Global Luxury Suites Downtown Boston — Hotel in Boston

This is a complaint for Global Luxury Suites, aka Churchill Living, aka Global Serviced Apartments.||||This business conducts itself in a frankly criminal manner. I would recommend that anyone aggressively avoid conducting any business with this umbrella group which operates under multiple names and that proper authorities investigate their inappropriate business practices.||||After an uneventful but generally positive corporate stay in one of their units at 345 Harrison Ave in South End during Summer 2019, we decided to leverage the group to have 3 separate sets of elderly parents from California and Minnesota stay with us from April 9 through June 2 in stays averaging 1-2 weeks. This family was to provide support before and after the birth of our first child in mid-April.||||Shortly after booking with Churchill Living, the Massachusetts governor issued a stay at home order (as did governors in CA and MN). As all of our family is over 65, with preexisting conditions, and given that Massachusetts requires all out of state visitors to self quarantine for two weeks before interacting with anyone in Massachusetts, and given that all family would have averaged about two weeks of stays, we decided to cancel our reservation and request a refund.||||We figured that as airline and hotel chain's were issuing refunds due to hardship during this time, it wouldn't be controversial to for a 9 month pregnant mother and her husband with no in state family to support them to receive a refund on a reservation intended for family visiting to help us with our first born.||||What ensued is a case study in corporate greed, slumlord style tactics, and actions that all but confirm criminal intent on their part. This would have all been horrible if we weren't already dealing with the anxiety of expecting our firstborn during the peak of the epidemic in Boston (due date of 4/11/2020) and the uncertainty of whether husband would be allowed in the delivery room with me or not.||||On March 19, Churchill issued a promotional offer of no cancellation fee for their units at 345 Harrison Ave with advanced notice of 7 days prior to the start of a reservation.||||When I reached out 10 days prior to the start of our reservation for a full refund cancellation, they made sure to first charge my credit card for the full duration of my expected stay before responding to my cancellation request. They then claimed that I was doing business with a different entity (Global Luxury Suites, aka Global Serviced Apartments) and therefore was ineligible for the (promotional) full refund, even though their email receipts and on-call hold music on their corporate phone lines declared them to be Churchill Living. ||||Thinking I had encountered an ill informed low level employee, who certainly wasn't acting in the spirit of the firm's values, I sent a private note to the firm's CEO Yudel Kahan appraising him of our circumstances and assuming that he would approve our refund given the extreme circumstances we found ourselves in. No response, no acknowledgment of refund, no cancellation of charges.||||When I confronted their billing department with a screenshot of their full refund cancellation policy, they went radio silent until they could change the policy on their website before responding to me (see screenshots). In my book, and in most courts, this willful altering of policy after confrontation is an acknowledgment that their original promotion applied and that I should have been eligible for a FULL refund. But still, they refused to acknowledge a refund and cancel charges.||||On March 31, as the state of Massachusetts refined its policies in response to the crisis, I pointed Churchill to the the state policy that ordered no one could reside in a hotel for vacation or leisure stay, even for reservations beginning after March 31. Still, no acknowledgment of refund or cancellation of charges. ||||Then, the truly despicable reality emerged. Churchill had been evicted from 345 Harrison on April 1 (according to on-site staff). There was no way that Churchill/Global Luxury Suites/Global Serviced Apartments could have fulfilled their agreement with us even if we hadn't cancelled! At first they denied the eviction, even though we saw them moving furnishings out of their units with our own eyes, 345 staff confirmed the eviction, and credible witnesses saw a constable post eviction papers to Churchill units. When we confronted them, Churchill tried to flip the narrative and state that we are responsible for payment up until the time before their eviction, claiming that we had "checked-out" on May 6. This last event shows that Churchill wasn't negotiating in good faith and made an offer under false pretenses.||||In sum, given their complete tone deafness to COVID-19 and our personal elderly family circumstances and pregnancy, multiple flagrant attempts to sidestep multiple state policies, bumbling attempts to cover up their own policies, and the completely nauseating act of attempting to charge us for a rental unit that they no longer leased - I warn all other travelers to actively avoid this firm and cannot see how they can conduct business in good conscience....

I stayed at 8 Harrison Ave. I was scheduled to stay for 14 days, but only made it to day 4. ||||Sunday evening upon checking in I found the washing machine broken, tv broken, living room lamp broken, bedroom lamp broken and the place is very dirty. The floor is even sticky. I sent an email immediately to inform GLS and to get help. ||||Monday I received no response to my email so I called them in the afternoon. They hadn't read it yet. I waited while they found my email and tickets were issued for the repairs but not for cleaning. They said they would talk to housekeeping first.||||Tuesday repairs were made. I asked about cleaning and again was told they would get back to me. In the evening I wanted to shower and noticed when the washing machine was fixed they dumped the nasty water in the shower leaving it unsanitary and unusable. I notified GLS of the issue immediately. It was after 5pm so I receive no response on Tuesday. I had to bath in the Kitchen sink.||||Wed. I again asked for cleaning. I was told housekeeping was already there but they would come again. It would be scheduled for Thursday. I am now having to bath for the second day in the kitchen sink because the shower is gross.||||Thursday I returned at 5pm looking forward to a shower and being able to take my shoes off for the first time in the apartment (dirty sticky floor). Unfortunately, I returned to a dirty apartment. I call again and am told housekeeping had cleaned and would not be returning. That is when I took the attached pictures of the larger issues as the smaller debris and the sticky floor don't photo well. ||||The apartment was not a sanitary/safe environment and after trying to work with GLS for 4 days, I ended up leaving and going to a hotel. Oh, the shower felt good!||||I requested a refund and GLS and they offered to refund me 4 days! They refuse to refund me in full because the contract states non-refundable. I guess it doesn't matter if they hold up their end of the contract to provide a livable space. I wish I had read reviews or checked the BBB (1.4/5 rating) before I booked my stay. I would have gone elsewhere. I hope my experience helps you decide to...

We stayed here for almost 2 weeks, so I feel I can give a pretty accurate review. We read other reviews prior to booking and felt they were pretty accurate in their own ways based on the units they got.

Good: Yes this place is right in downtown Boston and very walkable. Lots of restaurants within a few min walk. Nearby felt safe. Uber drops right off in front. The place we got is the 1 BR option. All Bosch appliances inducing washer and dryer. All working. We didn't try the dishwasher, though. Spacious and generally pretty clean. Basic number of dishes, cups, and utensils. Price is good for the space and location. Again, this place is very spacious and comfortable. There was more than enough space for two of us. I worked during the day, and my wife had plenty of space in the dining room and other areas. Overall I think we really lucked out and had a good long stay. It's a great location, easy walk to many restaurants, in a safe area, and with good price.

To improve.. We realized this building must have many other units for rent. Our unit was good, but others might not. The maintenance guy came in for inspection and said our unit was one of the better ones. Shower curtain too high and there was evidence of prior water damage. I unhooked a few hooks of the curtain to let it hang lower so that water wouldn't splash outside. The maintenance guy said they knew this issue and appreciated my effort to keep the water not to splash out. Bathroom first smelled moldy. I figured out it was coming from the sink and shower drain. I bought a bottle of bleach at a grocery store and fixed it. Internet was at times slow. It made work zoom call challenging. Workout room has been closed for a few years due to COVID. It"s time to open back up! I had to sign up at a local gym for a month. You need to clean pretty much everything when moving out, think a regular apartment moveout. This is not a hotel. We cleaned up everything except washing towels and linens. Booking directly through Global Suites would have been more expensive than through Expedia or Airbnb, even for extending the stays. Long wait time on...