Marriott Vacation Club at Custom House, Boston — Hotel in Boston

Unique, historic, convenient, amazing views.

This was originally a functioning customs house that collected customs from imported goods. It has a beautiful dome with a federal seal at the top. Then, years later, the federal govt built a tower above the dome to house federal offices.

This historic building was then converted into a hotel by Marriott. The tower has about 26 floors, with no more than 5 rooms per floor as the tower is narrow. All rooms look out of one of the 4 sides of the tower. One side faces the harbor for an amazing view, where you can easily see planes landing and taking off from Logan Airport across the bay.

There is an observation deck at the top where you can walk 360 degrees around each side, so you can see all the historic buildings and other sites. You realize you are walking and sleeping in history.

We had a one bedroom. It was comfortable and clean. The bathroom was beautiful. The living area had room for a sofa, a chair, and a dining table with 4 comfortable chairs. The tall windows draw your attention to the main attraction: the view. Overall, Marriott did a very nice job given the space constraints. You are one of five suites on a floor in a narrow, historic tower.

The kitchenette is very very small. We had an under-the-counter mini-fridge with small freezer and fridge. The microwave took up half the counter space. You can warm things up, but it's not setup for cooking. You get 4 salad plates, 4 bowls, 4 coffee mugs, a salad bowl and utensils.

There's a small coffee machine that makes one cup at a time using supplied pouches. Your better bet in the morning is to go to the breakfast area where there is free coffee & tea. Everything else is a la carte to bill to your room. If you want to make your own coffee, bring a french press and some pyrex container to heat your water in the microwave. We brought our own sugar and creamer.

The ice machine is on one of the uppermost floors. The main tower has 19 floors and 2 elevators. Then you transition to the final, narrower tower to go up to the highest floors. The observation deck is at the top. One floor is dedicated to the exercise room. One floor is dedicated to the game area. This floor has a few table games, a very small exchange library, a pool table, free laundry machines, and an ice machine. Everything is carefully maintained. It also houses the clock works, which is cool to see. The giant pendulum is slowly clicking away, turning the hands on the four giant clock faces on each exterior side of the final tower.

The activity department organizes several tours, which you should definitely take advantage of. When you check in, sign up for whatever is happening the next day so you don't miss any of them. The house tour was great, where we got a lot of interesting info about the building's history, the clock, etc.

We took a short walking tour of the North End with all the Italian restaurants and shops. We took another tour to Mass General Hospital, where ether was first used as an anesthetic. You can learn the details & arguments around that claim on the tour. You can't dispute that there was great medical pioneering there.

Our tours also gave us details about how much of the land in Boston is man-made. The whole purpose of our vacation was to enjoy the history, and our stay at the Custom House added an unexpected, wonderful dimension to all...

Cool hotel in an unbeatable downtown Boston location. It’s in an historic building that’s really solidly built and has some amazing features: the 26th floor observation deck has great 360-degree views of the city. The 24th floor is inside the clock faces - very cool! The atrium and first couple of floors are really interesting and full of historic artifacts in display.

Stayed in a king “suite” on the second floor. The solid construction of the hotel makes it very quiet, despite being so close to the street. While the suite features a loft with a king bed and then a separate living area with kitchenette and sofa bed, be warned - this is not a suite with a separate bedroom. The loft is open to the floor below, and as such really should t be advertised as a suite. I know, lots of hotels call things “suites” these days, but this definitely isn’t one. It’s just a big room with stairs leading up to the bed. That’s quite disappointing when travelling with kids, and it will make me choose differently in the future.

The other knock on this place is the almost complete lack of any food. The breakfast in the morning, which is not complimentary, is a pay-per-item continental breakfast with cereal cups and fruit and toast, and it’s both inadequate for a Marriott Vacation Club and ridiculously expensive. The bar is very basic and offers nothing to snack on save some stale snack mix from Sam’s Club. There aren’t even snacks and drinks available for purchase near the front desk.

Moreover, there is a “business center” that is simply laughable. It’s a computer and a chair with an additional chair in a room without a door near the check in desk. This room is barely bigger than a phone booth. I was trying to take a business call when an employee came in to use the hotel computer, and I mentioned that I was trying to have a work call. Then all of a sudden there were three people crowding around the door having a very loud conversation. I had to leave and go upstairs to try to find another quiet location to take my call, and I couldn’t find anywhere suitably quiet enough. It was very disrespectful of the hotel employee who really didn’t seem to care that I was already in this closet-sized business center trying to do business. Very unprofessional.

So while the building is very interesting, with quiet rooms and a great location, this hotel falls way short of expectations both in the “suite” design and the unacceptable lack of any kind of food available. And the staff could use some more training in how to be respectful to their guests. I’d come back here for the location, but not for any other reason. Marriott can do much better if they’re going to keep this hotel in the Bonvoy network and if they’re going to call this a...

I just returned from the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at Custom House Boston. I checked in for a two-night stay on Monday, March 14 but got lucky and another night opened up for Wednesday. This was great because I have been trying to get in for at least the past three years.

The MVC at Custom House has a great location in a historic building. It was the customs building constructed pre-civil war with a tower that was added between 1913 and 1915. It is located less than a mile from the Boston Common and Massachusetts State House. The renovation/conversion to hotel accommodations was well done with conservation of the exterior of the building as well as significant portions of the interior. The clock tower has been preserved as a working clock.

I was fortunate enough to get one of the rooms on the 18th floor, of which there are four. The one-bedroom suite consisted of a living room/dining area with dining table for four. The sitting area had sofa, chair, coffee table and television. There is also a small kitchenette area with mini-fridge, microwave, sink, cabinet with dishes and utensils. Being on the 18th floor, I had good views of the skyline and partially obstructed views of the water.

Other amenities, not in the room, include exercise room, activity room that had a pool table, laundry area and an observation deck with incredible views. There is breakfast for a fee and parking is valet only at $48 per night (ouch). There is other public parking in the area for a fee, reportedly less expensive.

It is a five-minute walk to the waterfront and has nice views of the Boston skyline, Boston Harbor and Logan Airport. It is also a five-minute walk to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. There are plenty of restaurants and bars in the area though the area has taken a hit from the COVID pandemic. The historic North End is also within walking distance where one would find Old North Church and Paul Revere’s home. There are lots of Italian restaurants and bakeries in the area too. The old State House is close by as is the site of the Boston Massacre. The Freedom Trail and Black Heritage Trail and Museum are also close by.

I have stayed at nine Marriott Vacation Club resorts and this is my 4th Marriott Pulse. Custom House definitely rivals the Mayflower Pulse in Washington DC. I would stay at Custom House again without hesitation and look forward to it. It has been one of the most difficult to get into because of what seems to be an incredible popularity. Lastly, the staff -- front desk, maintenance, housekeeping and valet, were all very friendly and helpful. That is what hospitality...