Bulfinch Hotel, Boston, MA - Reviews and Hotel Information

My family and I stayed in three separate rooms for three nights in April 2007 (for the Boston Marathon) at the Bulfinch Hotel. It was difficult finding accomodations in the city for a reasonable price during the marathon, but we were happy to find the Bulfinch which looked great from their website. The property is a boutique hotel, which is supposed to be high quality, but can lack in some areas such as space and staff members. Our first issue with the Bulfinch came when we checked in and went to our room. My husband and I were in a room with our two year old son. Before our trip, we contacted the hotel by email to request a complementary crib for the room. The manager assured us by email that the crib was added to our reservation. However, when we entered our room, no crib was set up. I called down to the front desk and was told that a crib would be sent up in 10-15 minutes. After waiting for over 15 minutes, we all went downstairs to their new restaurant for some food. When we went back to our room over an hour later, there still was no crib. Once again, I called down to the front desk. 20 minutes later, with a very over tired toddler and without a crib, I called down again. This time the receptionist told me that the elevator wasn't working, but it should be fixed soon and when it is working again, she'd send a crib upstairs. Because my son needed to go to sleep asap, my husband instead carried the crib up the stairs HIMSELF. Of course, after setting up the crib in the room, we discovered that it was without sheets. After yet another call, someone eventually brought up some sheets. My husband then told the desk to tell the manager that he wanted to speak with them about the situation. The next day, the same front desk girl told us that she never talked to her manager, but that she would later. Eventually someone called us from guest services and after explaining what happened, they agreed to lower our rate for the next two nights from $175 to $150.

We heard many other guests complaining about various other issues throughout our stay. One unfortunate woman was even stuck in the elevator for a period of time after it had supposedly been fixed. I understand that smaller hotels do not always have staff available for every little problem, but they should have made arrangements to have extra staff available since a special event was being held. Two of the rooms my family was in did not get cleaned until they had to call the front desk and complain. Plenty of minor issues built up for us over the course of our stay and we do not plan to stay there again.

The new restaurant, The Flat Iron, had just opened before our trip. It was very nice and had great food, but the prices were very steep. A breakfast buffet is available every morning at $16.00 a person, but the food was certainly worth the price. This hotel does not cater to the average tourist, so if you're expecting a Best Western experience, look elsewhere.

The location of the hotel was its best feature. It is within walking distance from North Station on the "T" line and the area is full of restaurants which range from brew pub to fine eating.

Bulfinch Hotel, Boston

Bulfinch Hotel

Boston Hotels