All style, no substance
So we booked into this hotel for one night because we were in town attending the Bruce Springsteen concert at Fenway and had left it too late to get a room closer to the Fens. I was excited to stay here because I had read and heard nice things about it, but the promise of an "in-room martini bar" should have sounded the first alarm in my head. The location of the hotel is good, at the top end of the Common, which we were able to amble through in the morning for a top notch breakfast at The Paramount in Beacon Hill. But the hotel itself offers a prime example of privileging style over substance. For instance, they offer free wine in the lobby at 5pm. We stopped in on our way out to dinner ... but the lobby is T-I-N-Y.... i mean postage stamp tiny. So we were crammed in there... and the wine was... awful. Just horrendous. Some bizarre white dessert wine and the red was also inferior. Why bother? I wondered.
Our "king premium" room was of a decent size, with an absolutely ENORMOUS tv, (which was, oddly, on when we entered the room), lovely sheets, but truly strange pillows, which were like sacks full of light feathers rather than actual pillows. Also there was this awful acrylic fake fur bedspread/throw thing on the bed. We opened the curtains only to be stared at by all the office workers directly across the (narrow) street. Oops! The bathroom was fine, but the amenities were terrible (very thin and watery shampoo & conditioner, which neither smelled nice nor worked very well). There is a list of items for sale in the bathroom (tacky) and the most extensive and expensive mini-bar imaginable (including that crazy in-room martini bar). There was, bizarrely, a pair of chenille socks hanging in the closet with a tag: $8. EVERYTHING in this place had a price attached. You could purchase a nail file for $2. Seriously? Look, I own a very small hotel, and we give away nile files (which, by the way, cost us about 5 cents) if a guest needs one. Also, Nine Zero charged for internet. I cannot stand this! They are already gouging you... it's crazy! (We also offer this for free). What else can I say? Oh, the valet parking was extremely backed up the whole time we were there. On a positive note, the front desk staff was very friendly. The hotel is in quite decent shape, with stylish, modern decor (unfortunately not at all my taste). So if your vibe is stylish, slick modern, (in essence, a martini drinker) then this might be your place. But if you prefer substance to equal style, then look elsewhere. I feel bad for the negative review: I swear I really wanted to like this place!! I was hoping it would be similar to the hotel I stayed in on my recent trip to Chicago (The Sax), but it wasn't. (p.s. it's also a shame it doesn't have a pool)