Best Western Roundhouse Suites Hotel

This hotel building was the last brick gasholder built by the Roxbury Gas Light company, and saw several other uses until it was refurbished and opened as a hotel in 2001. It now has all-suite guest accommodations, and several nice amenities including complimentary continental breakfast, a shuttle service, business center (though wifi is available for free throughout the building), a fitness center open from 6 AM to 10 PM, and first-run movies/Nintendo/cable TV in the rooms. Convenient to area schools and hospitals, as well as public transportation to reach the sightseeing, dining and shopping throughout Boston.

I spent 5months here for medical reasons and if it weren't for the lack of availability of alternate accommodations, i would've left after the first week. They did have some nice things, but overall, the hotel lacks a lot of structure and is definitely not suited for long term stay.

We had reserved a junior suite that was touted by the online ad as being suitable to sleep 5 ppl comfortably. There were 2 adults in the suite for 3months, 3 adults and 1 toddler for 1month, and 3 adults/1 toddler/1 newborn for the last month and, needless to say, we found conditions very over-crowded. The upside of the room was that the bedroom (queen bed and t.v) and bathroom was seperated by a door, from the living area (includes loveseat that sleeps one, sink, fridge, coffepot, microwave and another t.v.), giving us privacy to some degree.

The business center was a small danky room off from the elevators that consisted of 2 outdated, slow computers and 2 printers (that never seemed to work and lacked the latest downloads/programs). Wireless internet is available for free, but in some rooms the reception is poor/limited (we were moved to at least 5 different rooms for various reasons during our stay), and makes connecting to the internet a pain.

The fitness center is a room no bigger than 20x25ft (and thats being generous), that houses only a couple pieces of equipment (2 treadmills, exercise bike, weight machine...) and a huge mirror along one wall to give the appearance of room much bigger. There is a water jug there as well (free water...yippee!)

Our room keys would stop working suddenly for no reason, causing all kinds of inconveniences. Various pieces of equipment did not work at all or properly ie. for the entire 5 months, we were not able to pick up a second call if we were already on the phone, despite there being 3 phones in the rooms (one in the loo, how nice...) Washcloths also became a scarce commodity in the hotel, with housekeeping doing what they can to supply the guests with what few they had to work with (4 guests in a room, here take 2 clean washcloths...8S). Rooms were drafty in the winter, with us placing additional blankets and towels around the window sill to seal out the draft. Some windows didn't stay up in the hotter months. Central Air/Heat was pathetic, with a foul smell coming out of the vents with the heat on. Vents also needed to be badly cleaned.

On two occasions, we came across potentially harmful items in our rooms. Once we found a used crack pipe and the next time it was a pill on the floor under the bed (remember we got 2 kids here now and were on medical leave). The manager then said all she could do was apologize - until we made a stink. The offer from the President of the Best Western Roundhouse Suites?........a measly 2 nights off of our stay (at this point, weve been here for 4months and have spent over $14,000 there). How do we get repaid for spending this exhorbitant amount of money to a second/third rate hotel?..., by the same manager - who has been there less than a week - beginning a nasty tirade on the phone to me about a $400 bill that is current (the last 3 days stay at the time). Was she doing this with other guests, after all, our record spoke for itself by this time. The phone call culminated in her hanging up in MY ear - the audacity!!

The positive side was that ALL of the staff were friendly, with the exception of mean manager, who eventually came around herself in the final week of my stay. We had a total of 3 managers during our stay and staff turnover was frequent. The staff, however, did go over and beyond to make our long stay comfortable.

Xmas Day we were allowed to place presents under the tree in the lobby and give our son a semblance of the holidays (thank u, front desk!!) Maintenance was always on time if called. Shuttle drivers were pleasant and courteous. They also went over and beyond their call of duty, especially in the off season, to make sure we got where we had to go rain, blow or shine. Front desk allowed me to send overseas faxes at no additional cost. They were always pleasant. Local calls were free under 30 minutes while there.

Continental breakfast is huge with all the regulars and the option of making your own waffles.

*BEWARE* the Airport Shuttle is different from the hotel shuttle. DO NOT give cash to the driver himself, he comes in to collect a voucher from front desk and the charge is added to your bill. He will take your cash if you dont know and offer it to him, he did it to me!!

Soo much more i want to say, but this sums it up in a nutshell....Reserve your room with caution...!!!

I booked a king suite for 3 days starting on Sunday and checking out on Wednesday. The person who booked my reservations sounded like he was asleep, perhaps that should have been an indicator.

Here is where all of our troubles started. I checked in on Sunday prior to my friend and was informed that they did not have us checking in until Monday. I had also called ahead to have my friend picked up at the airport. They gave me an ETA of 20-30 minutes. I received a call 40 minutes later that no one showed up. I called the hotel again and was informed that the shuttle could not find anyone at Jet Blue.

My friend end up taking a cab from the airport. When he spoke to the front desk clerk, he was told that there was nothing he could do. He was told that he was supposed to call them directly, which was a total lie.

In the morning we spoke with the manager who was very apologetic and refunded the cab fare. Wait, it gets worse.

Besides being told that we were not expected until Monday, they also had us checking out on Tuesday. But the worst part, when we checked out, we were charged a much higher rate then we were quoted. I could not dispute it at that moment because I had signed the sheet without looking at it. I should have, but I had been driving for hours.

Don't get me wrong, we had stayed here in June and we had no problems at all. The only positive to this horrible service was the maintenance person. I wish I could remember his name.

So if you are going to stay at Round House or any other hotel, make sure you write your confirmation number and the rate. AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU CHECK IN TO SAVE YOURSELF A BIG HEADACHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I traveled with a group of 33 senior citizens and stayed 4 nights. We expected 2 Queen Beds and a sofa bed as advertised on several web sites, but the beds were doubles. Not a problem, but something to be aware of. The beds were very comfortable and the continental breakfast was better than we expected.

This is probably the only hotel I've stayed in that did not offer free local phone calls - a $20.00 deposit is required to make local calls. Don't know how much they charge for a call, but advise you have and use a cell phone. Very inconvenient. Some of the phones in some rooms didn't work at all; you couldn't even call the front desk.

If their shuttle is out of service, as it was during our stay, the charge for transportation to/from the airport is $5.00/person, with only 2 vouchers per room. Additional guests in a room pay $12.50. We had reserved the shuttle, after it was repaired, to take all of us to a scheduled dinner, but some guests that were not with our party got on the shuttle. We explained that we'd reserved it, but they complained to one of the desk clerks and she told us, in a rather rude fashion, that the shuttles were 1st come, 1st served and that we could not reserve it. However, all of us were waiting in the lobby prior to the time of scheduled departure, but she put the party that was waiting outside on ahead of us. So, some of us were late for our dinner party.

The traffic in Boston is terrible, so, if you take a taxi, hang on to your seats!

The taxi fares are very reasonable. Allow extra time and be somewhat familiar with the city, because many of the taxi drivers have no idea where anything is and the fares tend to run up. Example: several of our party split up and took two cabs to the same location at the same time. One of the trips was less than $6, but the other was over $8.

The check-in/out was easy and pleasant.