Boston Marriott Burlington — Hotel in Burlington

"Oh I hate that! That's so annoying! Have a good day." Actual quote on checkout, and an unfortunate representation of what could have been a good experience. :)

We arrived for an overnight stay, and check-in went well. The lobby itself, and the adjacent bar/restaurant were representative of what I expect from a good Marriott -- clean, modern, and well-run. (I like Marriott as a brand, and usually swap between Marriott and Hilton when traveling overseas. With all the work travel, I'm a gold member for both, diamond in the past in both.)

However, when we got to the room, things went a bit sideways. Firstly, the AC wasn't working well -- while it said it was shooting for 64, it was struggling to get to 71. Okay, not the end of the world, right? Annoying, but it happens -- particularly on days with high occupancy, high humidity, and relatively high temperatures.

My wife and I set down our things, and spotted the couch. Or, I guess, spotted the spotted couch? Gross. Like, "Why didn't they just remove the couch" gross. We couldn't quite tell if it was food (just gently rubbed on the chaise, repeatedly). It might have been ooze from a prior occupant from another planet. (No hate toward aliens or fully-prescient octopi -- we respect our eight-armed sentient planetmates.) Perhaps the actual remains of a prior occupant? (Hopefully we weren't accomplices to a crime if this was a crime scene.)

At any rate, we were running late for dinner, so we shrugged it off and went on our way. We got back to the hotel a bit before 10 that night, and got stellar service from the bartenders in spite of what was a very busy night for them (thank you!).

The room definitely didn't get cooler in our absence. If anything, it found a way to stay the same ambient temperature and increase the humidity. Again, we rolled with it. They were packed. It happens. (Travel enough for work, you shrug at a lot after long enough.)

The rooms are definitely poorly insulated, and the bathroom door was more of a poorly hung pane of glass. Definitely a room more suited to one than a couple who may dare have a bodily function whilst both are in the hotel room.

More shrugging.

We skipped breakfast on checkout. I was pleasant -- folks in any service capacity deserve nothing but civility and kindness, they deal with a lot of garbage -- and waited until I was all checked out to let the desk manager know about the couch/science experiment/crime scene evidence in the room. I shared a picture, and made it clear I wasn't looking for a comp. I judge establishments on how they handle the good and the bad -- because otherwise you're just being unfair. The entirety of the response was: "Oh I hate that! That's so annoying! Have a good day."

That, dear reader, is why I won't advise any of my teams to book a room there in the future. Marriott as a brand is a strong one... but I'd skip...

I stayed at the Burlington Marriott Boston 9/20 - 9/22, After getting to my room, I tried to lock the door, turn the deadbolt, but knob did not turn. I called the front desk & "Front Desk, this is John" answered. I explained the situation and asked if he could send someone up to take a look at it. John proceeded to tell me that the deadbolts don't work because they are a fire hazard.......when I questioned this, he then told me that they automatically lock when you close the door. I could clearly see from inside door that deadbolt was not engaged. He then in his patronizing way, agreed to page someone to take a look. 45 minutes later, no one had arrived. I called the front desk again (although after my first call I would rather have set myself on fire) and once again I was speaking with "Front Desk this is John". He knew it was me and proceeded to tell me the person that he paged was standing with him at the front desk, and had told him that the deadbolt was fine. I was sure I had misunderstood him, so I asked "the person who is suppose to look at the door is with you at the front desk. His response was "Yes, Dear." I then asked if he was telling me that the employee was not coming up to look at the door? His reponse was "if I wanted someone to look at it I would need to contact that manager on duty tomorrow." Click. I was speechless, exhausted & pissed (when in boston slange).|||| I watched a youtube video on "how to secure your hotel door with a chair and coat hanger" & slept with one eye open. The next morning on my way out to scheduled meetings, I went to the front desk to ask for the manager on duty and was told they had just gone on break. I returned to the hotel late that evening, set up my "security system again."||When I was departing on Sunday, I looked at the line at the Front Desk and proceeded to my car. I had come to the understanding that noone there was going to make this better. I understand that Pyramid Hospitality Group owns this hotel now. They may want to check on their investment, with "Front Desk this is John" making exectuive decisions and being a guests first impression. Don't forget the Engineering employee who also made the executive decision to not come check my door and instead visit John at the Front Desk, ||||When you are at a hotel for business or personal travel, you simply expect that you will be treated kindly, with respect, and as a guest. ||||I worked for 20+ years in hotel management, several years with Marriott and my experience at Burlington Marriott made me ask, how did it get to this level of incompetence? The Club staff were spectacular as was housekeeping. But Dear, John, you were simply an a** and I don't hold out hope for...

This hotel is pretty great for the money. Room was larger than expected, with a couch I believe functioned as a rather large pull-out bed, linens and pillows that were a little above average, and clean; I found a few hairs on the linens, but no stains, or bugs. A few hairs won't kill you. Bathroom was clean, couch a little dusty behind the cushions.

Hotel had a little convenience store on site, which we didn't use but is always helpful, friendly staff and a really good breakfast buffet, compared to any other hotel I've visited. We paid a few extra dollars per night and got daily vouchers for the buffet, which normally comes out to a whopping $22 or so per person! It's a bit odd in that there are servers providing drinks and cleaning plates even though the buffet is self serve. Most of the food was fresh (I wouldn't eat the strawberries. Bruised and I did find a little mold), with a decent amount of options and a little omelette bar. The water in the room isn't free, but the coffee seems to be, and the hotel provides HBO and lets you log in to Netflix and Youtube on the TV.

The bathroom had a nice walk in shower, with strong but very nice water pressure and detachable handheld showerhead. However I found that the floor is super slippery. I actually slipped and fell five minute in to my first shower attempt, since there's zero grip whatsoever on the floor. There's only two metal bars to hold onto in the shower, one in the back horizontally, and one vertically in the front, and so had nothing to grab on to when I fell. So, be careful in the showers!

The room layout was great, though one super awkward and terrible idea is the placement of a large, floor to ceiling mirror beside the closet. You can see into the bathroom from the bed using the mirror--and because the door is a sliding, glass door instead of a normal one, you can see through the crack (the sliding door doesn't cover the doorway enough, allowing you to stand at an angle to see into the bathroom!) into the bathroom easily with the mirror. I wouldn't stay in this hotel if I was rooming with friends. Picture included.

Parking is free, but there's no garage; they supposedly provide complimentary cookies each day of your stay but it looks like they're just sat in the lobby and are first come, first serve. We did not get a cookie.

I know it sounds like a lot of negatives, but we visited as a couple, so the bathroom door wasn't a huge issue, and we only paid $300 for a two night, last minute stay (literally booked the night before), with two mornings of breakfast buffet and free breakfast. It's definitely a hotel worth visiting...