Sheraton Boston Needham Hotel — Hotel in Needham

Disappointed. I hope the manager reads these comments because I have a number of suggestions for him or her.

First, there's a need for some attention to detail. The photos I attached show two signs in the elevator. One says that the meeting rooms are on level b. The other shows the buttons in the elevator that does not include a button for b. That's because the meeting rooms are on level two. There does not appear to be any level b. One other note on this topic. Of course the buttons in the elevator match the layout of the floors. So button five is above button four which is above button three etc. The erroneous sign not telling you where the meeting rooms are are listed upside down. Level one is above level two. Line them up.

I was there for some business meetings. There were no signs in the lobby listing the groups and meeting rooms. I had to wander around by myself to find it since there was a line at the front desk. Get some signage.

The soap dispensers in the men's room near the meeting rooms were both failing. One did not work at all. The other had to be activated three or four times to get any actual soap to come out. So my suggestion there is don't just look and see that the jug of soap is full. Actually try it to make sure the stuff works.

In one instance the bathroom was being cleaned so I had to hunt down another one. I followed the signs on the second floor that pointed towards pool and restrooms. And after a long circuitous walk, I found that the only place the restrooms could have been would be behind the locked door leading into the pool and Jim area. So without a hotel room card key, I could not access those restrooms.

Then I went on a further hike down to the first floor meandered around and finally found some restrooms down there. Where the toilet roll dispensers were broken such that the top roll was blocking the bottom roll and it was a two-handed operation to extract some paper.

The electronic sensors that are supposed to activate the valves to flush did not work half the time. And since the hotel was overrun with kids from some sporting event, well you can imagine.

Our meetings wrapped up on Friday around noon. We wanted to grab something to eat before heading to the airport. But apparently there was nothing available. That would make this a motel, not a hotel.

Climate control in the meeting room was terrible. It was either a meat locker or a steam room. The thermostat was extremely hard to control. It was one of those old style change the temperature and hear the vacuum hiss.

We had ordered coffee, water, soda, etc. That was a struggle to get that right. And the coffee was terribly weak.

On a happier note we got box lunches that were very good.

So my general suggestion to the manager is to wander the property pretending you've never been there before. Pretend you're a guest or someone attending a business meeting trying to find things. I make the same suggestion to the knuckleheads at Logan airport that don't bother to put signs at baggage claim telling you how to get to the parking garage. I would also suggest that you go into all of the different bathroom facilities and make sure that everything works as it's supposed to. Try it. Don't just look to see that the dispenser is full. Don't just push the button on the plumbing to see if it flushes. Make sure it works with the sensors the way it's supposed to.

Stand in various places throughout the building and imagine you have no idea where you are. Look for important things like where is the elevator? Where are the stairs? Where the restrooms? Where is the restaurant?

Standing at the elevator on the second floor by the meeting rooms. It is not immediately obvious where the stairs are. There is one of those you are here maps, but you have to look pretty close to figure it out. They really should be some signs hanging from the ceiling that you can see from the elevator lobbies as to where the staircase is. In case of an emergency I hardly have time to decipher that little escape map sign. I would rather find a...

There is simply no comparison to how amazing the hospitality was at this hotel, courtesy of the person you’d expect it from the most - the general manager. My wife and I needed to stay somewhere for a couple days while she finished her (travel) nursing contract, and we found this hotel to meet the needs of 2 people and their dog. Our contract had a lapse compared to the apartment we were staying at, hence the need for a hotel for a few days. The timing was still difficult on us, because the plan became on my wife’s last day of work, I would come through with the Jeep and Uhaul trailer, pick her up from work, and then drive through the night. Normal checkout is Noon, usually, so this presented a problem for my dog and I during the 8 hours we would be waiting for my wife to be off-shift. This is when Vic, the general manager, looked into every possible scenario he could to see if we could arrange a place for us to wait before leaving the hotel later in the evening. Mind you, half of the hotel is under renovation, and so options were limited even for him to consider. Nevertheless, he was determined to find a way for us to be as comfortable as possible, and we went to a small conference room that wasn’t booked for the day. He even pulled an armchair into the room to try and make it more comfortable! I was already so happy that I didn’t have to sit for 8 hrs in some parking lot in my Jeep. His help didn’t stop there. I had to take all of our stuff and repack the Uhaul trailer - which was already packed tighter than anyone should ever pack one - and had to find a way to pull the door closed and lock it, which is the second time Vic helped me. Here comes the general manager, wearing his very nice suit, and he starts helping me crank down on this door as hard as we can to get it shut. It took everything that these 2 grown men could offer to muscle it down…but we got it done. Finally, as I’m settling into my temp room just content and happy for everything he’s done to help me to this point, he lets me know that he took a look at our room charges for some internet problems we faced earlier in the week (which surprise surprise, he was a huge help in figuring out) and he found them to be unnecessary, and removed them. I didn’t ask for all of this hospitality, I didn’t expect someone to go above and beyond, and quite frankly without Vic I would have gladly recommended this hotel anyway. But now, I want to implore anyone who’s going to be near Boston and doesn’t want to stay downtown - stay here. I can only imagine when the construction is done that the restaurant and other amenities will be hugely satisfying…but without all of that, and with everything I faced on my task to get my family ready for a long journey to Houston - Vic was the absolute best manager, and most hospitable person in this industry that I’ve ever encountered. You will love your stay here, just...

When I made the reservation I wrote I required a rollaway bed. Two days before we came I called the hotel and confirmed the rollaway bed. And asked them to put it in our room as we were coming late. The hotel representative confirmed that we did reserve the rollaway bed and that they will put it in our room before we arrive.

When we checked in at around 10:30 pm, I verified that the rollaway bed was in our room. The hotel representative said it wasn’t because they don’t put the beds in until we check in just in case we don’t show. I had prepaid our stay - close to $2000.00. However he said no problem that they will bring up the rollaway bed with sheets and extra towels I requested right away.

We waited for about 45 minutes. Nothing arrived, no phone call no email. Finally I called the front desk. The lady who answered said she just started her shift and didn’t know anything about our request. She will look into it and call me back. After no call back from her for 15 minutes I called her. She said she is still looking into it. Finally they said they couldn’t locate a rollaway bed. So just for tonight they will give us the adjoining room for free. We heard someone in the adjoining room unlock the joining rooms door. He then came around to our front door and told me we were all set. However he didn’t open the door on the other room. We still couldn’t get in. We had to tell him he had to go back in to the adjoining room and open the door from that side. I have two young extremely tired children. We finally at 1 am went to sleep.

Also the original reservation was for a king size bed. We got a queen size bed.

I had put the do not disturb signs on both doors. At 7:30 am someone was persistently knocking on our door. Woke me up from a deep sleep. When I answered it, it was another hotel representative with our rollaway bed. I told him we are all sleeping and to come back later.

Our stay is for 11 days. We prepaid the room. We actually had made reservation at another hotel however my brother was staying at this hotel so we switched. When my brother made his reservation he inquired about the pool The hotel said it was being renovated however that by the time he arrived it would be open. Nope it’s still closed.

Disappointing is not even the word right now. The lack of customer service is shocking and unbelievable. This is a Sheraton hotel...