TripAdvice

A few years ago, for reasons that I can't remember, I started writing hotel reviews at Tripadvisor a few years ago. I've done it enough that I have a badge next to my screen name, announcing me as a senior contributor.

I try not to sound too generic when I write these things. The way I use Tripadvisor is to find common threads among a bunch of reviews, so no one review carries too much weight (unless one of the reviews was mine). I try to stay observational and point out things that some readers may care about and not care whether some may not. I always, for example, write about easy access to food stores, because I always want to know that for myself.

So here's my review of the Westin Copley Plaza in Boston:

Let me start by mentioning that this hotel has a 13th floor. We are stayed on it, though as far as I can tell, the only bad luck it brought was some peculiar elevator behavior. This is a large hotel and they (fortunately) have lots of elevators, so many in fact, that they seem confused as to what they should be doing at times. It made me grateful that elevators are very limited in their mobility.  If they did anything other than up and down it could cause real trouble.  In this case, I just had to get off at a floor other than my intended destination. This happened twice out of maybe 5 trips up and down, which seems like a lot to me.

We were only in the hotel for about 12 hours, which was not enough time to really explore. The check-in was quick and easy. The lobby is on the second floor, which also houses restaurants and a bar and a few stores. There's a full-service Starbucks, not a stand, in the lobby as well.

The rooms are spacious, with a nice view, even from the 13th floor. The bed is comfortable and the climate control is easy to use and responsive. We had 2 rooms and the lighting was sufficient in one, less so in the other, corner room. A bathrooms are small but well equipped. The doors rate highly for lack of slamminess. Nothing outside woke me up at any point.

Can we all agree that the most annoying hotel trend of the last decade is the minibar where you get automatically charged, not just for what you consume, but what you touch? This hotel likes the idea so much that they have added a tray of stuff sitting on the dresser that if you pick anything up, you're charged for it. They used to charge you for stealing a robe. It looks like soon they'll charge you for putting it on. On the same theme, Internet access is $12.95, though you can sometimes get it included with the room rate if you try. You can also rent a real refrigerator if you're into that kind of thing.

The hotel was very busy because the Marathon was a couple of days away, but it never felt frantic or overwhelming. It's probably a good place for a conference. There's a supermarket a block away and a 24 hour CVS across the plaza.