Those of you who are getting charged for incidentals, you are you using a debit card or credit card? I usually only ever heard of people running into incidental issues with debit cards.
Welp, I've landed and checked in. No complications @ Westin. There's apparently another large convention that lets out tomorrow, so those of you arriving on Thursday might have hassles.
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EscoBladesProduct Marketing Manager at UbisoftRegistered Userregular
Those of you who are getting charged for incidentals, you are you using a debit card or credit card? I usually only ever heard of people running into incidental issues with debit cards.
Those of you who are getting charged for incidentals, you are you using a debit card or credit card? I usually only ever heard of people running into incidental issues with debit cards.
Credit card.
It depends on the hotel really. The omni, harborside inn, and seaport have never charged me deposits.
Hey all, checking out the forums night before. Wondering if anyone else is staying at the YMCA/ Constitution Inn. I stayed here in 2011, it seemed cheaper than the other hotels, but I didn't see anyone else from pax there.
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Seaport so far is great. From the way I'm being treated to the rooms themselves. And now that the westin skybridge is closed in the morning it takes even more away from staying there.
Just was curious if it was our fridge only but we had to press a button in the fridge to keep it going. If you forgot it would shut itself down so we had to try to remember every time we left or went to bed. Needless to say we lost some things because we did forget...
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
Just was curious if it was our fridge only but we had to press a button in the fridge to keep it going. If you forgot it would shut itself down so we had to try to remember every time we left or went to bed. Needless to say we lost some things because we did forget...
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
Just was curious if it was our fridge only but we had to press a button in the fridge to keep it going. If you forgot it would shut itself down so we had to try to remember every time we left or went to bed. Needless to say we lost some things because we did forget...
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
What hotel?
Our fridge at Seaport did not seem to be cold at all ... and never even saw a button to push. So we simply did not opt to put anything in. Only negative to the room.
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Just was curious if it was our fridge only but we had to press a button in the fridge to keep it going. If you forgot it would shut itself down so we had to try to remember every time we left or went to bed. Needless to say we lost some things because we did forget...
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
What hotel?
Our fridge at Seaport did not seem to be cold at all ... and never even saw a button to push. So we simply did not opt to put anything in. Only negative to the room.
My fridge at the seaport did not "feel" cold inside, but anything I put inside got nice and cold.
Just was curious if it was our fridge only but we had to press a button in the fridge to keep it going. If you forgot it would shut itself down so we had to try to remember every time we left or went to bed. Needless to say we lost some things because we did forget...
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
What hotel?
Our fridge at Seaport did not seem to be cold at all ... and never even saw a button to push. So we simply did not opt to put anything in. Only negative to the room.
My fridge at the seaport did not "feel" cold inside, but anything I put inside got nice and cold.
Yeah, I mean I'll complain about the size of the fridge (way too narrow, though we got creative with how to stack things to make it work). But it certainly kept things cold.
I will say, I spent a night at the Intercontinental this year, and I think I might make the switch to that next year. I've been at Seaport for 3 years now, and I really enjoyed the location and proximity to PAX for Seaport, but Intercontinental is like the best of both worlds - close enough to PAX (really the closest you can get and not be in the seaport area), but also really close to everything in downtown Boston.
And the fridge I got them to bring to the room at no charge was a full-sized mini fridge, so I actually had trouble filling it.
Just a heads up, the Westin charged my room for the deposit, and then again for the full amount. (This was not just an authorization payment). I had to call them three times before they called back. Once they did it was resolved with another two phone calls. I doubt this only happened to me, so take a look at your cc bill.
Other than that, my stay there was fine. Some rooms (at least on the 4th floor) had an exercise bike, yoga mats, yoga ball in them. Our room on the 11th floor didn't, not sure how many rooms are like that or how to request one in the future but it was a great feature for those who got it!
Really enjoyed my stay at the Renaissance this year.
I've stayed at the Westin all the previous years (except 2010), and while the connection it has to the BCEC is a huge boon, the Renaissance's proximity to restaurants and other businesses might be a better convenience in my mind, considering the walk to PAX is not bad at all.
Plus, it has (!) cell phone reception. Something that was never in plentiful supply in my years at the Westin.
Looking forward to 2015! It may be too hopeful to wish we'll have new hotels to choose from by then...
Stayed at the Westin again and had a great experience. We got a corner room and it was HUGE, with a gorgeous view. Definitely requesting it next year. There was also a minifridge, which was LED for some reason, but looked neat at least.
Pros:
Location location location. It was five minutes from our room to the expo hall, all indoors.
The Starbucks was a source of many a meal.
The rooms were clean, and one of them was huge. We could've easily slept ten people in it, between the beds and the floor space.
Cons:
The minifridge was LOUD, even with the cabinet doors closed (it was inside the TV cabinet).
Never enough outlets.
I had two rooms and wanted them to be close to one another. I talked to four separate people in the course of reserving and checking into the second room, and they told me four different things.
We signed up for a program where you got $5 food vouchers for every day you didn't get housekeeping. We never got our vouchers.
Our door was the only one tucked in a corner at the end of the hall, and housekeeping kept putting their carts in front of it and blocking us from getting in.
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I was in the Seaport this year and it is officially my hotel of choice instead of the Westin. Free Wi-Fi, nice staff, and being right across from the Whiskey Priest is a plus. Knowing I was using a debit card I called ahead to see how much the incidental charges were and it was only $50 a night. The charges were released back to my card today. I look forward to staying at the Seaport next year.
Loved the Seaport last year and ended up in the Renaissance. Not a bad hotel, but the parking being across the street in the Apartment building lot made it a little weird to drop stuff off early Sunday morning to prepare to leave quickly once we were all done. Still, being close to LTK, No Name and the BCEC was nice.
The omni was a great experience for us, maybe mostly due to being able to upgrade to a premium suite for only $50/night. Their service was great, we had our daughter with us and they threw the fridge in (it unfortunately was set to max so the complimentary pitcher of milk they gave us froze initially lol). Perfect location for all the after events I attended, 10-15 min walking distance and $6 uber ride to bcec for when I was hungover Saturday. I originally wanted to be close to bcec but downtown was very convenient.
Very close to convention center, with a Starbucks conveniently on the way.
Shuttle bus was fast for when we were too tired.
Lots of nearby food.
The staff was incredible! When we showed up the place was buzzing with activity, we got in line for the elevator and a man (I believe his name tag said he was the general manager of the hotel) came up to us, asked us which floor we were headed for, and then escorted us to the "back of house" elevator so that we could get up to our room faster. We were all the way up on the 20th floor (uhhh AMAZING view!) and apparently the regular elevator was stuck stopping every other floor and taking forever! I really appreciated that gesture of good customer service.
In addition, we got there a little late so our requested room with two double beds was not available, but instead they gave us a room that had one HUGE bed and plenty of floor space for a roll away. Not ideal circumstances but the hotel was helpful and proactive about finding us a solution. They were also very pleasant and quick to bring extras of pillows, blankets etc.
Saturday night me and the hubs really just wanted an easy dinner in the hotel room. The concierge was down to earth and friendly, and gave us good suggestions.
I also was very impressed by the doorman who always greeted us cheerfully and was ready at a moments notice to give directions. It's the little things like that, that add up to a good experience.
The room was huge. The bed was very comfortable. There was a minifridge plugged in and cold by the time we checked in. View was really nice. Bathroom was spotless. Rest of the hotel felt very quiet.
Our group stayed check in Thursday and checked out Sunday, and between 5 of us it was only $150 per person for the entire stay.
Overall A+++++ and would really like to stay there again.
Some rooms (at least on the 4th floor) had an exercise bike, yoga mats, yoga ball in them. Our room on the 11th floor didn't, not sure how many rooms are like that or how to request one in the future but it was a great feature for those who got it!
they have fitness rooms you can request at booking through their regular site, so I wonder if we filled the place so much that they just used those rooms anyway.
thanks for the heads up re billing - gonna check mine now.
Zero complaints about the Hilton downtown here (well, aside from the cost of parking and the distance to the con centre)- the quad room we'd booked had plenty of space for all five of us- we weren't tripping over each other at all, even with a cot and 2 air mattresses occupying the floor in the evenings. (By contrast, the quad at the Omni last year was very tight for four people)
WolfieeWeb/Graphic Designer and IllustratorMARegistered Userregular
edited April 2014
First time staying at a hotel at PAX because I live only and hour from Boston, but my friends didn't want to travel every day. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency and it was very nice, somewhat close to the convention center, and Fanuel Hall was only a 14 minute walk to get tons of food.
We did encounter a problem with the room though, but I guess this is an OnPeak thing? We booked, back when OnPeak went up which was month ago, a two bed room. We get to the hotel and she tells us we have one bed. I showed her my email confirmation, which specifically said two beds, and she said the hotel is full from people upgrading and that she can try and get us in a new room the next day. For now she would bring up a cot. I asked if I had paid more for a two bed room I booked and she did tell me no and that they were the same price.
There were four of us, boyfriend and I and two male friends. I'll say the cot was wicked nice (literally a twin sized bed/mattress on wheels), but our 4th friend had to sleep with my boyfriend and I in bed or on the floor because a second cot would not fit. We never got moved into a different room.
When checking out, he asked how our stay was and I told him we weren't happy about the room situation. Said we booked this months in advanced and had no idea they were allowed to just give our room away like that, that our friend was stuck on the floor, etc. I asked him if there was a way they could give us a discount and he was more than happy to do so and very understanding about it.
Overall, we got 25% off a night which turned out to be about $100 off the bill. Pretty much paid for our friggin $75 parking.
Edit: Oh that reminds me, the Hyatt offered free wifi for PAX guests and free shuttle services. You would pay the $10 for the wifi and then they would take it off your bill when you checked out. I thought that was pretty cool
I stayed at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel and it was quite nice. I have no complaints whatsoever. They were kind enough to supply a rollaway bed on request, which was great since I was staying with two friends and one brought his 11 year old son as well. I didn't have any "wow" moments there but everything went smoothly which made our stay really nice. The hotel restaurant was pretty nice too, we got breakfast there on Monday before we left town. I'm considering the Seaport if I go next year just because my friends stayed there and it seemed just a tad bit fancier and the price was a tad bit lower, but that could change for next year. I will say the Renaissance wanted $12.95 a night for Wi-Fi and long distance and whatever, which was annoying, but I didn't spend much time in the hotel at all, I mostly collapsed there at like 2-3am every night.
I stayed at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel and it was quite nice. I have no complaints whatsoever. They were kind enough to supply a rollaway bed on request, which was great since I was staying with two friends and one brought his 11 year old son as well. I didn't have any "wow" moments there but everything went smoothly which made our stay really nice. The hotel restaurant was pretty nice too, we got breakfast there on Monday before we left town. I'm considering the Seaport if I go next year just because my friends stayed there and it seemed just a tad bit fancier and the price was a tad bit lower, but that could change for next year. I will say the Renaissance wanted $12.95 a night for Wi-Fi and long distance and whatever, which was annoying, but I didn't spend much time in the hotel at all, I mostly collapsed there at like 2-3am every night.
I agree with you. The hotel experience overall was very nice and we didn't have any issues besides the fridge which again was partially our fault I think. The woman even walked outside onto the street to point out where to pick up the T line to go back to the airport which was sweet.
On a side note - if you have any special coupons or freebies the starbucks there wont take them. They wouldn't take my birthday coupon but that's not the hotels fault
I stayed at the Best Western Roundhouse Suites and thought it was pretty swell. Cheap rooms, but they had a ton of space. Our room had a large Queen Size bed and a sofa-bed. They had an amazing breakfast bar (with waffles!) and good coffee. My only complaint is that it was pretty far from the convention center (15 minutes) so we had to shuttle it or taxi it each day, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
We did encounter a problem with the room though, but I guess this is an OnPeak thing? We booked, back when OnPeak went up which was month ago, a two bed room. We get to the hotel and she tells us we have one bed. I showed her my email confirmation, which specifically said two beds, and she said the hotel is full from people upgrading and that she can try and get us in a new room the next day. For now she would bring up a cot. I asked if I had paid more for a two bed room I booked and she did tell me no and that they were the same price.
It's more of a hotel thing in general. A lot of hotels have in their fine print or policies or whatever that they don't have to guarantee a room type for you (I think there might be an exception if the rooms are a different price). It depends on when you arrive/check in and availability. It really does suck, and I've been stuck in situations like yours before. You did the right thing by telling them what an inconvenience it was and getting something for your troubles.
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Seconded. Lots of great beer to have in Boston. Looking forward to the Seaport.
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I'll be staying there for the first time tomorrow night... maybe it'll be my permanent hotel with all this good talk.
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It depends on the hotel really. The omni, harborside inn, and seaport have never charged me deposits.
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You're at the omni too? Lol great movie, just got back from asus
Is this normal? I know I should have asked the front desk but we were having too much fun regardless...
What hotel?
Oh sorry the subject was taken out when merged. The Renaissance.
Our fridge at Seaport did not seem to be cold at all ... and never even saw a button to push. So we simply did not opt to put anything in. Only negative to the room.
My fridge at the seaport did not "feel" cold inside, but anything I put inside got nice and cold.
Yeah, I mean I'll complain about the size of the fridge (way too narrow, though we got creative with how to stack things to make it work). But it certainly kept things cold.
I will say, I spent a night at the Intercontinental this year, and I think I might make the switch to that next year. I've been at Seaport for 3 years now, and I really enjoyed the location and proximity to PAX for Seaport, but Intercontinental is like the best of both worlds - close enough to PAX (really the closest you can get and not be in the seaport area), but also really close to everything in downtown Boston.
And the fridge I got them to bring to the room at no charge was a full-sized mini fridge, so I actually had trouble filling it.
Same thing with the fridge at the Westin.
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Other than that, my stay there was fine. Some rooms (at least on the 4th floor) had an exercise bike, yoga mats, yoga ball in them. Our room on the 11th floor didn't, not sure how many rooms are like that or how to request one in the future but it was a great feature for those who got it!
I've stayed at the Westin all the previous years (except 2010), and while the connection it has to the BCEC is a huge boon, the Renaissance's proximity to restaurants and other businesses might be a better convenience in my mind, considering the walk to PAX is not bad at all.
Plus, it has (!) cell phone reception. Something that was never in plentiful supply in my years at the Westin.
Looking forward to 2015! It may be too hopeful to wish we'll have new hotels to choose from by then...
Pros:
Location location location. It was five minutes from our room to the expo hall, all indoors.
The Starbucks was a source of many a meal.
The rooms were clean, and one of them was huge. We could've easily slept ten people in it, between the beds and the floor space.
Cons:
The minifridge was LOUD, even with the cabinet doors closed (it was inside the TV cabinet).
Never enough outlets.
I had two rooms and wanted them to be close to one another. I talked to four separate people in the course of reserving and checking into the second room, and they told me four different things.
We signed up for a program where you got $5 food vouchers for every day you didn't get housekeeping. We never got our vouchers.
Our door was the only one tucked in a corner at the end of the hall, and housekeeping kept putting their carts in front of it and blocking us from getting in.
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Very close to convention center, with a Starbucks conveniently on the way.
Shuttle bus was fast for when we were too tired.
Lots of nearby food.
The staff was incredible! When we showed up the place was buzzing with activity, we got in line for the elevator and a man (I believe his name tag said he was the general manager of the hotel) came up to us, asked us which floor we were headed for, and then escorted us to the "back of house" elevator so that we could get up to our room faster. We were all the way up on the 20th floor (uhhh AMAZING view!) and apparently the regular elevator was stuck stopping every other floor and taking forever! I really appreciated that gesture of good customer service.
In addition, we got there a little late so our requested room with two double beds was not available, but instead they gave us a room that had one HUGE bed and plenty of floor space for a roll away. Not ideal circumstances but the hotel was helpful and proactive about finding us a solution. They were also very pleasant and quick to bring extras of pillows, blankets etc.
Saturday night me and the hubs really just wanted an easy dinner in the hotel room. The concierge was down to earth and friendly, and gave us good suggestions.
I also was very impressed by the doorman who always greeted us cheerfully and was ready at a moments notice to give directions. It's the little things like that, that add up to a good experience.
The room was huge. The bed was very comfortable. There was a minifridge plugged in and cold by the time we checked in. View was really nice. Bathroom was spotless. Rest of the hotel felt very quiet.
Our group stayed check in Thursday and checked out Sunday, and between 5 of us it was only $150 per person for the entire stay.
Overall A+++++ and would really like to stay there again.
they have fitness rooms you can request at booking through their regular site, so I wonder if we filled the place so much that they just used those rooms anyway.
thanks for the heads up re billing - gonna check mine now.
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We did encounter a problem with the room though, but I guess this is an OnPeak thing? We booked, back when OnPeak went up which was month ago, a two bed room. We get to the hotel and she tells us we have one bed. I showed her my email confirmation, which specifically said two beds, and she said the hotel is full from people upgrading and that she can try and get us in a new room the next day. For now she would bring up a cot. I asked if I had paid more for a two bed room I booked and she did tell me no and that they were the same price.
There were four of us, boyfriend and I and two male friends. I'll say the cot was wicked nice (literally a twin sized bed/mattress on wheels), but our 4th friend had to sleep with my boyfriend and I in bed or on the floor because a second cot would not fit. We never got moved into a different room.
When checking out, he asked how our stay was and I told him we weren't happy about the room situation. Said we booked this months in advanced and had no idea they were allowed to just give our room away like that, that our friend was stuck on the floor, etc. I asked him if there was a way they could give us a discount and he was more than happy to do so and very understanding about it.
Overall, we got 25% off a night which turned out to be about $100 off the bill. Pretty much paid for our friggin $75 parking.
Edit: Oh that reminds me, the Hyatt offered free wifi for PAX guests and free shuttle services. You would pay the $10 for the wifi and then they would take it off your bill when you checked out. I thought that was pretty cool
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I agree with you. The hotel experience overall was very nice and we didn't have any issues besides the fridge which again was partially our fault I think. The woman even walked outside onto the street to point out where to pick up the T line to go back to the airport which was sweet.
On a side note - if you have any special coupons or freebies the starbucks there wont take them. They wouldn't take my birthday coupon but that's not the hotels fault
It's more of a hotel thing in general. A lot of hotels have in their fine print or policies or whatever that they don't have to guarantee a room type for you (I think there might be an exception if the rooms are a different price). It depends on when you arrive/check in and availability. It really does suck, and I've been stuck in situations like yours before. You did the right thing by telling them what an inconvenience it was and getting something for your troubles.