I stayed at Doubletree Boston - Downtown from 22 May to 24 May. I was travelling with friends and we reserved two rooms in total. The location of the hotel is quite central, it's just about one block away from Chinatown and about 3-4 blocks away from South Station, which is a major station for buses such as Greyhound, Coach USA and Peter Pan etc.

The room that i stayed in was very beautiful with two double beds and i got 2 good nights of sleep there. Check in was great and we were each given a warm freshly baked chocolate chip cookie to welcome us to the hotel. That gave us a very good impression of the hotel. The rest of our two day stay was good and uneventful.

However the trouble came on the last day before we were to check out. When we checked in, the front desk staff gave us a late check out till 1pm when the originally time was 11am. Because of the late checkout, my friend and I were able to check out Harvard in the late morning and came back to the hotel around 12noon. When we tried to go into our room using our room card, we were locked out. However, our other friends from the other room had no trouble and were able to go into their room using their room card.

My friend and I head to front desk for assistance and informed them of our trouble. We informed them that we had a late check out till 1pm and that our room card was not working. The lady who was managing the front desk was not friendly towards us and told us that we were supposed to come down to the front desk at 11am to have our cards extended if we have a late check out. However, that does not make sense because our friends from the other room (who also had a late check out) was able to use their card without any trouble.

Next, we enquired whether it was possible for them to extend our card for us so that we can open the room and get our luggage for checkout and they say that they were unable to do so. This is because the room was not checked in under our names. One of our friends checked in both rooms on our behalf and she happened to be out for lunch and not back yet. Because of that, the front desk lady said that she was not allowed to open the doors for us because the room was not registered under our names. We told us her our friend registered BOTH rooms under her name because she was making payment with her credit card. We understand that they were unable to open the door for us due to security reasons but the tone in which the lady spoke to us was very unfriendly. She was professional about it but we felt that she did not provide us with any suggestions on what we can do. All she told us was that we cannot go into the room and she did not offer any other solutions for us. In the end, she consulted her supervisor and after more explanations, the supervisor gave us new room cards and allowed us to enter the rooms.

We understand that the hotel has their own room security regulations and we respect that. However, we felt that the front desk staff can be more friendly and provide solutions to the guests. We felt frustrated after the incident and it was not a nice ending to our first trip to Boston. Because of this, we might not consider staying at Doubletree Boston again in future even though they have beautiful rooms.

loved the bed--super comfortable (we actually over-slept for father's day brunch....ooops!) the room was clearly newly furnished, but furniture is this bizarre looking traditional style but with asian hardware to make it look contemporary. i am in the design business so am super attentive to that, but my husband agreed....odd.

also, in room refrigerator has a large scrolling digital screen that glows bright green at night. i like a dark room and that drove me crazy as i was trying to fall asleep.

bathroom was in need of some re-caulking, counter was acrylic (vs. granite or marble)

overall the room wasn't as nice as another 3 star we stayed in the previous night.

and the parking situation....they have a teensy tiny drop off/pick up area that is a total disaster. the attendants do not speak english well and are very difficult to interpret. also, the area is so small with only one exit/entrance area that cars are constantly getting blocked in by other cars. disastrous and frustrating!

I was in town for a conference at the Taj, but I had stayed here at the Doubletree before, and knew it was fairly close by and about half the price of the Taj. I'm not sure what you get at the Taj for the extra $200 per night, but I was happy to stay here and walk 15 minutes each way through the theater district and the scenic Public Garden.

The restaurant is great for a quick breakfast on the way out the door. The close proximity to the T station next door makes it an excellent base from which to go almost anywhere in the Boston metro area without a car - including the airport.

The room was up to date, clean and very comfortable. I really like the free use of the facilities of the Y next door - far more extensive than the typical small exercize room in even a five star hotel. I could actually swim laps in a regulation pool.

This place has everything I would ever need or want in a hotel, and some features that very few others have. I see no point in ever staying anywhere else in Boston.

While looking for a place to stay in Boston on business, I needed to find a place close to downtown but at a reasonable price. It was college graduation week in town so most of the hotels were packed. I wanted to stay within the Hilton brand because I am part of their rewards program. I ended up at the Doubletree because it was cheap enough without staying in a dive ($255 a night).

The hotel is located across from a major hospital. It is a small enough hotel that it is not utter chaos checking in or parking. I was always able to get in and get out easily. I liked the fact that there was an elevator at the ground level right at the entrance that went to all floors.

Check in was a breeze, they do have good cookies that are given to all guests on arrival.

The lobby and halls appear to have been newly renovated. There were a couple signs up that seemed to indicate there are other areas of the hotel that are undergoing renovations. There is a starbucks in the hotel and a nice looking bar and restaurant that I never ended up eating in.

The neighborhood was not a problem. I was always able to get a cab out front. I had many late nights and when coming in late, I always felt safe. Not sure why some people felt otherwise.

The room was fine, really just average. The bathroom is a bit dated. The shower was average but the pressure was a bit low. This combined with the soft water left me always feeling soapy after a shower.

The bed was great. There are about 6 pillows on the bed and they appear to be good quality though I bring my own. I slept great.

They offer wi-fi @ $10/day. The wi-fi service is poor. Signal was between low and good and the best speeds I got was about 400k. Latency was high to the point that my VPN worked poorly. I had my evdo card with me so I used that instead.

The room had an old mini bar in it. I had a perishable item with me, so I removed some items from it to use the fridge. After doing this, I realized that anytime anything was touched in the mini bar, it automatically charged my room. This is apparently a problem because my co-worker was charged 3 times for drinking 1 beer and I overheard another guest at the front desk with the same problem.

The staff was pleasant and cordial. When I checked out, they waived all of the mini bar charges and corrected the errors on my co-workers bill. The manager waived my internet charge and seemed interested in the feedback I had for him.

OVERALL: Check prices and if you are looking to save some money, this hotel may offer a good value. It was within walking distance of the start of the freedom trail. Downtown (Fanueil Hall area) is walkable though it is a bit further. If I were traveling with family, I would stay elsewhere in a suites type hotel. For my needs though, this worked just fine.