Harborside Inn — Hotel in Boston

Pros: The location is great. It's within walking distance to many attractions and restaurants, etc. The front desk staff is pleasant and efficient. The lobby is interesting and bright. They have an elevator and a business center in the lobby as well. The price is reasonable. We stayed three days. Bed and pillows are comfortable. The bathroom was nice, bright, and clean. (You need to ask for housekeeping if you want it) The room was pretty quiet and very dark. The mechanicals worked well. There was an undercounter refrigerator. It was fine to stay a couple days but I wouldn't stay much longer than that. ||Cons: The hallway to our room you needed bread crumbs to remember which way to go. For our room, we had to turn five times to get to our room. The room was much more compact that it looked online. There is no coffee machine. They have a gigantic mirror that was almost scary it was so huge. I could see someone running into it on the way to the bathroom. Our room had a "back door" but you couldn't open it. It had one window to an atrium that was not open - there was a covering on the top of it, so it was "sealed" in. You couldn't get any fresh air. Because the room was small and the features didn't lend any "airiness" to the room, it was claustrophobic. Finding the stairwell in an emergency might be difficult with the hallways going every which way. There is a restaurant on the main level that is NOT a part of the hotel. When you make your room reservation, they mention it is not part of the hotel, but there are doors that are in the lobby directly to the restaurant. Getting a cup of coffee to go, the gentleman that was serving the time we were there was visibly upset we were not ordering food, and made us wait. We only went a couple times and decided we would walk somewhere else for coffee. Ice is in the basement, where they have "cabin" rooms. There is no ice scoop - fyi. If you like funky, this is your...

An average stay with a price point that only made sense because of location.

We stayed here for a short weekend trip to celebrate St Paddy’s day. It offered a great central location that gave us great access to the North End, the Aquarium, and Quincy Market. And hey, I get it…it’s a major holiday here and shenanigans will abound. The Black Rose is right across the street. Obviously it’s gonna have a lot of city noise. I just find it shocking that they don’t offer ear plugs for those who request it.

On top of the uncomfortable mattress and the noise, it was hard to get a good nights rest. It’s also a very outdated building in dire need of some renovations. Our room had a distinct musty smell most older hotels develop. The blinds to the windows were cheap and damaged. While the tv in the room seemed newer, this was the first hotel I’ve been in where there was not only a DVD player but also a receiver. What is this the early aughts?

At least get smart TVs that allow guests to access their own streaming services if they want or cast from their device.

There were no room amenities besides a mini fridge, iron, and hairdryer. No coffee machine. The plug in the bathroom didn’t work until we flipped one of the lights off and on and reset both breakers on it.

We paid about $180 a night during a major holiday weekend, though. And with the location that seemed fair.

If you get a great deal and don’t mind noise (bars, drunken revelers from said bars, ambulances and police cars getting involved with said drunks), and can do without amenities, the location is really good. Most things we walked to while we were here. It does suck, though (even though the hotel can’t help it), that the two 711s on the same street close by like 8 PM despite being advertised as 24/7.

Would I stay...

Our stay at the Harborside Inn was underwhelming. Although billed as a three star hotel, our experience was definitely not. The front desk staff during check in was very helpful with their recommendations and that was the highlight of our hotel experience. In summary, the mattress was lumpy, the room was damp, and the toilet paper was 80-grit and more appropriate for stripping paint off of furniture.

Unlike every hotel I've ever stayed at, you have to specifically request your room to be cleaned during your stay. Instead of hanging something on your door, you had to make the request to the front desk. If you're lucky, there isn't a line. We managed to get our room cleaned once. We requested cleaning a second time and spent 12 hours away to come back to our room being untouched. Since we wanted fresh towels for the morning, we requested some to our room. The person who reluctantly delivered them to our room slammed the door into my girlfriend's arm.

The mattress was a pain in the back - it felt like something off a futon and probably should have been replaced a decade ago. It completely ruined my back and made it very difficult to get around and enjoy the sites that Boston has to offer.

The attached restaurant didn't appear to be owned by the hotel but we tried to go in go have drinks one evening and had an incredibly rude waiter that seemed to only be interested in serving us if we were going to eat food. We took our business to Granary Tavern around the corner instead.

For the price, I would have expected something a little better than a roadside motel, though I suppose you get what you pay for. The location and price are hard to beat but I'd recommend spending a little more elsewhere since the public transit in Boston is really...