DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore — Hotel in Danvers

Update: This review was from May 2022. However, if you look at past reviews, there have been bed bug issues at this hotel for 6+ years. Don’t let them fool you.

TLDR: BED BUGS!!!!

Where do I begin? We were staying here as part of a room block for a wedding. Hotel seemed really nice when we first checked in- lobby was gorgeous, room was spacious, bathroom was clean. Crabtree & Evelyn bath products. I had just finished showering and was talking about how nice the hotel was when I watched 2 (large, adult) bed bugs crawl across my pillow (see photos- I have videos as well but google won’t let me post them). My partner and I screamed and immediately started gathering our things as quickly as we could to get out of the room so they wouldn’t spread to our things. We had been in the room (and had laid on the bed) for about 2 hours at this point. We went back down to the lobby with all of our things and showed them the photos and videos of the bed bugs in our room. They seemed horrified. Shaun, the manager, instructed the guy at the front desk to upgrade us to a suite on a different floor, gave us $100 off of our bill and gave us a free breakfast buffet coupon. We were skeptical to try another room, even though it was on a different floor. Before bringing our luggage into the new room, I used my flash light on my phone to check the mattress (the room was very dimly lit) and luckily didn’t see anything. We proceeded to check our luggage and clothes for any signs of bugs and then showered. While in the shower, I saw a small bed bug crawling on the ledge (see photos). At that point I was done. It’s unclear if that one was in the new room already or was on me and jumped off in the shower but either way I couldn’t stay there anymore.

We went back down to the front desk again (at this point it was 12:30 am) and Shaun was no longer there- Sam the “manager on duty” was and he was not horrified about our situation, nor empathetic at all. He said he would move us to another room and we said absolutely not, we wanted to be relocated to a different Hilton hotel property all together. He said he would not do that, all he would do is move us to another room. We tried calling Hilton and they also couldn’t do anything to help. So we booked at a Marriott property down the road and asked to be fully refunded. Sam said we would have to call in the morning since we had already checked in. He was very rude and clearly did not care or understand the gravity of the situation. We got to the Marriott property at 1:30 am, checked our mattress again (I will never not check now), checked our bags, showered (again) and finally went to bed at 2:30 am (waking up every 30 mins or so out of paranoia and scratching). We then had to wash all of our clothes for the weekend (luckily the Marriott had a washer/dryer- the doubletree did not- we asked).

We called the next day to speak with Shaun again and make sure we were fully refunded for our entire stay. We told him what happened that night after he had left- he just asked what room number we had been in and didn’t seem to really care how Sam had treated us.

We didn’t want to alarm the rest of the wedding guests about the situation- given that it was Memorial Day weekend, there was very limited hotel availability in the area and we got the last room at the hotel we ended up staying at (also paid 4x the price of what we were supposed to bc we booked last minute but WORTH IT to not have bed bugs). One of the wedding guests who was staying at the doubletree voiced to us that her room was gross and she woke up with bug bites… so we finally told her what happened to us. Looking at the one star reviews, you will see MANY that say they had bed bugs in their rooms dating back to 4 years ago up until now.

STAY AWAY from this hotel- they have a massive bed bug problem they need to deal with and once you’re booked there they really don’t seem to care what happens to you! I still haven’t fully recovered from this experience and my partner and I are still paranoid. Don’t do it- it’s not worth it to...

It was TERRIBLE! I made the reservation online and then called and asked for a roll-in shower. They assured me I would have it since I do have special needs. (I am in a scooter with an Oxygen machine). I even called two more times the week before and the day before check-in. When we got there on the day of checked in, I asked again if it had a roll in shower, they told me it did not and changed my room to an accessible room with a roll in shower, so they said. The room was on the 7 floor all the way in the back of the hotel (Great for someone who has limited mobility and on oxygen) and it was a regular room. I tried calling the front desk wait almost 30 minutes on hold. I know this because after 15 minutes we decided to go down to the front desk, and I was still on hold when I got there. I told the front desk that the room did not have a roll in shower (I have pictures). They told me they did not have any more at that time. This is after I had requested one prior and after my reservation online and called them to ask and confirm. I asked for a different room on the 1st or 2nd floor. Instead at this point so at least I would have to go so far again.

They gave us a room on the first floor with a King bed, 2 toddler beds and a crib but again a regular room but at least it was not a mile away. The problem now was that the AC and Heat did NOT work it kept turning off after about 2 minutes, we called the front desk again. This time they answered after about 20 minutes and sent a technician for the AC. He looked at it, fiddled with it, and waited for it to cut off which it did. He said he was going to basement to see if they had the part or another unit they could put in and if that was not available, he would make sure we were changed to another room again. He told us it would take about 10 minutes to get there and look and assured us he would be back; he never came back. We were tired and decided just to go to sleep at that point as by this time it was 11pm we checked in about 4:30- 5pm.

The next day we told them we did not need a housekeeper service, but we did need the AC check out because it was not working. We got back to the room after we went to the venue at the hotel for a few hours. Our bed was made, the room was cleaned but the AC was still not working but it was staying on about 5-minute intervals now.

We wanted to try the restaurant we asked if we could order and pick up since I was in my scooter with my oxygen the Hostess said oh, we have a ramp over here We never knew as that door was closed, she even said it should be open but closed it after we went in. They hostess did bring us drinks after we had been sat down after 10 minutes, we waited for the server. but she never showed. we left after 30 minutes asked about paying for our drinks (which was a diet coke and hot tea) from the hostess that did bring us our drinks; she told us that our server would take care of it, and we said that was the problem since we hadn't seen her. She told us to go ahead and go so we did.

IT WAS ONE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER AND IF THE VENUE WASN'T IN THE HOTEL WE WOULD HAVE LEFT AND WENT SOMEWHERE ELSE.

The only good thing was the breakfast area and that wait staff was amazing!!!

Everything else The rooms (both of them), the AC/Heat, the front desk staff ...

We are not ones to complain, but this was a terrible experience. We thought when we ordered a Doubletree Inn online this would have been our best stay of the trip. Sad but true it was far from that. When we got there we checked in and went got our luggage in the room. We decided to go to the Restaurant/ Bar and have a drink. When done we went back to our room and got ready for bed. Turned on the TV and 10 minutes later we both saw a streak go by on the floor. My wife said what was that? I said a mouse I believe. I got a wooden hanger out of the closet and locked under the AC on the wall. The carpeting was installed in a manner that coved up the wall and there was a space behind it that is where the mouse ran to. I started smashing the carpet to hopefully squish the mouse behind there. After a few minutes of doing that it runs out. Now I am searching for the mouse all over the room. Meanwhile the Mrs. is not feeling very warm and fuzzy about this situation. I see the bed is not on the bedframe box (that I realize is a perfect place for it to have babies)correctly. There is two kids beds in the front room that they can also hide in. So at this point my wife calls the front desk. After a long conversation with them. The Mrs. gets off the phone and says,, they have another room for us on the 2nd floor but they have no elevator to go to the 2nd floor. I say WHAT!? Who doesn't have an elevator on a at least 4 or 5 story Hotel!? She says they are going to send some help to get our luggage up there. Then she says I am going to go down and talk to them and get the keys to the room. She gets dressed and heads down there. Short time later a gentleman knocks at the door. He has a luggage stand in his hand not a rolling cart to transport luggage. He doesn't speak English, so trying to communicate was futile. When my wife gets back I tell her about the so called help they sent (that was of no help). She and I were very tired and frustrated at this point. We packed up our luggage. Rolled them to the staircase almost a block away, and huffed them up the stairs. Set up in the exchanged room and went to bed. The next day when we went to leave. We talked to the front desk about getting some kind of reparations for the serious inconvenience. They were pretty much telling us well you ordered it through Priceline so you have to go through them we can't do anything for you. Well we were not very please with Hilton Doubletree needless to say but we had a Wedding to get to so we left and figured we'd deal with this when we get back home. We looked up the online source we ordered through. And it was not Priceline, it was Hotels America. We got ahold of them and talk to a gentleman in India. He passed the buck back to Hilton Doubletree. So here we are at the end of the adventure. If you ever stay at this Hotel. DO NOT STAY IN ROOM 126. Maybe any of the first floor for all that matters. Thanks for reading and Good...