Residence Inn by Marriott Boston Woburn — Hotel in Woburn

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the kind words about Adeline. However, the real issue is Steve and the inappropriate behavior from your kitchen staff.

I endured uncomfortable, borderline sexual comments from a staff member. When I brought it up to the desk, the response was “Was it the short guy with glasses?” Clearly, this isn’t an isolated incident.

Then there’s Steve, the manager who allows this behavior to continue unchecked. High-fiving the same guy who clearly doesn’t understand basic guest respect. This speaks volumes about your team’s values.

I’m glad you’ll be looking into this, but I need to know what real actions are being taken. Until then, I won’t be returning to a hotel where unprofessionalism and disrespect run unchecked.

Original Review (Posted on 04/06/2025): My husband and I recently spent nearly two weeks at the Marriott Residence Inn in Woburn. For the most part, the accommodations were what you’d expect—clean, convenient, and practical for an extended stay. However, there were a couple of deeply concerning interactions with staff that left us uncomfortable and disheartened.

About five days into our stay, I had an uncomfortable encounter with a kitchen staff member during breakfast. Despite having had friendly exchanges with him earlier in our trip, he suddenly and quite loudly corrected me for using the provided glassware instead of plastic. This happened in front of other guests and felt completely unnecessary and humiliating. The glassware is clearly displayed and provided by the hotel—there was no reason to be singled out, let alone publicly corrected.

Then, on our final morning, my husband had a similar experience. As he was preparing his waffle and mixing fruit compote into the batter, a casually dressed man—wearing a hoodie and jeans—came over and said, “You’re going to break my waffle maker.” The tone was accusatory, and the wording suggested ownership over an appliance that is very clearly Marriott’s property, not his. My husband was taken aback, and the interaction felt unnecessarily hostile.

What made things worse was what happened after. That same man walked over to a nearby spot—clearly within view—where he joined the same kitchen staff member who embarrassed me days prior and another individual. The three of them exchanged high-fives and started laughing openly. The timing and placement of it made it feel intentional and mocking, as if the entire interaction had been part of some joke at our expense. I say this not as speculation, but as someone who directly witnessed their behavior.

Out of curiosity, I asked another staff member who that man was, and she casually referred to him as “Steve, the big boss.” That was her exact wording. If that’s the type of leadership being modeled here, it’s extremely disappointing.

Now, despite all of this, I do want to end this review on a positive note—because there was one person who completely changed our experience for the better: Adeline. Her kindness, professionalism, and sincere compassion made a lasting impression. After hearing about my earlier experience, she personally checked in on me to make sure I was okay. She didn’t brush anything off or pretend it hadn’t happened—she simply showed humanity and care. Adeline is the reason I’m not leaving a one-star review. She is the heart of this hotel and deserves recognition for the work she does.

Marriott, I hope you take this feedback seriously. Your guests deserve better than to be shamed or mocked by your staff. And your standout employees—like Adeline—deserve to work in a place that upholds the same values they represent so...

(Painting by Charlie Kelly, cantimaginewhy.com) I stayed in a suite here for at least six months in 2021. The people who work here are super nice and know your name, and the rooms are lovely, and it's quiet. Everything has just been renovated so there's no mold or mildew or kitchen grossness. The beds are super comfortable and the showers are good. The kitchenette is perfectly adequate, only thing missing is an oven. I hate spiders with a passion and in six months I only saw two, one teeny. There's a Target right next door and a Market Basket and a Starbucks and a Lowe's just down the road. You can live here for months and be pretty happy unless you're really claustrophobic - the suites are big, but it IS a hotel room. There's a great pool, usually with other kids for your kids to play and splash with (and yet it's so quiet in the rooms! Mystery) and a couple fitness rooms and everything is pretty clean. Housekeeping came once a week for my long stay and although they did the dishes, which was awesome, and did a great job tidying and wiping off counters, I don't think they vacuumed, or maybe they just don't have great vacuums, I'm not sure. But everyone on the staff was friendly and competent. A couple times I ordered groceries and they were delivered when I was out, and they put the frozen things in their own freezer so my ice cream wouldn't melt. It's the little things.

Cons:

1. It's in a shopping/industrial section near two highways (no highway noise though) - so there's no green space or bike paths or places to go for a walk except a tiny patch of woods near the road that's not really meant for walking in. It would be so cool if there was a playground or a path around the nearby lake or even a lawn.
2. I was annoyed at how undependable the television and WiFi were. 95% of the time WiFi worked, but the speed varied by a lot. The TVs are smart ones that let you access Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc. as well as cable, which is cool, but for about a month they only worked sporadically, and they still just randomly don't work sometimes. If I'm paying for a hotel room for a long-term stay (or short-term, for that matter) I expect the television to work. That seemed like sort of a basic thing that took forever to fix and still isn't quite right.
3. Breakfast ends kinda early. I realize this is a silly thing to list as a con, because of course it has to end sometime. But I've been to places that have granola bars or something out all the time, and that would be really cool for those of us humans who are on a non-traditional schedule. They do offer this cool thing where the night before you can fill out a menu and they'll save you some breakfast, but I didn't manage to remember to do that once, let alone every night. Although probably if I'd just asked them to save me a muffin every morning they would have. So this one isn't really a con. It's just unfair whining.

All in all, it was a really nice place to spend an unexpected six-month life interruption, and I recommend it, especially if you don't plan to watch TV very much. It's a better-than-average hotel with terrific staff, serene and classy, with decent pricing for the Boston area and deals for long stays (plus after 3 (I think) months they refund all the taxes). Four...

I just wrote a long and thoughtful review that got deleted. So I apologize that this is not as helpful, but here's the gist:

If you're a gold member or above, stay elsewhere. You're supposed to get a gift at check in. You don't. The gift is supposed to be bottled water and who knows what else. You'll need the bottled water because the water source is still contaminated from the giant environmental disaster that was the 70's (look up "A Civil Action" with John Travolta).

The food is meager but doable if you're not picky, however, they didn't label the food most days we were there. My husband had to ask which nut was the pecans, which led to him overhearing a female staff member offer the male staff member to print out labels for him, to which he replied "No I have them but just don't usually put them out because of laziness". Also, the coffee is terrible.

Our room was clean on 1st sight, but we found an old juice bottle behind one bed and some sort of cereal debris under the same bed. Then, we found a ring-pop under the pull-out sofa. I guess that explains the ants. The kitchen also lacked certain useful items, like a spatula and measuring cup, but if you have need for opening 2 cans at one time, this is your place to stay! (I tried to add photos last time I tried writing this review, which seemed to cause my technical difficulties. So I'll try Tripadvisor.)

They seem a bit stingy with things, like tissues. We had a 2 bedroom suite. It would have been nice to have at least 2 boxes of tissues. Also, the market lacks female essentials.

The main reason I decided to write this review was because I noticed a pending charge of $1,710 on my card, and yet my receipt from this morning clearly states $1,627. Upon calling to ask about it, we were told "oh that's the $20/night incidental hold, you'll get it back in 7-10 days". I can assure you I was not notified about this when booking the room. I re-read my confirmation email and could only find a vague statement that did not provide the actual amount in the fine print saying "Upon check-in an authorization request will be placed on your credit...in an amount equal to the cost of the room, tax, and incidental charges for the length of your stay". I have clear itemization of the room rate and tax charges, and yet, nothing about the incidental fee. How curious!

Anyway, if you need a kitchen, this place is cheaper than others I saw, but that's probably because you need to bring your own water to drink and cook with. I'd also bring a pillow, too. Parking is free, and I never had a problem finding a spot. It's right off I-93, but there's no convenient diner or food right next door. There's a decent restaurant 7-10 min drive down the road. Pool is small, so only 1 family at a time can be in it, but it's clean and...