Our confirmed reservation through Best Western was for a "water view," "two double beds," and "non-smoking." When we arrived, around 8 pm, we were told the only room available was a "double/double," "overlooking the parking lot," and "smoking." When we questioned the lack of meeting the reservation criteria we were told that "the only thing that comes in from Best Western is how many beds we needed." Nothing in their records (according to the desk clerk) about smoking or view requests. We questioned "was our room given away" and were told "oh no, we never give a room away." Frankly, we don't believe that. We believe, though can't prove it, that someone else came in before us and took a look at the room offered us and rejected it. The clerk was very rude and left us with the impression we could take it or leave it.
We talked among ourselves and considered calling the Marriott (for which we had reservations the next night) to see if we could get a room there tonight. The clerk jumped in and said "they've been calling us all night to put up people for them." Since it was 8 pm and we'd been traveling all day and were tired, we decided to stay. We asked if anything could be done about the smoke smell in the room. The clerk said the driver, who is out right now, could put an ionizer in the room to remove most of the smell. We accepted that and asked how long that would be. Again, rudely, we were told "he's out; we're on his list and he'll get to it when he can." We retired to our smoky room.
About 10 pm he finally showed up with the ionizer and told us we'd have to leave the room for an hour. By then we were in our night clothes. I don't know where he expected us to go for an hour at 10 pm, in our pajamas, but we told him to forget the ionizer now. He did spray some kind of deodorant on the carpet and drapes and that helped get us through the night.
I was awakened the next morning to the sound of squeaking and scratching. At first I thought a bird was outside the window chirping and pecking at the window. When I got up to investigate at the window I heard the sound behind and above me. I suddenly realized what I heard were rats squeaking and running back and forth in the ceiling tiles above my head.
When brought to the attention of the desk clerk that morning he looked surprised, but no mention of even an apology, let alone any offer of some kind of recompense for what they put us through.
We'll never stay at that hotel again, and will make sure we tell everyone we meet who's planning a trip to Boston not to stay at the Adams Inn. We've also written them up in web sites like Travelocity.com so everyone will know about our experience.