Will not return until the renovation is complete
Nov 17, 2024 GillG767 Glasgow, United Kingdom
We stayed here last year and had such a great experience we didn't even consider going elsewhere when in Boston again this year. The hotel is in the perfect location for us. It's in the Prudential Centre - an easy walk to the river, Boston Common, the train station, lots of shops and places to eat. Unfortunately it was a very different experience…
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We stayed here last year and had such a great experience we didn't even consider going elsewhere when in Boston again this year. The hotel is in the perfect location for us. It's in the Prudential Centre - an easy walk to the river, Boston Common, the train station, lots of shops and places to eat. Unfortunately it was a very different experience this time due to the renovations that are ongoing.
We arrived at 3.20pm after a long flight. We were told that they had upgraded us to a better suite but it wasn't ready. We were given the choice to leave our cases and come back later for the suite, or we could get a junior suite straight away. Despite being exhausted from 10 hours of travel (and a different time zone) we chose to wait as we'd previously had a fantastic suite on our last visit and were looking forward to the same again. We were therefore so disappointed when we finally got to our room to find just an ordinary hotel room - a very nice room I have to say but not what we expected of a suite. It did have a king size bed but was the size of an average hotel room in Europe. There was no separate seating area. Last year the suite we were given had a separate bedroom and living/work area with a wall of windows with a view to the river, a fridge etc. This room just had a table in the corner (adjustable height was nice) with one chair (to eat at the table one of us had to perch on the bench that we had our cases on). I was really surprised to find no fridge as this is usually standard in other Sheratons we've stayed in (there is a small ice bucket and an ice machine in the corridor). There was no iron or ironing board. When we asked about this we were told there should have been a steamer but there wasn't. Housekeeping told us there were none left so brought an iron, we then had to ask for a board too. The updated decor is very nice, clean and fresh but little things have been forgotten e.g. there were no hooks in the bathroom for our towels (only a small one for a hand towel). The staff were lovely though and brought a delicious cake and other treats for my husband's birthday.
Anyway the main thing after a long journey is a good night's sleep but unfortunately this didn't happen as the heating/air con vent was so noisy even when we switched it off. I tried ear plugs and headphones but nothing worked. When we told reception in the morning they did send someone to fix it so thankfully we were able to sleep on other nights.
Due to the renovations there is no pool, bar or anywhere to eat in the hotel (food to the room is available). We were told this in advance so were prepared for that, but what we hadn't been told was that the water would be switched off during the day sometimes (from 10am to mid afternoon). A note was put through the door the night before so we were able to plan ahead for this but I really don't think a hotel should be open if they are having to turn water off for renovations. We were even asked to use the public restrooms during these times, not ideal when your room is on a high floor and you have to take the lift down every time you want to use the toilet! Although the gym was closed they did put some gym equipment in another room which was accessible 24 hours a day so that was good, all the basic gym equipment you would need and a couple of Pelotons.
So in conclusion we may try this hotel again after the renovation is complete, but in the meantime we will try somewhere else next time we visit Boston.
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