Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown — Hotel in Boston

I wish I didn't feel so compelled to write this review; I have never written a negative Google review in my life - but I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I travel a fair amount, staying in about 8-10 hotels a year.

I was hosting an event at a venue a couple doors down from the Marriott, so I thought this would be a perfect place to house my out-of-town guests and to grab a room for myself. I reserved four rooms. When I arrived, I was told I had two rooms reserved and instantly began to panic. Turns out, I had four rooms, but under two different reservation numbers. Easy misunderstanding. I also, at this time, gave the clerk a sheet of paper with the names of each of my guests and the dates they were to be expected. I was told all of the information was added and I was all set to go. I checked into my room and all seemed fine. When my first guests arrived, their name was not on the reservation even though I had given them to the clerk earlier that day. So they called me to straighten it out. This new clerk then proceeded to book my guests into the room I already had. When my guests went to the room, they saw my stuff (luckily I wasn't in there at the time) and so they called me. They went to the desk to get a new room. This also voided my entry key cards because they were wiped when my guests got the keys to my room. So I couldn't get into my room and had to go to the desk for new ones. When my second guests showed up, the same "their name isn't here" problem occurred and I had to be called yet again to straighten it out. Luckily, they were given a new room - not mine. Finally, when my third guests arrived, their name was on the reservation, but it was spelled wrong, by one letter. And the clerk told me they couldn't be checked in because the name on the ID didn't match the reservation, so I had to personally show up to the desk with MY ID and let them check-in - which makes no sense since my other guests weren't even on their reservations and I just had to call to confirm.

THEN. We were all scheduled to check out on Monday morning at 11am. On Saturday night, I get an email letting me know the check out time for my impending check-out on Sunday. So, on Sunday morning when I wake up, I call the desk and say "No, we're not checking out till tomorrow" and they make me come to the desk with my ID and credit card so they can confirm it's me. I double-check with the clerk that all the other rooms are fine (it was only one on this email) and I am told "Yes. It was just that room. The others are scheduled for Monday." Flash forward two hours and I get a new email ... letting me know that one of my other guest's rooms is scheduled to leave ... THAT MORNING. I had to call AGAIN to tell them to change it to Monday and to ONCE AGAIN confirm that the other two rooms were scheduled for Monday.

When I returned home on Monday afternoon, I wrote all of this, including screenshots of emails and such, to Marriott and received an auto-reply message saying "We are so sorry to hear you had issues. Someone will read over your report and get back to you. Please allow up to 5 business days." That was almost a month ago and I haven't heard anything from this hotel or Marriott as a whole.

I need to rent rooms for next year's event and you can rest assured I will be booking them at the W down the street. It's still a Marriott property, but I have never had issues with W Hotels. I have no beef with Marriott, it's where I usually stay. I have beef with this one location.

The rooms were satisfactory,...

I stayed at Courtyard Boston Downtown between Thursday, October 26, 2023 and Monday, October 30, 2023. I was on vacation with my husband. We booked a Tremont Room (king bed) and had a package where breakfast at the hotel’s “Post No. 10” restaurant was included.

First impression; the building was under renovation. When you drive up, one can see the front of the building covered with scaffolding. At check-in, they had fliers for guests stating that work on the renovation starts at as early as 7:00 a.m. Meaning, someone could be outside your window working first thing in the morning. Fortunately, my room on the 8th floor was not a room located on the front of the building.

Upon entering the room, I found it small. It was, perhaps, the smallest hotel room I’ve stayed in. And, the furniture was older and a little worse for wear. But, I didn’t come to Boston to spend all my time in the hotel room, so this didn’t bother me. Plus, the bathroom was updated and moderately sized. And most importantly, everything was clean. Housekeeping did a consistently stellar job.

The breakfast at Post No. 10 was really, really good. The service was efficient and friendly. The food was delicious. The package where breakfast was included was well worth the money. I was very pleased with this.

My stay at Courtyard Boston Downtown was uneventful and pleasant Thursday and Friday night. But, then came Saturday night. I could hear bass from music reverberating in my room. It was so loud, I couldn’t sleep. At first, I thought it was coming from a room either above or below me. I went to the 7th floor to investigate and could the hear that the bass was louder on this floor. But, I couldn’t locate the source. I went to the 9th floor and could still hear the bass, but it was not as loud. I couldn't locate the source...

It turns out Royale Boston is located on the third floor of the building. You may be wondering, “Why does that matter?” It matters because Royale Boston is “a fully functional entertainment complex with the ability to transform from a nightclub setting to a full concert hall.” And Royale had an event in full swing that night. The music was so loud, I could hear it all the way on the 8th floor until 2:00 a.m. in the morning.

I messaged the staff (at 2:00 a.m.) that I would like a manager to call me when they got in that day. No one called. So, I stopped by the front desk late in the afternoon and spoke with a manager. Upon hearing my complaint about the noise, the manager told me in bored, uncaring, semi-professional tone, “You are staying in a location where there is active nightlife.” I told the manager that I paid a lot of money for a hotel room and wanted to be compensated for my sleepless night. After pressing the issue, the manager agreed to credit me enough Marriott points for a night’s stay. Upon request, I was moved to a room on the 11th floor. I could still hear the base Sunday night, but only just. I was able to sleep that night.

So, in summary, the rooms are small, but very clean. Post No. 10’s food and service were superb. The building is under renovation. And if you can hear moderately well, and if there is an event at the Royale, and you are staying on the 8th floor or below, please be prepared for the possibility of a sleepless night.

BTW, I was credited a night's worth of...

I have been a loyal Marriott member for a very long time. This stay was the most unpleasant experience to say the least. It started off ok when I checked in, I notified the front desk lady (very friendly) that I parked my car in the front of the hotel, is it ok to unload few bags to my room and will move the car to garage immediately after. She told me not a problem. I asked if there is breakfast with my stay, she pointed to the lobby corner and told me yes it will be over to the side. Next morning, I came down for breakfast, I was told by another front desk gentleman my room didn’t come with breakfast because I redeemed points. (I redeemed points at another Marriott the night prior at Belfast, ME, I had complimentary breakfast and very pleasant stay, I didn’t understand the inconsistent information given to me) I went out and brought breakfast. Later that day, I retrieved my car from the garage and parked in front of the hotel for loading and check out. Same spot I parked the day prior, after I came down with my bags I found a $100 parking ticket on the car. I was annoyed and went to speak to the lady at checkout desk, she said there is nothing she can do maybe I can talk to the manager, Grace. I explained to Grace I had parked the car in front of the hotel only to retrieve my bags and got ticketed. She explained that I must have parked in the bike lane and I needed to park outside of the lane, this was news to me. I told Grace the day prior I did the same, was not told to park outside the lane. To my disappointment, Grace, the hotel manager said to me “I am surprised you didn’t get a ticket yesterday” and she proceeded to tell me I can go fight the ticket if I want. I live in NJ, that is not a possibility. As a guest of the hotel, I would hope the hotel staff would do what they could to explain the parking/loading situation especially if they are aware of the ticketing process in the city that is unfamiliar to me. I am extremely disappointed in the attitude I was given under the circumstances. It could have be easily avoided if the staff would take the time to show/explain to me where to park or not to park to avoid a ticket. I will not stay in this hotel again...