The Inn at St Botolph

[...] To be clear, this room does NOT have the "sunny bay windows" that are featured prominently on the hotel website. It is below ground level, and little light comes in through the windows. Notwithstanding the decor, the room is oppressive. Also, the bathroom floor is a black rubbery material that feels sticky, and the apparent mold near the shower makes matters worse. While this hotel is well located, generally well-appointed, and premised on a smart idea, it was a mistake to try to create a decent room in the basement. When booking on line, there was no indication that I was booking the "ground floor" suite, and when I arrived, the hotel was unable to offer me other accommodations. I had chosen the Inn for aesthetic reasons and was extremely disappointed. I would have done better to spend less than $260 to stay in one of the characterless but nevertheless above-ground rooms in the sort of chain hotel I usually dislike.

We did the Boston Marathon. We could walk to Trader Joes, and several other stores for food, The kitchen had everything we needed. Shopping was very close. The subway was also close, and less then 30 dollars for taxi fare from the airport.

The Inn provided us an opportunity to experience what it is like to live in Boston. It is located in a wonderful neighborhood where you can take walks in a quiet neighborhood and then go around the corner to some of the best shopping, restaurants and attractions in Boston. It is so conveniently located that we only used a taxi to and from the airport.

We arrived at one in the morning to a door with keypad and not very clear instructions on what to do to enter the building. After pressing the assistance key a few times, a person finally answered asking for my last name. After I told him he said, your code is...started saying digits but it cut off after 3 numbers. I thought maybe the code was only 3 numbers so I entered it but that didn't work. The person never tried to call me back so I pressed the assistance key again. A different person jumped in (sounding annoyed) and said, "I can let you in to the building, but you need your email to get into the room." As I was asking, "What email?" she buzzed and didn't answer back. When I walked into the hotel I had no idea what to do next and looked for an office or front desk that was no longer open. Then, a grumpy looking woman comes out and asks why I wasn't using my email to get in. And I said, "I'm sorry, I never received an email." She then rattled off a bunch of numbers, I said sorry again for not having received the email and then she just said, "Keep it down. People are sleeping." That made me feel a little upset since it hadn't been my fault that I was unprepared and the hotel did very little in the way of communicating with me. The room itself was fine--I was there for only one night--but I don't think I'll rent this place again considering how rudely I was treated.

The Inn at St. Botolph, located on a quiet residental street in Boston's Backbay is a great choice for those who want a home away from home, and don't want to deal with the constant interaction that comes with doormen, bellmen, hotel maids, parking valets and all the other services that usually are a part of a hotel experience. The inn is a small, boutique style hotel that is perhaps closest to a guest house. They have three sizes of suites; all handsomely decorated in a sort of chic metropolitan style. Our family of 3 stayed in the deluxe one bedroom which appeared on their internet site to have a sofa bed. When we arrived we discovered that it was only small couch. They quickly rectified the problem by suppling us with an aerobed. The suite was large enough to give us all a sense of privacy. The suite also had a small, but nice livingroom space that gave us a place to hang out. The kitchen is well equipped that it could be used for meals. We mainly used it for our morning coffee since we ate out most of the time. Our only complaints would be that maid service is optional by putting a tag on your door th evening before you required service. We choose not to use the maid service, and what became an issue immediatly was the fact that they didn't have hooks in the bathroom to hang a used, wet towel. It also meant that any item that we depended on such as shampoo or coffee, was used up within one days time. My only other comment would be that the bathrooms are lacking in light near the mirror which is especially a problem for woman who want to put on make-up. The bathrooms are also a little void of visual warmth. A picture on the wall would do wonders...but it wouldn't stop me from staying here again for the good qualities about this quiet hotel far out weigh the few negatives.

The receptionists were nice. The room was nice, but I think I would prefer a first or second floor room instead of the basement. Even so, the rooms were nice. The coffee and breakfast foods were good. Even though I would have liked to stay in a room on the street level or higher, the fact that the exercise room was a very short walk from our room was great! --and probably a better location in the long run.