed to the big chain hotel it actually is. The staff and management really do take pains to try and individualize the experience and always go to great lengths to make me comfortable. Even though I love the corner suite, the Presidential Suite was a fun place to hang out with friends while watching the Final Four games. It also kept me comfortably cool! It is dated, so I'd not want to stay again until they refurbish it and make the shower/plugs more functional!My clients all love the regular rooms in the hotel, as well. It's a great hotel for the SPG system.

I had an interesting experience at this hotel recently. I knew that I'd be arriving around 1 AM, so I called in advance to have it noted on the reservation. When I pulled up, there was no valet (okay, I guess it's almost 1 AM so they're not fully staffed). I sat there for a few minutes, turned off the car and went inside. There was one employee working the desk (again not surprising at 1 AM). I asked him about valeting the car and he just stared at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked again and he said, give me the keys and I'll park it. I asked for a ticket and he shuffled a bunch of papers to find one.

Then I asked to check in. Again, a blank stare. I said it again and it must have registered and he started to type. I pulled out my ID and credit card. He took them, typed a bit, and handed me a key. No mention of welcome amenity, thanks for being SPG Platinum 100, upgrade, checkout time, etc. I said I'd like points as a welcome amenity and again he just stared. There was clearly a language barrier as he had a heavy Russian/Slavic accent but the lack of training and basic knowledge of SPG was amazing. I explained to him that I wanted points as a Platinum. He still seemed confused so I let it go. I asked about upgrades as the site was showing every type of room and suite available for sale. He said, "I gave you key to your room. That is your room." I tried again and he was not understanding/not budging. He then turned around and walked away. Very strange interaction.

Luckily, the car was available from the valet in the morning. I explained what happened and the morning agent at the desk updated my reservation with the points. I emailed the manager to tell him about the odd experience and also filed a complaint with Starwood corporate. The hotel replied and offered to give me 3K Starwood points. I told them to keep them and retrain the employee as I wasn't looking for compensation. I still have heard nothing from corporate but hope the employee gets some training as it was not a pleasant check in when I was already tired.

Another excellent stay (Ware Suite)
 

Introduction I returned to the Le Meridien Boston Cambridge for the first time since the Marriott Bonvoy integration. To me, not much has changed. The elite recognition is still great. The service is still good. The rooms and suites still are pretty comfortable. Room This was the third time I'd been upgraded to the Ware Suite. This one was on the 7th floor.The entry hallway has a door into the bathroom, which also opens on the other side into the bedroom:The suite was pre-cooled to 65 F just as I'd requested.By the morning, it was a glorious 62 F!WiFi was great, too. Service Service was overall pretty good--though service in the lobby restaurant is almost always a bit slow. And it was again. Dining Dinner in the lobby restaurant was great. Overall I like this hotel for its quieter location a block off Mass Ave but so close and accessible to everything that I need.

How did it compare to your '17 stay, in terms of soft & hard service & some updating?

Cheers.

Much better overall. The suite decor looked similar but perhaps refreshed, and the HVAC clearly had been updated (and they told me it had been). The food/beverage seemed comparable (good) and the service seemed easy and intuitive. Otherwise, the hard product looked very similar. My students absolutely love this hotel.

Thanks for the update.

Cheers.

I stay in the Cambridge area every other week and have stayed at both property 20+ times each. IMO, both have their PROS and CONS when your meeting will be in Binney Street area.

Marriott:
PROS:
- Stone throw away from Binney street, a quick walk across the street (one block away to be exact) is unbeatable.
- Lounge at the Marriott is pretty nice. Staff there have always been super helpful. The evening snacks and desserts are all very good. The evening staff (forgot his name) is super friendly. He remembers me all the time and reminds me to grab a cookie to the room every time I visit
- Rooms are a bit newer than the LM.
- Right on top of the T station (Kendall Sq), so you can go into Boston or other parts of Cambridge (like Central Sq, Harvard Sq, etc) at ease

CONS:
- Not much around, or should I say, uninteresting choice of things to do around there after the working hours.
- Limited choice of restaurants. But there is a few restaurants right off 3rd street which are pretty decent (e.g., Glasshouse, Commonweath). You can venture a bit west to eat at One Kendall Square, there are a few restaurants there. Since I stayed and consistently work in Kendall Sq the last few years, I got bored of the limited food options - so I take the T to Central Sq or to downtown Boston for dinner after work most of the time.

Le Meridien:
PROS:
- You are in the middle of all the actions. Restaurants, bars, comedy/inprov club, etc, etc. It comes in handy if you get out of your meeting early enough to stroll around this neighborhood
- Also close to the T station (Central Sq). Not right on top of it like the Marriott, but close enough (a block away)

CONS:
- A bit far from Binney Street in Kandell Sq. If the weather sucks, you will get soaked walking over there. So, you will have to Uber if that's the case. On a nice day, it is a nice little walk on Main Street to Kendall Sq. Many people do, so you are not alone.
- The hard product of the LM is a little tired for me. I stay at LM if the $ for Marriott is ridiculous. Marriott could go for $350+ a night while the LM is pretty consistent at around $250. Again, I work out of Binney and often have early meetings and work late, so proximity is important for me.

My 2 cents. Hope it helps. In fact, I will be going back up there in about 2 weeks. Maybe I will bump into you. :)

Thank you for this thorough analysis! Based on your notes, I'm going to go with the Marriott. Also, I'm headed there on Sunday night so I guess we won't bump into each other! Maybe next time...:)