I've stayed twice this summer at the Omni Parker House in Boston, and both my stays have had an identical feel: grand older property, nicely renovated common spaces, lovely amenities, and a great location -- all in fairly stark contrast to very small, oddly shaped rooms, at least in the category I booked.

Both my stays were last-minute extensions of business trips, booked through Hotwire for a very competitive price. In both cases I booked a "standard double", which may be the key to my mild disappointment. On both visits, I found myself in a small room, somewhat oddly shaped, with either one or two windows overlooking a dingy, depressing air-shaft view. Both rooms had tiny -- but well-appointed -- bathrooms that suffered from one unforgivable trait: absolutely no vanity counter space to place shaving implements. In the end, I balanced my shaving kit precariously and hoped my toothbrush wouldn't end up on the lovely old Deco tile floor.

Another nit: technology. Omni dudes: it just doesn't cost that much to provide free wireless internet to guests. Trust me, I don't want to check my email badly enough to pay to use your wired connection.

That's the bad news. The good news is, the room, tiny as it is, is well-appointed, with a comfortable (double) bed, cushy mattress, very nice linens, and a stunning array of pillows and bolsters. Somehow, they managed to jam a desk/dresser combo into the room, and it was topped by a very nice 42" LG flat-panel TV, which, in a room this size, is like having your own movie theater on tap. Once in bed, with the lights dimmed, you definitely feel like you're in the lap of luxury. Too bad that opening the thick shade in the AM and peering out into the airshaft brings it all crashing back down.

The Parker House is a venerable property in a great location, close to Boston's small financial district, an easy walk to Quincy Market, the Boston Common, and countless historic sites. I can well imagine -- in a bigger room -- this would make a great base of operations for a family vacation. That said, I would also consider another of Boston's century-old grand hotels, the Park Plaza, which is often available for similar or lower rates. You give up a little in amenities but (at least in the room I stayed in), you get a lot back in space and comfort.

We, a party of four, two grown up two children stayed one night at the Hotel in Boston in July 2008. We had booked a "deluxe" room with two beds. Unfortunately I have not read the critics before we booked the hotel. The room is despite its name tiny. Your can hardly move arround the bed. If you have luggage you can not. There is no room to leave the luggage even if you leave most of it in the suitcase.
I guess the Hotel management thinks that the amount of cushions on the bed justifies the hotel-stars. We had more than 10 of them and again if you wanted to use the bed for sleeping no space to put them in. To leave the bed you had to climb over cushions, luggage and clothes to get to the bathroom.
The bathroom is tiny. THere is no space to put our own toiletties. The rack in the bathroom was crowded with things.
We were on a New England roundtrip, so unfortunantely we had a car. Overnight parking costs 40 $. If you leave the car longer than 12o´clock its an extra 16 $, no matter when you check in. On their homepage or in the traveladvisor-advertisement thei do not mention these expenses. The hall was nice, the floor to the room still needs renovation and smells sticky and dusty.
The room was renovated and if I had been on a one night buisness trip it would have had been o.k. But a hotel should stick to the truth, when it offers rooms. The omni parker does not.
The fitness room is a joke. There is no place to change. You are in an glass vitrine to be wachted.
For the price there are much better and more honest offers even in Boston at this down town location.

After coming home late, we were stopped in the lobby and ejected from the hotel because we had 6 beers with us. They didn't offer to hold them at the desk, they immediately kicked us out on the streets. We were not aware of the rule regarding alcohol in guest rooms and had we been aware, we obviously wouldn't have bothered bringing back beer. It was a horrible experience and they wouldn't reimburse us for that night. We felt like second class citizens. The customer service was HORRIBLE!

Loved the Quiet. Food was great.