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[EAST] End of PAX hotel reviews
Posts
I just want to echo your sentiments here. The Intercontinental staff were very rude and unhelpful. For the price I expect some level of nickel and diming, especially in a business district hotel - but between the pay only WiFi (even in the lobby!), the ridiculously over priced bar, I was really hoping some basic level of customer service could be expected.
While this was certainly not the worst hotel I've ever been to, a single room runs you $200 to $300 a night, at that price I think it's fair to expect clean sheets, or at least sheets that aren't covered in what appear to be blood stains. The chaise lounge was cheap, faded, and obviously dirty.
Someone needs to remind the staff that they work at what amounts to a Holiday Inn+, and as such they need to step up their game - because your typical roadside Holiday or Hampton Inn runs circles around this place. Avoid at all costs.
Had a small billing issue while checking in, which was resolved quickly and professionally by the staff (More than i can say for the staff at Intercontinental, where I stayed last year, who were less than helpful when a similar issue came up)
Paying for the WiFi was a drag, but the service and speed were good, even on the "silver" package.
The lobby bar did try to convince us that they couldn't bring some hot water for tea because the kitchen was closed...then five minutes later the waitress showed up with hot water all gung-ho to help, "would you like honey? sugar?" So I have no idea what happened there but it turned out OK.
tl;dr: I have no reason not to use the Westin again.
I stayed at the Westin for most of my trip and encountered some of this as well. When I first walked in I thought the bag check in was a concierge, and walked right past it to the front desk where I asked to check my bags. The desk clerk didn't even point out my error, and checked my bags himself. A+.
But a couple days in I needed to leave something at bag check in and walked up to the desk to them all laughing about a $1 tip one had just received. Then when I ask to check my bag I get a skeptical look and am grilled on my room number. Sorry, but if you're going to be rude after laughing at a tip one might give to such behavior, why would you expect any tip at all?
The fridge in our room at the Westin also did not work. Odd. At least we brought a cooler for the ride up, so we were able to keep stuff cool anyways.
Still I'd stay there again even with the super expensive internet since it is so convenient.
They disable the fridges if you do not specifically ask for them to be turned on, since they are actually supposed to be for a mini-bar (min-bars are removed during some types of conventions, like pax). If you ask, they will re-enable it for you just as a fridge. In the case of it literally not working (which is what one of my friends had happen) they'll bring you up a separate mini-fridge.
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Very friendly staff, particularly the concierge and the front desk. We had a suite-like room (2-bed bedroom and den area with couch, table with four chairs) split among four of us, and it was very roomy and comfortable. The only complaint I have about the room was the TV in the den seemed to be stuck in demo mode and the hotel remote couldn't disable it, so the left side of the screen was obscured.
The hotel is right in downtown, so convenient walking distance to more bars and restaurants than I can count, and about a 20-minute walk to the BCEC. Surprisingly quiet, despite all the excitement of the weekend. Price wasn't bad considering the size - ~$300 split among four people, it's very affordable. The thing I wish they would change about price: Myself and the other folks in our room agreed that the price of the room should include at least wired internet, but any connection at all cost about $15 per day. I actually e-mailed the suggestion to Hilton and they are getting back to me. Speaking of which, their customer representatives are very prompt and professional. I honestly did not expect to hear anything back.
I give the hotel a 4.5/5 all-around. Would stay again!
The beds were comfortable as all hell, the room was incredibly clean and we were able to have pizza delivered by Dominoes, Papa Johns wouldnt go for some reason even though they were closer. Id stay in this hotel again but id try to get something a bit closer next time.
The only minor issues I came across were that because it's an older building the window sealing was pretty bad. Just to get the room temp to feel like 70ish degrees I had to turn the thermostat up to 76-77. All of the trashcans in the room were almost nothing more than USPS mailslots. They seriously could not have been more than like 5" at the widest point of the can (so we ended up leaving a lot of stuff outside the cans on the tables, not that we wanted to.) Then the water pressure in the shower wasn't that great, but reading other responses here it seems like a Boston thing.
I didn't mind the walk to and from BCEC, but I would definitely like to stay somewhere closer next year after being spoiled having a room at the Sheraton last Prime (for swag drop off and just plain rest without being 20+ minutes away from the action.)
Pro:
- Directly next to the Tufts Orange line stop, so getting on the T is simple.
- Very close to Chinatown and thus, lots of food. There's a DD and CVS about 1-2 blocks away too, or a Starbucks in the hotel.
- Connected to the YMCA and thus you get free access to it. My roommate used the jacuzzi one day to help relieve some tension after a long Con day.
-Mini Fridge ready to go and a good size room
- Staff was so nice! I was worried about checking in early Thursday because last year I had to wait and still didn't get the room I requested, but this year they had what I wanted and checked me in fast and right away!
- Good water pressure and nice HOT water.
- They gave us free extra cookies if we asked after coming in to the hotel later at night.
- $160 a night after all the taxes.
Con:
- Never had a view but doesn't matter much to me.
- Next to a hospital so sometimes get sirens. Only heard them once.
- Thursday and Friday I swear there was some kind of party going on outside in the parking lot next door which was VERY loud. No idea what that was about.
- Very tiny parking lot
- Expensive breakfast/$14 for wifi, though my phone automatically connected to an AT&T wifi when I got there.
- The soap they offer has left really dry patches on my skin. Next year I'll bring my own kind.
Overall, the Cons are very minor if you are fine walking some short distances.
Positives: The view was beautiful. There were decent restaurants and a 24-hour grocery store within a 5 minute walk of our room. The gym and pool were (according to our one friend who went) good facilities. They had free wifi in the business center downstairs and paid-only wifi in the rooms, but our phones and laptops were usually still able to pick up the free connection upstairs.
Because of the price, service and the distance from the convention center, we definitely will not be staying there again. Also, though no fault of the hotel itself, a group of 5 or 6 highschoolers attending Anime Boston were staying right across the hall from us and coincidentally got out of the elevator at the same time we did on Friday night. They said "Oh you guys are across from us... sorry in advance LOLOLOL" I'm not one to call front desk and ruin the fun for a bunch of kids, but holy shit I did not know humans could make those kinds of noises. Also they were trying on underwear over top of their clothes in the hall at like 3 a.m. ._.
My biggest complain is when I came back Saturday night (very late, mind you) our rooms DOOR WAS CRACKED OPEN. We had to run around the room in a panic trying to figure out if anything had been stolen. Luckily everything was there, but when we complained to the front desk the next day, we got the reply "okay..." and nothing was done about it. That's a pretty huge error that could've resulted in HUGE problems for us.
I think for a lot of these places, it's a question of them learning over a number of years about what the PAX crowd is like. Last year they weren't great, this year they were a lot more positive. Next year, I'm sure they'll be even better
Side note: The seaport had a "Pillow Library." I kept forgetting to ask the staff what that meant and if it was free or they charged for different pillows. I was really interested in it but everytime I remembered it was there I was too drunk to do anything about it. Did anyone try checking a pillow out?
The PAX rate for the Westin was $179/night + taxes
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I had the same happen our first night, realized the deadbolt sometimes wasn't sliding in all the way unless you gave the knob a second turn, the door closed just fine after.
Thanks. If I do go next year I definately want to stay at the hotel connected to PAX directly. If it costs me $600 for 3 nights I'll make it work lol.
I paid 159/night at the Seaport. Also, wifi was free.
Pros:
Base price $140/night for 2 queen beds.
Free shuttle 24 hours a day to Silver Line at airport or BlueLine T Stop.
Getting to/from BCEC was easy
Clean room, very friendly staff, free apples in the lobby
Despite having a room that faced a runway and was very close, we never heard a single airplane.
Cons:
No free internet
Only restaurant at hotel was expensive (not an issue we wanted to try out everything else in Boston)
Silver Line was crazy crowded Friday and Saturday morning from the airport
I couldn't find a lot of information from people who stayed here and went to BCEC so I was afraid it'd be hard to get there. It really wasn't, and there's a real good chance we'll be back at this hotel.
thanks. free wifi DOES sound pretty sweet. not sure i can be seduced away from the westin, but it does merit some consideration.
yeah, the 7-11 is a big selling point too, though it probably makes more sense to walk 2 blocks to 7-11 (from westin) rather than walk 2 blocks to pax (from seaport). oh well, plenty of time to think it over.
They both have distinct advantages. It's all about putting a value on being connected, then making a decision on the other associated costs from there. For me the connection value is obscenely high, so it outweighs free wifi and a cheaper cost at the seaport. For many though, it's not that big of a gap.
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There should've been a small little note thing next to your bed, with a list of all their pillows. It's complementary, and you just dial an extension and request the pillow (or mattress) of your choice. They had all kinds.
(And I think I already said it, but the Seaport was -fantastic-)
yeah, it looks like the gift shop specifically has double charged a number of people. got to remember to have the bf check his statement.
another westin bonus though is that being connected to bcec makes weather irrelevant--which is invaluable in boston in march/april. if it was raining for example, even though it's only 2 blocks from seaport, i'd need some sort of coat/umbrella to get to pax and then would have to pay to check things or have extra stuff to lug around. and our cardboard cosplay would have been a nightmare to transport in rain. staying at the westin, i hung out in the lobby and the bcec (late night) in pajamas and slippers. so that was pretty awesome.
I've heard this as well, specifically about the gift shop. It's funny because I didn't even know they /had/ a gift shop.
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