Hilton Back Bay

Perfectly friendly staff, just not enough of them. No one will answer the phone, no bell boys. Hotel otherwise clean. I am a diamond member and this is my first complaint. If you want a bed with no service only come here if it is cheap. I understand that hotels have issues post pandemic, but when the hotel is fully booked they should review. My family stayed at the Hyatt down town and didn't have this problem. Its not only not fair on the customers but not fair on the hard working staff. If they remedied this issue I would stay here. I wrote in to management to complain, hopefully they will take notice Read less

I last stayed at this hotel about 12 or 13 years ago and it wasn’t a pleasant experience then. I know that management changes over time, but I’m trying to figure out what compelled me to try this, again. :-) This 2-night stay reminded me why it's a bad choice. This hotel scores very well for its location (kudos to Trader Joe’s a few blocks away!). Service? Meh. Another hotel with untrained individuals. But let’s it blame on the pandemic. Check-in: Like many hotels with an open lobby, this one had no demarcation for the queue. When I walked into the lobby around 11:30 AM, it was packed and a lined formed to the left of the Front Desk. As the confusion continued, people started queuing out of sequence. I raised a strong objection and had an ongoing and loud dialogue across the lobby with the offending parties. The Front Desk attendants? Silent. They watched the lobby chaos unfold and did nothing to rectify the situation. Nothing. I don’t mind waiting, but I do mind when others jump the queue, and the Front Desk does nothing about it. “Oh? You stepped in front of other people waiting in line? No problem! How may I help you?” My room wasn’t ready (not surprised, it was 11:30 AM) so I checked in, dropped off my bags, and went to a museum. When I returned to the hotel, the room was ready, and Heidy, the Front Desk attendant, wanted to repeat the check-in process with the credit card and ID. Sheesh. I was also told that I was moved from my original 21st floor room to the 16th floor because of carpet cleaning. I couldn’t figure out if the carpeting cleaning were for the room or the hallway and asked to speak to Snidenica (sp?) because she was the one who left a voicemail message that the room was ready. After some back and forth, I was placed back in the 21st floor room. Room: It was a corner king. The hotel, I think, was renovated in 2018 and the motif is black/gray and even more black. The textured wall was predominately black as was the carpet with some hints of muted gold. I disliked the interior design. The two windows should have brought in enough natural light, but not really. The second window, which was floor-to-ceiling, was weird in its configuration (set back and had an enclosed area, but not accessible from the room). Likely the rainy/overcast weather didn’t help this room with dark interiors. I had some computer work to do so being in the room was on the depressing side. The bathroom was a matchbox with a tub/shower, toilet, and floating sink. The bathroom had a sufficient number of towels. And what's with that yellowed, outdated desk phone from the 1980's? Come on! How much is a new phone? The outdated Cuisinart unit smelled of stale coffee and had not seen a decent cleaning in some time. I love the repeated claims of “deep cleaning,” but they’ve cut back on housekeeping services and oversight of housekeeping. “Deep cleaning” sounds good, but with most hotels like the Hilton Back Bay during the pandemic, it’s all talk and no execution. I requested a water kettle, but they had none at this hotel. The Executive Lounge was closed, but no one knew if it was closed permanently or temporarily. No valet parking. I wanted to sleep in, but there was no “do not disturb” sign in my room so I had to go down to the Front Desk to get one. I requested additional towels - none never arrived. A return to the Front Desk to ask a question regarding directions and the two Front Desk attendants were fully engaged in their personal conversation to be bothered so I walked away. If they offered breakfast or some other meals, I don’t know. I had all meals off-property. I reached out to the General Manager (Doug Koenig) while I was there, but the text went unanswered. No surprise there. If he’s not responding, why would you expect anything resembling service from his staff? Service at the Hilton Boston Back Bay is a challenge. They, like most hotels, will blame it on the pandemic. A good excuse, but as someone who’s traveled at the start and during the pandemic, there are some hotels that do have limited amenities, but provide excellent services, nonetheless. This isn’t one of them. What’s the value of this hotel? Likely location – many things are within walking distance including restaurants and Fenway Park. Other than that, you can find a better hotel in the area with much, much better services. To the Hilton Boston Back Bay: No need to follow-up, now. I survived the visit. :-) Life goes on. Staying at this hotel, again, is definitely not in my future. Read less

The location was very convenient for us, several restaurants and lots of options nearby including places open late night which was important as we did not even get in until 10 pm! Plenty of food around can be had late. Hotel was beautiful, we really loved the “fire” display and I always love a Hilton with a bar/restaurant. Top floor view is lovely, would recommend it! Read less

I recognize that nice hotels in the Fenway, Back Bay area are going to be more expensive, however I was frustrated that in addition to my hotel rate and parking charges I was charged a mandatory $20 for 'extras'. The front desk described it as a 'use-it-or-lose it' fee (yes, their words) that I had to use on Starbucks coffee or alcohol. The money could not be used towards parking. Although only $20, in addition to the parking fee, the hotel charged me an extra $70 per night above my rate. That made the stay less than enjoyable. Read less