Planning a trip to the USA in July to escape New Zealand’s cold winter, we’d gone online and searched for a hotel in Boston that not only had good facilities (and more importantly a swimming pool) but which was also close to the city centre. On Paper the Boston Hilton ticked all the right boxes – Unfortunately as much as we wanted to like the Hilton Back Bay, it continuously fell well short of our expectations.
We really wanted to like this hotel, our room was nice, the foyer was nice, but ultimately it was let down by inept maintenance and shonky service. Visiting Boston in July meant it was extremely hot and most days we’d head back to the hotel looking forward to a swim in the Hilton’s pool. Unfortunately for most of our stay, the pool was closed for emergency maintenance, only being open for one day. Staff at the front desk blamed the contractors maintaining the pool and although they offered us free dinner or breakfast, the lack of a pool, really did put a negative on our stay at the Hilton.
If that had been the only issue we’d have been slightly annoyed but things however didn’t get better from there. Our room also had a 36” LCD TV with many HD TV channels. What could have been the Hilton’s saving grace turned out to be a fizzer as most of these channels barely worked, with the TV showing a “No Signal Message” more often than a picture. Adding further insult to injury, the free wifi was available in the Hilton's foyer, whilst for some bizarre reason they opted to charge an astonishing US$12 per day for access to the very same wireless in guest rooms.
Having stayed in numerous hotels during the month we spent in the USA, the Hilton seemed to be the only hotel that we had any major problems with. If smaller hotels can properly maintain their pools, provide free Wifi and have TVs that work why can't a multinational chain like the Hilton get it right???
With retail room rates for the Hilton Back Bay starting at about US$400 per night, the gap between what is being charged and what is being delivered is simply too big to justify staying there when other hotels seem to be able to deliver significantly more value for less money.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
no way!
I recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Museums / Cultural / Historical sites, Great food / Wine, Shopping, Other