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The Westin Boston Waterfront
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Waterfront, South Boston
425 Summer St
(between C St & D St)
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 532-4600
425 Summer St
(between C St & D St)
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 532-4600
- Nearest Transit:
-
World Trade Center (Silver)
- Price Range:
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$$$
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"I have a sweet spot for this hotel. There is no better hotel in Boston, the location is perfect in terms of transportation and attractions.…" read more »
41 reviews for The Westin Boston Waterfront
Good Westin. Stay.
There's just something about the Westin chain that I like: I think it's a guaranteed certain level of quality with respect the cleanliness and newness of facilities and bathrooms, and comfy beds. Their kiosk in the lobby had annoying settings on it that prevented me from getting my boarding pass from Jetblue (it did not play well with Adobe Reader), so that was annoying, and could only be resolved by getting to the airport early, but otherwise this one's a nice (albeit big) hotel, with the requisite Starbucks on the bottom floor, and gym on the mezzanine. I suppose the pool was surprisingly small compared to my guess from the luxurious-looking photo online, but maybe that's just me. A Silver Line T stop is right next to it too, so you can skip all the cabs outside the door if you're so inclined ($15 for a 7-day pass as of this date).
I had a 99 dollar coupon for this hotel, so I decided two use it a day before it expired, which coincidentally was my ten year anniversary of courting bliss with my fiance.
I found the hotel lobby to be really nice, light, fun, kinda exciting -- if you can say a lobby is exciting. The lobby is huge. The staff was welcoming. We were only here for less than 24 hours and most of it was spent being tourists in our own city so I can't report extensively. But, I can say they had a nice enough room, it was almost clean save for some dust on the black marble(?) countertops over the sink and there was that creepy lil hair in the bed -- I always check the bed on arrival. But, other than that, the place was clean.
The sheets though, were ROUGH!!! I am really sad and surprised about that. It was very unfortunate to sleep on rough almost sandpaper-esque sheets. That is the one thing that really gets me. I don't understand how hotels -- like the Westin, which is a HUGE chain of hotels could not spring for some actual comfy, soft sheets.
Anyway, the room overlooked the tops of buildings -- we were on the top floor, and it looked at the back of the financial district. Nothing breathaking about that. If you craned your head and turned your neck to the right you could see a bit of the water - but it was absolutely nothing to write home about.
The hotel is situated a hop from the financial district and a hop from the waterfront. It's a hop and a skip from the north end. We took a cab from the north end back to the hotel as were were celebrating a bit too much and were drunk.
I slept horribly the whole night. I was woken up by a baby crying at 12:45am and woke up every 30 - 45 minutes until I finally emerged from the scratchy sheets around 8am.
I did not sleep well and I'm blaming the hotel. They need to make their doors not SLAM shut as that what kept waking me up. I'm a light sleeper but when I'm drizzunk I normally pass out until the next day. This did not happen due to to the itchy sheets, SLAMMING doors, baby crying and in general, complete discomfort from the itchy sheets.
The next day we had the overpriced breakfast buffet. All hotels have overpriced food. The breakfast buffet was eggs, blah blah blah, sausage, bacon, cereal, you know BREAKFAST. The service was nothing stellar since they probably know they are not getting a huge tip since we serve ourselves. The orange juice was SIX bucks and tasted like it was expired and/or from concentrate.
I don't think I'll be back. I was going to give three stars but the issues of cleanliness really bothered me -- and the sheets. My god. The sheets. Aaaand, they did have a "rain" shower -- which was appreciated, but it's really too little too late.
If you are looking for a hotel near the financial district/waterfront and can stand to sleep on itchy sheets then book a room. But, make sure to check the bed!
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I had a work function here with my entire company and they did a great job hosting us. The hotel rooms are great, and very comfortable.
I really enjoyed the bar that they had in the lobby. We spent a lot of time there and they were very accommodating. We were all also able to watch the Pats vs. Colts game there even though we clogged up the bar.
We had meetings in the function rooms which is my only complaint. The wall paper on the wall is very nauseating--especially after drinking several hours the night before. I missed a ton of the actual meeting because I was concentrating on not looking at the walls so I wouldn't vomit. I wouldn't have been that way if the wall paper wasn't so intense! Thank god the next year's meeting was moved to the Liberty where their windows were full of light!
2.75 Stars
I had an Okay time here while in town for Internet Retailer. The hotel is clean and on the newer side, but there was something very sterile feeling about this location. I'm a Westin girl-I'll stay in a Westin vs any other hotel when I'm looking for a reasonably priced hotel. Hey, you can't always stay at the Ritz or the Four Seasons. Anything below a Westin hotel is roughing it as far as I'm concerned.
The location of the hotel is convenient-you're about 15 minutes from Back Bay and 15 minutes from the airport. I was lucky enough to be staying at the hotel and attending a conference next door, which was amazingly convenient. However, if you are going to Boston thinking that you're within walking distance of everything from this particular hotel, please think again.
The front desk agents at this hotel left something to be desired in terms of personality. They rushed me through checkout and double charged me, so now I have to deal with their accounting people. BOO!
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Love this hotel, their bed, room, bathroom (ya...i know, the bathroom) and everything else that I can think of. speedy check-in and check-out
Great hotel and great price. Not much of a view from my room, but great room service food. Also very discreet, I did not leave my room for 3 days and I was totally comfortable. Very comfortable bed and I managed to get complimentary Internet because they were having some difficulties. Very clean bathub which is very important to me, I enjoyed the hotel.
Also, I had the cleaning ladies clean while I make business calls and I saw her clean everything including the tub.
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I was unexpectedly stranded in Boston recently and Westin really came through for me. It's primarily used as a convention center so it had ample availability in the middle of the snow storm which led to remarkably low last minute rates (89 / night) on http://spg.com. Also for the budget traveler, it is a very easy walk from the t station (except in a blizzard).
The hotel lobby was pretty spacious and clean as was my room. The gym had relatively new equipment and well kept.
The only knock on the hotel is that there is no airport shuttle. They have a shuttle that goes downtown but not one that goes to the airport so travelers are faced with a $15 - $20 cab ride or a walk to the tee station. Also, though not the hotel's fault, the bar that's attached to it only has directTV. This is perfectly fine in any environment except a snow storm in which case if you want to go grab something to eat, you get to stare at static while you do enjoy your meal.
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This is newer hotel as most Westin are. The rooms were tastefully decorated with large bathrooms and spacious accommodations. So why only one star?
There is a certain trust you put in any hotel you stay in. You trust them to clean the room, change the sheets, provide fresh towels, and drinking glasses, etc.. You are never there to see any of this happen, but you just trust that it does. Now, I'm sure the thought has crossed everyone's mind, at one point or another, as you reach for a towel or climb into bed. What if this towel has been used or what if these sheets have not been changed?
Well my worst fears came true here, dirty sheets! I noticed some dried blood or something on the inside of my sheets right before I got in bed. It wasn't stain that became set after washing, this was fresh. House keeping came and changed the sheets, but as we all know trust that is lost is not easily regained.
So, one star, not only for ruining my night but putting doubt in my head.
Note: This is a review of the catering/event services only.
My company recently held its annual fundraising gala at the Westin Waterfront and had a wonderful experience. Although I was not with the company for the entire planning process, from my understanding and experience the staff was extremely accommodating and seemed to personally care for the event we were holding.
As a non-profit in a failing economy we needed to price things on the lower end of the spectrum and our catering and sound managers constantly took that into consideration. Never did they push higher end things on us that we simply could not afford. The Westin is expensive enough to hold an event and we just could not keep throwing money around!
On the day of the event there was a conference using the Grand Ballroom before us up until 1 pm and our gala's reception began at 6 pm. That left us less than five hours to set EVERYTHING up. Between our staff, the hotel staff, and our producer's staff we were able to get everything done seamlessly. At no point was there a panic that something was not going right, things were missing, something was not working, etc. Everything was going right.
The servers throughout the evening operated seamlessly according to the various cues we gave them. We requested no service during certain pieces of our program out of respect of the speakers and they were more than able to accommodate and were extremely quiet when they did serve. Many of our guests complimented the servers to us following the event because it is so rare to get through an event without massive amounts of clanging.
Sound had a few flubs, including playing the incorrect walkout music for our host, but unless you read our script you would never know that.
The food (chicken and salmon) had mixed reviews. No one said it was bad, but few raved about it. I had some of the chicken and found it to be more on the bland side, but was still surprised at the quality considering it was still a banquet meal being served for nearly 600 people. The hor'dorves apparently were phenomenal and the drinks were strong (guest had a LOT of those).
We did not hear any complaints about parking or T-accessibility so it worked out for our guests and our staff did not have any issues getting to or from there at any point. Overall, this is a great event space if it can fit within your budget.
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Never has there been such a welcome sight as the entrance to the Westin Boston Waterfront. One lonely soul set out on a New Year's Eve blizzard journey that began for him on the north shore, detoured up to Lowell to pick my sorry ass up, made a quick stopover in Brighton to pick up the third reveler, and finally culminated four hours later by pulling into the parking garage at the Westin.
Thankful to be alive after driving in the storm and excited about the evenings events (Resolution Ball), we went to check in. Our fourth party member, and the one who made the reservation for us, was still en route from Pennsylvania. Thankfully, she had called and put our names on the reservation, too, so we were able to check in. We made our way to our 11th floor room and crashed on the "heavenly" beds. These beds really were heavenly and if I could have stolen it, I would have.
The rooms were spacious and slept the four of us comfortably. Our room had one of those little snack machine things in it, but looking at the prices, we decided not to touch them. I think a bag of peanuts was something in the vicinity of $9. Crazy! There was a small refrigerator, but figuring that it probably contained convenience booze, we decided not to open it for fear of getting slapped with some outrageous fee.
I had two disappointments with my experience here. The first disappointment was the "dual shower head" that was mentioned in something I read about the bathrooms in the hotel. I was picturing a shower with two shower heads, one on each end, so that you could have a sexy four-legged shower without one person feeling like the other is always hogging the water. Sadly, this was not the case and the dual shower heads were attached to the same pipe. I guess it was fun to be able to have one rain flow and one massaging, but sexiness potential is diminished by this setup.
Disappointment #2, and I knew this going in, was that even if you are an overnight guest of this hotel, you still have to pay $31 to park overnight. That is ridiculous!! You're already paying a pretty nice chunk of change to stay there so why do they charge you to park in their private garage? Booo, Westin! That is just poor form.
Aside from those two things, I was pretty pleased with my stay here. Comfortable rooms and fairly affordable (we got a discount rate as attendees of the Resolution Ball). Also, for out-of-towners, if you're driving here and are a little afraid of Boston, it's not hard to get to and if you're schlepping on the T, the silver line drops you very close.
I will preface this review by stating that I was here on business in the convention center. As far as convenience, you can't get much better. This Westin delivered on all counts. The design is very modern, yet calming and serene. There is a Starbucks Cafe, extremely appreciated. The restaurant in the hotel Sauciety, is decent. They also have the Breathe Westin system which some of the old Westins do not. You've got to appreciate the heavenly bed and the "rain" shower heads.
The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is because my room key kept demagnetizing each time I needed to use it and WiFi was not working one night.
I would not recommend this Westin for sightseeing around Boston, it's a bit out of the way.
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I rarely complain about hotels. I had an ex-girlfriend who was a sales and catering manager at a hotel. It's a hard business, and I often heard the war stories....but this place needs serious work if they want to call themselves a high end hotel. Here's my story....
After a red-eye flight, I arrived at the hotel about 8 in the morning on a Sunday. I had asked for early check-in and that my reservations be connected, so I was expecting to get right into my final room.
I was offered a fitness room that supposedly had a treadmill and an exercise bike. Sounded interesting as I would definitely use the bike. I get to the room - its not a sports room as all - its a normal smallish room with a treadmill taking up all the space where a lounge chair would normally be. No bike. View of the HVAC.
Back to the desk.
New room - handicapped suite - not an issue for me. Normally there is a good shower and a larger bathroom. This sad room with a view of some weeds and railroad tracks was unfortunately on a maintenance corridor with paper thin walls next door as staff probably prepared their mops and got their cleaning supplies. I finally put in ear plugs to try to take a nap. Didn't help. After an hour trying to sleep, I gave up. Back to the desk.
Ok - finally off to what sounded like a good room and on first look it is. Nice city view and average size - larger than the fitness room. I then walk into the bathroom - hair all over the floor. I'm not too uptight about these things - people including cleaning staff and me shed. ...but this is a crazy amount - a quick scan reveals at least 15 hairs and the floor looks dirty.
Off for a day out and gave them a chance to clean it.
I ask the Concierge what she'd recommend for a day trip to cool off from the high 90's heat. She recommended Glouchester. After a 1 hr milk train, I learned that Glouchester is an unremarkable industrial town. My first encounter with a resident is someone trying to bum money off of me. For all its glorious fishing history, it is now a pretty sad place - 1/3 are the shops are borded up, 1/3 are closed on Sunday, and 1/3 are completely uninteresting and it is as hot as Boston. The only redeeming part of the visit is that I now know where fish sticks come from and after miles of walking I saw a fairly nice beach too late in the day to utilize it.
Back to the hotel after now a two hour train ride to Boston (due to mechanical failure). A sweltering day largely wasted.
At the hotel I order room service. I miss the 11 pm cutt-off so the choices are very limited. I order the quesadilla. It arrives as an unappetizing coldish lump on the plate with a warm beer. It was worthy of being sent back, but I was too hungry by this point.
In the am, I called the front desk to verify again that they had linked my two reservations as they had promised they had done the previous day. I was checking only because all the other service issues suggested they might have screwed this up. I was right. After being on hold for an eternity, the reservations were once again linked. If I had to change rooms, I probably would have looked into changing hotels.
As I complete this review, it is almost 6 p.m. I've been gone most of the day at the conference. Upon returning to the room, it had not been cleaned. I called an someone did come within 15 minutes.
All this fun and more can be had for 350 dollars a night. Sure they have the heavenly bed and updated decor, but for this kind of money you'd expect a vastly different experience.
I don't think this tool will let me give zero stars or I probably would. Again, the hotel business is a hard business, but so far there have been many opportunities to delight me, or disappoint me or even recover from disappointment.
So far the Westin Boston Waterfront is batting 1000 in the disappointment category. Basil Faulty would be proud.
There are lots of choices for business class hotels close to the convention center in this part of Boston - many of them cheaper. I'd look at reviews carefully before you consider parting with your company's money at this particular hotel.
ADDENDUM:
Some other choice experiences you can have at this hotel:
* I am adding to this review from my cellular card. The wifi isn't working again. It hasn't worked most of the week. The general manager, David Connor, MBA sent a cookie, a couple of berries, and a warm bottle of water to our rooms with a note throwing the wireless vendor under the bus.
* It is 11 pm on my last night. I was at the confernce this am from 10:30 - 12:30 and left the room before two. My room wasn't cleaned AGAIN!
* My cards demagnatized 3 times during this trip. I've travelled for work for the last 20 years and this has NEVER happened to me.
* There was no cream put in my room for the last three days. I had to go get some myself.
I couldn't invent a worse 4 star experience.
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While a lot of people here who reviewed were at the Westin Waterfront for a conference.. I was there for booooty. Sorry, TMI.
Like Andrew H. said lobby's beautiful, rooms are nice, great views, and sweeeet amenities. However, it IS in a deserted location so for visitors looking to be in the middle of all the action and a step away from the sites, forget about this hotel. Since I was a Boston dweller for 4 years for college, I wasnt looking to really... venture.
If you just want to chill in for the night and enjoy your room, then this place is a match.
Oh and we got a sweet deal on our room :)
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The Westin decor and design is one of its strongest selling points. The lobby is very serene and nature-inspired, with bamboo walls, real plants and fake trees (but high-quality fakes). In the evening, they light candles. There's also a lovely pool, with a less-lovely "fitness room" (to use the term liberally).
The hotel is convenient to the convention center, if you're into that sort of thing, but more interestingly, it's convenient walk to the red and silver lines. And if you've been, oh, say, sight-seeing at a couple of bars and you're on the last train of the night and miss the correct stop, it's a pleasant walk from the next stop down the line as well.
Saucity, the hotel cafe was... not-so-hot as an emergency breakfast spot, featuring bland food at exorbitant prices, but are there actually any great hotel cafes?
My main complaint was the price of the wifi network. $25/day? Please. $25/day hostels offer free wifi. The friggin' CHINABUS offers free wifi. I suppose this is geared towards the business traveler with an unlimited expense account, but it's just tacky.
Depends what you are expecting, but all in all, this hotel had lovely facilities....I LOVE a Starbucks as you enter any ol' place! Indoor pool... And dirt cheaaaaaap for two queen size beds (cruddy view) and a clean simple bathroom. Sometimes it doesn't really matter where you stay, and this was the case for my mother when she came here for a convention held for chefs through some national organization...which I of course forget the name of... We had fun venturing out of the South End, and it was convenient, which is all that really matter these days, so props to them.
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Great location if you're attending a conference @ the Boston convention center, as it is right next door. It's located right by the pier, and across the street/bridge to the train station. The hotel is huge, w/ various amenities. There's a nice bar as you walk into the lobby, along w/ 2 restaurants, a business center, and a nice pool & gym. Our hotel room was gorgeous..a very modern feel equipped w/ a huge plasma tv, w/ one side of the room being a huge glass window overlooking the water. Just like one of those u in a magazine.
We also paid a great price, considering how expensive hotels were out there.
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I stayed here for 5 nights when visiting Boston for a conference. My key would not work on the first day. I had to go downstairs and ask them to give me another key. The front desk said it may be because I kept the key close to my credit cards. So, the next day i put the key in my suit pocket and nothing close to it. Same problem. This problem happened everyday. is very frustrating when you come to your room on the 10th floor at 11:00 p.m. and have to go down to the lobby because you cannot get in.
Other than that, we had to call for room service to make our bed everyday. We used to leave the room around 9:00 a.m., come back around 7:00 p.m. and the bed would not be made. What kind of a service is that?
The one star is for the convenient location.
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When you stay at a hotel attached to a Convention Center you expect a certain degree of professionalism. When you stay at a hotel that is hosting a major event you expect a certain degree of professionalism. When you stay at a Westin you expect a certain degree of professionalism. The Westin Waterfront does not have this.
My husband and I arrived and went to check in. The line was long and we noticed that only one person was working on the reception desk. How do you have one person, on NYE, when you are hosting an event, working the front desk? After waiting in line we checked in and went up to our room. About 5 minutes after we arrived a very frantic woman busted into our room and started searching all over because they just moved out of the room and she left a bag behind (Um, WHY did they leave??) Definitely the way the hotel should handle that.
After she left I went to take a shower. Or at least I wanted to take a shower but there were no towels! How do you not have towels in the bathroom when guests arrive?! I thought maybe it was a fluke but after talking to friends staying on a completely different floor I learned they did not have towels in their rooms either.
While we waited for them to bring up the towels my husband and I decided to pop open a bottle of champagne. The ice bucket they had in the room was not shaped to fit a champagne bottle, nevermind a champagne bottle and ice. So we put a call into housekeeping
Hello?
Hi, can I please have an ice bucket and two champagne flutes sent up to Room 123?
S**T! What? Hold on.
Ok....
You want a what?
An ice bucket and champagne flutes
What?
Ice bucket and glasses to drink champagne
OH! Champagne glasses. There is a charge for that
There is? Well, just send it up.
We were charged $9 for two flutes and a bucket. A paper bucket that you get your popcorn in at the movies. They charged us to drink our own champagne! Maybe I'm spoiled because in Vegas you call up and you ask for ice and flutes and you have it, for free, in your room in 10 minutes.
Fast forward to late night. Its about 2am and we decide to order from room service. I noticed that they state on the menu they don't serve breakfast until 6am (what kind of hotel is this?!) My husband calls up and tells them matter of factly that we want two omelettes with peppers, onions, and cheese. "We have a breakfast burrito" Great, we'll take two.
When the burrito finally arrives it was laughable. First of all the only thing inside of it were minuscule bits of bacon....no cheese, no veggies. The burrito didn't even come with homefries or toast! We also ordered tea but were give no lemons and no milk. When we looked at the bill we saw we were charged for 4 burritos. Stellar.
To their credit they did take everything off the bill that shouldn't have been but come on. This hotel is attached to the convention center you would think they have their act together
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This area of Boston is almost like its own little community, and it is situated away from the hustle and bustle of Boston's city life, so if sightseeing and shopping is on your agenda, this would not be the best hotel for you. To access those, you'll likely pay an expensive cab fare or at the very least, make use of a few different forms of public transit, including the oft forgotten Silver Line.
The Westin, specifically, is a tidy, well-decorated, and very large hotel. It's a popular spot for conferences, and it would be surprising if, during your stay, you did not see a fair share of people walking around briskly with nametags, or lounging on the lobby couches discussing the day's conference events.
The rooms are pretty decently sized and have some great amenities, including what they call "heavenly beds" (they *are* quite comfortable!), good shower heads with excellent pressure, high definition televisions, and wifi.
The conference rooms and reception halls vary in size to accommodate mostly any need; I attended a wedding as one of over four hundred guests, and we all fit in the hall comfortably.
Room service was slow to arrive but food was decent and the menu had something for everyone, even though kind of small.
Not highly recommended for a romantic getaway or for people who are really looking to experience Boston.
First off - if you are going to host a conference like Enterprise 2.0 - you should make sure you have enough parking to accommodate all the attendees. zero stars on the parking situation....
I got there this morning. No parking available by 9:45am. Valet full too. However, the valet was super helpful and told me to go over to the neighboring conference center (BCC) to park - which took a while to find since they seemed to close all but one entrance down, but I did get to park. He also told me they close that lot/stop running the shuttle buses to it at 6pm - which was also very helpful. So the valets rock here! 5 stars for the valet guy.
But then I get back to the negatives.. once again if you are going to host a big conference. Be prepared! Free conference WiFi stopped working for most people because they ran out of IP addresses..... no one could connect unless you had been one of the lucky ones to connect early and get an IP address. not good when you are hosting enterprise 2.0... 1 star on the WiFi
And sure maybe this one is petty but I was in diet coke withdrawal at a hotel that ONLY served pepsi at the conference and their restaurant. Funny enough other folks at the conference twittered about the lack of diet coke - I was happy to know I wasn't alone in my pain - however petty it may be.
Pluses: lobby is very nice and comfortable, conference rooms are also fairly comfortable, restaurant was decent for lunch (but pretty pricey). I'm not sure how the rooms are, but judging from the rest of the place I would assume they are decent.
Yeah, this place mostly sucked. I had a very similar experience to Kristin S. in mid-May when I was there for eBay Live 2007.
The Westin is attached to the enormous Boston Convention Center, so I'm sure they are frequently packed full of conference goers. I doubt its unusual for them to be nearly sold out. I ordered room service breakfast on the first night and it arrived a little hour an hour late the next morning - after I'd left to work a full day on the conference floor. My girlfriend got the meal and they didn't charge it to our room, even left us some chocolates. I foolishly thought they were just overwhelmed b/c of a full hotel. Well, the next night I tried to pre-order breakfast again and found that there was no order card in the room. I called room service and ...
me: something like, "I'd like to order breafast"...
her: you can fill out the card...
me: there isn't one in the room...
her: damnit, those guys are so lazy, they're supposed to leave you a card. I'm gonna call and complain because I can't be taking orders for breakfast all night long. ok, what do you want? ... etc, etc.
me: not amused
Breakfast arrived on time the following morning, but wasn't really very good at all. We had French toast, oatmeal, and some fruit. It didn't "hit the spot."
More or less the same thing happened the next night as, again, no order card had been left. Apparently they ran out of order cards to leave in the rooms.
Over all - this is the place you'll stay if you're going to a conference and some one else is paying. It only makes sense. The hotel is relatively new and the rooms are nice. But it won't be as good as it should be, especially for a Westin and in this price range. The service isn't well trained and doesn't really have the "customers first" attitude you'd expect. Definitely wouldn't recommend for vacationers in Boston because it's not in downtown.
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If you are going to the Boston Convention Center, then the location is the best feature of the Westin. If you are not going to the Boston Convention Center, then you have no reason to stay here.
I was in one of the Westin convention rooms for a meeting, and the hotel handled it well. The meeting was catered, and the food (chicken sandwiches, veggie wraps, brownies and salad) was above average for a corporate off-site. There was a server on hand to refresh trays and clear plates.
Overall, the decor of the lobby and public areas were clean, high-ceilinged, and nicely appointed. The "we're attached to a convention center" vibe, characterized by an easily accessible Starbucks and restaurant that caters to business travellers, is going strong.
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my favorite westin in boston.
my first time staying here, we got upgraded to the presidential suite! (excited girly squeal!) and the front desk guy didn't tell us. he just said alright, i've upgraded you to room blah blah. we didn't find out until we reached the door. we couldn't believe it.
the room was amazing..ly big! duh. but the other times we've stayed here, we were in the regular/non-presidential rooms. typical westin rooms with the heavenly bed, which is comfy. and the heavenly shower, a shower is a shower to me. all i ask is that it be clean, hot and have a somewhat high water pressure. that's just how i like it.
i only give it 3 stars because i don't have much experience with any of the services in the hotel like the gym, pool etc. and because it's nothing really amazing or extra pretty. it's nice though, it serves its purpose. parking isn't too expensive at $31/day. in-room dining is okay. it's hotel food, it can only be so good. location is kind of outside of the city, but that didn't bother me. i like it here just fine.
I was so NOT impressed. This place hosted an event for my work, and so we stayed overnight. First of all, the place has such high ceilings that it feels cavernous and impersonal, and the lobby area is damp and cold. Brrr. There were only 2 people checking in guests- not nearly enough staff for this task.
Room was average, bed was nice and comfy.
Tried to reach front desk to ask for late checkout, but phone kept ringing and ringing, finally Room Service answered and said they had reported to management that the front desk wasn't picking up its calls.
Room service was good and quick, BUT- a CAN of Pepsi for $3.75- isn't that illegal?
There's only one restaurant in this whole big joint, and a Starbucks. There is no place to walk to get food. You are at their mercy- hence, the $3.75 cans of Pepsi.
I heard horror stories about the fire alarm having gone off the night before we arrived, by some coworkers who checked in a night early.
I would NEVER pay out of my own pocket to stay here. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! BOO! HISS!
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The bed is comfy....
We stayed here for three nights in November and two of those nights between 4am and 5am the fire alarm for the building went off. The alarm, a flashing strobe light, whooping noise, and a recorded bored woman's voice alerting you that an alarm has been triggered and to stay in your room, is effective, but copasetic to sleep, it certainly is not. The alarm flashed, and boomed for 10 minutes, before a tired man's voice came into our room, said that something happened in the kitchen and that's about it.
I suppose in a way it was exciting.
I had never been in a hotel when a fire alarm had gone off.
Going off at 4am, wasn't too pleasing though.
It happening again the next morning at 5am was even less pleasing.
In addition to this, and a complete lack of apology (let alone acknowledgment) from anyone, the hallway floors are dirty. I can't imagine that they ever vacuum. The entire place is over run by conferences, and it is not remotely located close to anything helpful, interesting, or historic, beside perhaps the convention center and the airport (and the airport bus stop).
On the bright side, the staff are friendly and cordial. So they have that going for them...
Then again, if you happen to get a handicap room, plan on the shower flooding the entire bathroom and possibly the rest of your room.
Honestly, for the money you pay to stay here, you should get a lot more. However, since it was obviously built to go with the new convention center and they seem to have no lack of business, I doubt they are going to change anything, any time soon.
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Very lovely, open, bright modern lobby with plenty of comfy seats, airline information and an attached Starbucks (much appreciated). The colors are soothing and serene (reminds me of West Elm). The hotel looks and feels new (it opened in 2006). The location is not close to much in terms of shopping and dining but the transit stop is close by and the walk into the downtown area (15 minutes or so to the Financial District) takes you by the waterfront and is very pleasant. I actually enjoyed staying in the area even though I wasn't there for a conference. The room was very comfy and modern. Too bad wi-fi isn't free. The hotel package included complimentary brunch at the Sauciety (an excellent brunch).
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Wow, some people don't like this place.
I however, do. It is far out from all the excitement in Boston, but its a brand new hotel. Usually when I stay at this hotel its because of two reasons
1. Downtown hotels were 400 a night and this one was 200
2. Work is really bothering me and I'd like to just chill out far away from everything and not do anything except hole myself up in a hotel room
Its a typical westin, you stay in one, youve pretty much stayed in them all. I just like this one because everything is brand new.
Oh the lobby here...wow..its HUGE
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Overall, pretty standard for a Westin. Love the Heavenly Bed, love the Heavenly Bath. Nice, newish hotel and all very clean. So why only 2 stars you ask?
As an ex-consultant, I know my hotels. I mean, I really should be working for http://Hotels.com because I've seen it all and at this point, I really know how to evaluate a Westin when I see one. And the Westin Waterfront SUCKS for 3 reasons.
1. Location. Unless you're planning on hitting up the convention center and only the convention center, this hotel is so poorly located, it's not even funny. I mean, the Tube stop alone is like a 15 minute walk. And we all know 15 min along the water in Boston in February is never pleasant. And if you plan on taking a cab to Copley? Well, that'll be $20 EACH WAY. No thanks.
2. NO CONCIERGE LOUNGE???? So you mean to tell me I'm a Starwood Preferred Guest and I get NO PERKS here? So not cool. I didn't even have my complimentary bottled water waiting for me in my room.
3. Only 1 restaurant. For such a huge hotel? Come on. Not cool.
Avoid this place. It's giving the Westin chain a bad name.
Excellent Choice to Stay in Downtown Boston. This is brand new place located right next to New Boston Convention Center, located as the address says on waterfront.
The place is little pricey: $200+/night but the rooms are spacious and nice. The best part, it is connected to Convention Center, hence you don't have to deal with "Boston Traffic".
I like the Birch Bar and Restaurant in the lobby. They have good and stiff drinks. You also get decent wine selection. They also have a Starbucks in the lobby to cater to your morning Caffeine Needs.
Their Menu was pretty good too. My pick was the Crab cakes, or the burger. The food type is more like fusion. Being a Westin, the Food and drinks are little pricey.
One - is, little way from all the happening places in Boston. but in any case they are $10 away in a cab or 1-2 hops in T
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Like everyone else, I was here for a conference. Great location in that respect. But if you want to do any sightseeing, definitely wouldn't recommend it as it's not really close to anything interesting. I suppose if you were at a conference, this wouldn't be a top priority, though.
I had an excellent experience during my four nights here and was impressed by the plush beds, plasma TV and even the catering that they offered for our event! I had no qualms about the service or amenities, except that I thought it was lame that you had to pay for in-room internet (unless you had a wifi conference password). All in all, great hotel to stay in if you're in Boston for business.
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I find it odd that this hotel has received such low stars as both of my stays here have been terrific. Granted, I only stay here when in town for conferences, so I don't have needs for champagne in my room, etc...
The hotel is very new (not sure just how new) so all the rooms, the lobby and restaurant all still have that "new" feel. I'm not quite sure what the "regular" rooms look like as I always ask for an upgrade when I check-in, and due to my 'room karma' I always get one. The rooms on the top few floors have fabulous views, large comfy Heavenly beds, large plasma TVs and swanky swag in the bathrooms. I am definitely a nice room whore...
To top things off, being connected to the convention center makes it uber easy to walk across the walkway in time to make 9am meetings. This creature comfort makes up for having to cab it all over town at night for restaurants and bars - this hotel is nowhere near anything fun.
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Nice place. Super clean. Great decor. Updated rooms. Double-headed shower. "Heavenly" beds. Pretty good food for room service. It also had a great facility for the conference I attended. We really kept the staff running at 100 miles an hour. I really liked the place overall. Everyone was nice and helpful, etc. However, the location...well it's kinda in an isolated area. You have to walk at least a mile or so to get to where the action is. Other mentions: In-room massages, Starbucks inside (very important!) and an indoor swimming pool
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This is a good place to stay if you're traveling for business. They have all the useful business amenities--wireless access (for a per-day price), adjacent to the Convention Center, short cab ride to the airport and the financial district, and a great in-house restaurant (Sauce) and plenty of meeting spaces/conference rooms if you need them. However, if you like to venture out beyond the lobby doors and check out the neighborhood, there's not much to see in the area.
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I enjoyed my stay here. i found my room to be very comfortable. The staff seemed friendly enough.
I was attending a conference that was being hosted at the hotel. I was surprised by the food. I expected it to be standard catering, but I enjoyed it. The conference rooms can be a little chilly at times.
I used the gym a few times -- it has all the basic cardio and weight training equipment.
The main downside with this location at the moment is that it's not really surrounded by a lot. You'll either need to walk or take the T downtown if you want to be in the middle of it all. From what I understand, that should change over the next few years.
I travel 2-3 nights per week for work. I thought this was a good hotel.
1. The lobby was very modern, but nice. There were people hanging out, the bars seemed lively and there were plenty of people checking everyone in.
2. I arrived late from a delayed flight. My room was ready, the staff was friendly and I was upgraded to an exercise room (I've got a few Starwood pref'd stays.)
3. The room was nice. As always, the Westin beds were great.
4. The exercise equipment in the room was a nice add.
5. I was a bit frustrated when I asked the staff a basic question about directions. They were totally clueless. Also, they didn't seem to care at all that they didn't know and would have been happier had a I just walked away.
Overall, another reliable Westin. Won't get an opportunity to explore the nearby convention center as it is a busy day tomorrow, but it looks nice.
A solid three stars for being more than expected from a conference hotel.
I phoned ahead for an early check-in and breezed through at 5:45am on a Sunday. The room was spacious, quiet, had excellent black-out curtains, and user-controlled AC/heating.
Though the wallpaper was peeling in two places in my room, the new furniture and strict no-smoking policy kept it from smelling like your Motel 6.
Then again... my company was picking up the tab for the "discounted" rate of $200/night. I would have likely felt differently if I was paying.
Oh, and the pool is pretty much a joke. It is small and goes from a depth of 3tf to 4ft 8inches.
A nice, clean, well run hotel. The Westin is ideal if you have a convention to attend next door, otherwise it's a bit of a hike away from the action. Amenities like room service and the internet are terribly overpriced, but that's fine if your corporation pays.
clean and very nice looking rooms with hdtv flat screens...lobby is beautifully decorated...buuuuuuuuuut thats where it ends for the compliments...onto the negatives...the hotel is in a deserted location when it comes to restaurants and bars and shops so you would think that the property would have more than an overpriced critically bashed restaurant as a place to eat when visiting. Sauciety is a 1 1/2 star rated restaurant not worth your cash...just take a $10 cab into the middle of Boston and eat at a real restaurant like Umbria for example...their starbucks closes at 7pm?!?!? no yellow pages in the room so you have to order from their room service...again overpriced crap...the cleaning service was loud slamming doors repeatedly...very annoying...no bottle opener for the wetbar and also no list of prices for the bar...wont stay here again...i guess great for business travelers using the convention center...but for families and couples who want a Boston experience...skip this hotel!
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I walked into Amway hell. Amway Hell in the year 2035 situated on the Starship Enterprise. This place is out of an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 only without the witty robot repartee (though there are robots- just take a look around at all the convention goers mechanically adjusting their nametags and looking to score in the lobby bar). I can't figure out the rationale for building a large hotel shaped like something out of Star Trek, or the thought process behind putting it in one the most inaccessible spots in Boston (if not on Earth) but this place is difficult to find and completely ridiculous. Out-of-towners staying here need to be aware that they either have to sign their wallet over to one of the cabbies at the "convenient" hotel cab stand or rent a car. There's no walking anywhere in downtown Boston from this Westin. Upsides include high-tech gizmos everywhere and some nice modern interior decor. Downsides include everything else and the creepy, fat, midwestern businessmen leering from the chairs and sofas in the lobby because WiFi doesn't work upstairs in the rooms. You've been warned. Unless you got the room for 75% off from the Priceline Negotiator (ironically, Will Shatner), don't bother.
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First of all, I'd like to say how great it is to be home in sunny Los Angeles. You can't compare that to a hotel. But if you have to be away, the Westin's bed is comfy, with lots of downy pillows and a thick white comforter that screamed 'clean' rather than the usual, 'ew, those sheets are soo not touching my skin'. The dual shower heads are waterfallicious, and the gym was enough to get in some cardio and weightlifting. The bar was inviting, and the bartenders knew how to hook you up with awesome fruit salad. The concierge was helpful in pointing me in the direction of the local shops and grocery stores, and valet in assisting me hail taxis in the cold, snowy crack of dawn. I was not pleased with the charge of $25 a day for a fridge, as most sub par establishments seem to give them on a complimentary basis if you request one. Luckily, my customer service rep that I spoke with gave me the skinny and told me there would be a refrigerated minibar, and just to use that. Thank you Mr. CSR, for your wonderful assistance and saving me $25 damn dollars a day! Also, was not pleased that the hotel restaurant salads went for $17 a pop. Yeah, I know, it's a hotel, what do I expect..
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