My stay at the Aloft Hotel, Seaport District, Boston.
I had the pleasure of staying at the hip, industrial style Aloft Hotel, Seaport district, Boston. It is situated just behind the BCEC, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and across from The Lawn on D. The Lawn is “Boston’s most innovative and vibrant seasonal outdoor venue’ as quoted from the site on Google Maps. It is open all day in the warmer months and has a bar, swings, games, food and often live music available.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bosal-aloft-boston-seaport-district/overview/
Valet and Check-in:
The Aloft has varied rates depending on the events in the area, anything from around $160 per night up to about $360 a night for a standard room.
I valeted my car. For a city that has a smaller footprint $50 per night is on the middle to high side.
My valet experience was strange. I was issued with a number on check-in and the card was put on my dashboard. I used it that evening to drive to dinner and then had the car parked again when I returned. Then the next morning they struggled for a while and said they could not find my number in the system and so issued me with another number. The original number was still in my car but they replaced it with the new one. Strange but luckily the car was always available.
This sign was on the wall with barcodes that give you many details about the hotel and surroundings.
Check-in was pleasant. In just a few minutes I had my room key, had bought a few items at the little market and was on my way up.
Upstairs to my room:
The Aloft has a few modern touches. One of them is designated elevators. You press the floor you would like to go to, and the system assigns you an elevator. Once inside there are no buttons to press, the elevator drops you on your floor.
I remember from staying at the Aloft in Dallas that this hotel has ice machines on alternate floors. This Aloft has them on odd numbered floors so I did not have far to walk.
On entering the room the open plan bathroom is on the left with the basin, toilet and shower in line and then opposite them are the shelves with the coffee machine and ice bucket.
There is an open cupboard for hanging clothes. Also the iron and ironing board.
As you can see it is actually rather small. Just a cursory cupboard with a few hangars, a shelf for the coffee machine, the refrigerator and that is about it.
The bathroom:
One rack of towels and the shower. The toiletries are actually rather good. The shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc are all by drybar, and you can even buy them from ShopAloft.com.
Most hotels are now providing ‘designer’ toiletries whether in a squeeze bottle or individual items. There are some absolutely marvelous aromas that are provided by these hotels, all curated by specialist names.
The bedroom:
The bedroom side of the room is also pleasant. There is no real separation, the bathroom is just behind the wall that the bed backs up against.
Nicely made up beds with 4 pillows each, and a desk with swivel chair with a view out of the window.
There are quite a few plug points available, full size as well as usb.
A clock radio that you can program for wake up sounds. Nice big, bright letters and numbers.
I had a pleasant stay in the room, even though it feels slightly small. The bed was comfortable, there was a refrigerator, the toiletries were very pleasant and I had a great view.
Other hotel facilities:
The hotel brand prides itself on being a bit quirky and there were many signs of it around.
This letters board is in the lobby, you can create words while waiting to check-in.
This sign is on the wall giving you an explanation of some of the names used for meeting rooms. The Summer, Smoot, Mahoney and Mann rooms are all named after famous Boston-born personalities.
The bar / games area:
There is a bar / lounge area just off the lobby. Consists of a long bar counter, a pool table, a fireplace and many different places to sit.
Upstairs there are meeting rooms and smaller lobby areas. I even found a hot dog / popcorn type cart just waiting to be used on an event.
Recreational facilities:
This is the sign to the restrooms, pool area, gym and laundry.
There is a nice sized gym with many exercise machines, including treadmills and pedal machines.
The pool is actually nicer than it looks in my photo.
There is an ATM, useful even with the high bank fees.
There was some rain that gave us these very nice sunset pictures.
And of course no visit to Boston is complete without a visit to Fenway Park.
Opinion on my stay:
So that was my stay at the Aloft Hotel, Seaport district, Boston. A rather pleasant time, it has nice facilities downstairs which compensate for the slightly smaller room size upstairs.
If I had to spend upwards of $350 on a room like that I think I would not be so satisfied but our rate was fine so on the whole it was a good stay.
The Aloft fulfills the need for a more modern hotel.
