Best Western Plus New Englander — Hotel in Woburn

Here's the good: Easy 2 find right off the highway exit. Eateries are within walking distance although a car is needed to get around. There's a refrigerator in the room & the mini bar contents were next to reception. Visitors could stock up as much, as little or not at all as desired. Despite having 2 ask 4 the room to be cleaned, w/no refund if one skipped housekeeping, all necessities were plentiful & provided upon request. The bed was fairly firm & high & my requests to be away from the elevator & for a mobility room were met.

Here's the bad: Keith, who registered me, had the dirtiest finger nails of anyone outside of a coal mine. I requested that my bill be split between 2 cards & was assured by his colleague Shanno that this would not be a problem. They charged me upon arrival vs upon check out, ostensibly for the 1st night, which appeared on one card. However, the 2nd day, more than half of my total bill was charged 2 the 2nd card. I pointed this out 2 Shannon, who assured me that I just needed 2 give it time to straighten out with refunds & charges. The day before check out charges had been charged 2 the card with the lion's share of charges. At check out, again Shannon told me 2 call (from Europe) if the changes still didn't go through. I was presented a bill which was impossible 2 figure out other than the totals at the end. Every night a different set of fees & charges were charged @ outrageous rates toward the weekend.

Back to Day 1, the room was made up as if I was a current vs new guest. The sheets had clearly been slept in. I was given rumbled up sheets 2 change myself, sheets which were thread worn, like flannel & very wrinkled (closer to what one'd expect sheets 2 look like after sheets have been stripped vs fresh sheets). I asked 4 proper housekeeping w/changed sheets the next day, which was provided. The thermostat & telephone weren't working properly. Keith gave me the email 2 the hotel & the manager's name advising me 2 send pictures I'd made as proof of issues. I did so immediately but a bit too soon.

Stripping the bed, I found 3 insect corpses in the mattress under the mattress cover. Clearly dead but startling to find.

Day 2, I saw a woman behind the counter & asked 4 Tanya the manager. Tanya identified herself & when I mentioned that I'd sent her email w/pictures, her reply was that she'd "been busy" as if my email wasn't business related. I explained that I'd been advised 2 send her email & that in addition, I'd froze during the night bc the thermostat wouldn't rise above 68 degrees although set @ 70. There was no on/off button or user manual on how to use the thermostat. Living in Europe, I travel 2 many countries, I speak many languages & I have stayed in many hotels & am well versed. Again I informed Tanya that the telephone in my room didn't work. I showed Tanya not only the picture of 1 of the creatures' corpses I'd found, I pulled it out from a sealed plastic bag but it crumbled.

That same evening, b4 going down 2 reception bc the phone hadn't been fixed, I saw Shannon in the hall helping another guest. She came 2 my room & said that the phones had been fixed recently but clearly, mine was not working. She gave me a tutorial on the thermostat which did not help in the least. 67 or 68 was the temperature again that night.

Day 3 Shannon offered me a new room. Considering that I'd cleaned & disinfected all the handles in my room & was basically unpacked, the new room had lumpy pillows & thread worn sheets vs fresh & pressed sheets that I had gotten in my previous room & expect 2 have when in a hotel. I declined & decided 2 suck up the problems w/the room since I spent all day outside of it. The day before check out, I had 2 bites on the back & front of each ankle.

Shannon offered me 2 waters on the house provided I give a good review, which is way more than the manager offered 4 that sub par experience.

What I've given is an...

I've stayed at Best Western hotels in the past so I thought I knew what to expect. I can honestly say this hotel far exceeded my expectations! The common areas (lobby, breakfast area, etc) were very clean and appeared to have been remodeled fairly recently. We stayed in a room with 2 queen beds. The room was clean and was a decent size. There was a freestanding closet, a small refrigerator, dresser with a good sized tv, desk/desk chair and another chair with a foot stool, and the two of us still had plenty of room to move around. The furniture all looked newer and well maintained and the beds were pretty comfortable. There was a hair dryer in the bathroom and an iron and small ironing board in the closet. I do wish there had been a microwave. The cable selection was ok-pretty similar to most places I've stayed. There were a ton of outlets that were easily accessible for charging electronics and there were even two USB ports by the nightstand. Each bed had a small reading lamp on both sides that you could adjust the height of to read in bed without disturbing everyone else in the room. So overall a lot of thoughtful touches in the room design. The staff was super friendly. Honestly, one of my best travel experiences in terms of staff interaction. Location in relation to Boston is great, although the entrance to the parking lot is just before a traffic light and right where 2 lanes merge into one, so it can be a little tricky turning left out of the lot during peak traffic times (this wouldn't deter me from staying here again). The free breakfast was fantastic! A ton of variety including scrambled eggs and mini omlettes, potatoes, sausage, onion and pepper mixture, assorted muffins/pastries, yogurts, fresh fruit, cereal and a waffle station. There was even an assortment of gluten-free breads. Again a lot of the small touches with breakfast including various toppings for the eggs, yogurt and waffles. The area around the hotel seemed ok and the parking lot was pretty well lit. I felt pretty safe coming and going.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? Personally I like to take super hot showers and that really wasn't an option. The water in the shower got lukewarm at best. And similarly, the heated pool wasn't very warm. When you flush the toilet it is ridiculously loud. (We joked that we thought we were going to be sucked out of the room because it was so loud. Lol.) The heater in our room was a little finicky, there were a couple times the room temperature read lower than the temperature we set it to (by 2-3°) and the heater didn't kick on. We adjusted the temp and got it warmed up so really only a minor issue.

Overall, it was a great experience! I would absolutely stay here again if I'm visiting the...

Terrible! First they double charged me for the room, I brought it to their attention on Thursday, and by my check out on Sunday they still had not returned the money and every single employee gave me a different excuse why nobody was on the same page. Next, when we were booking the hotel called to ask if they had an indoor pool they said yes they did but feel to tell me that they didn’t have the proper heating system for the pool. The pool water itself was warm but the air around the pool was 60°. Bathroom in the pool is 35°, at most! While my son was swimming?! I was in a winter coat. Now we had a blizzard, plow companies came in to plow out the parking lot-tell me why my car was barricaded into a spot. The only car in the parking lot that was barricaded in. I brought it to the night managers attention and he said he would take care of it. The next morning as I’m going to leave my car was still barricaded in. I now brought it to the attention of the day manager-she handed me a shovel!!!!. I am just coming off of a broken collarbone. I am not at full strength yet. Why was everyone else out of their spots and I was the only one completely snowed into a spot. They did tell me that they were unhappy about that and they emailed the plow company. but still, for me to be handed a shovel- after the fact that you guys should try to work with me. I have $250 missing in my account on your behalf? I know if I made a mistake on somebody’s account tallying up to almost $250 I would figure out a way to get that woman’s car out of her spot. But now they didn’t even make an attempt they just handed me a shovel and said good luck. I had my niece and nephew come and spend the day with us. Yes,my niece and nephew are mixed black and white. The lady said to me as I was arguing on the way out, as I was telling her how unsatisfied I was she in turn decided to say “well you had all those neighborhood kids here” . Those neighborhood kids why do you say like that? Is because they are black?! We were getting a major blizzard in Boston and I was out of heat and hot water due to a burst pipe so I spent four nights there. They only offer a continental breakfast, so when they DOUBLE CHARGED the room I had to be very creative because they held up the rest of my money. THE LAST NIGHT I HAD TO COUNT QUARTERS TO FEED MY SON!!!! (Again, because the had double charged my room) Not one person that work there had the same story on why my money was not returned and thats what really really really pisses me off. I was there for four nights without...