This was my first stay at the Marriott Copley Place/Back Bay; my previous trips to Boston were at the Financial District, Theatre District and Waterfront.
The bellstaff and doorman are great to work with! Charles and Tony were especially helpful during my stay, especially when I had several heavy boxes that needed shipping due to the conference I was working.
As one review mentioned, this is very much a conference hotel, so the hotel layout can get confusing. There are two sets of elevators, one for floors 1-27 and another for floors 1-5 then 27-38. The elevator chime is soft, so for someone hard of hearing like myself, I missed a few elevators at first. Once I got the hang of it, though, I was OK.
My room was on the 17th floor and faced the Prudential center. I had a king bed and the room was very nicely sized for a hotel in the downtown area. the bedding was the newer collection and the television had been upgraded to the flat-screen. There was a small fridge in the dresser, which was nice although your items had to be cold before you put them in there.
The bathroom was decently sized and for a 6-day trip, it was nice to be able to spread out. The water pressure was OK, especially if you enjoy the "rainshower" type of shower heads. If you're looking for a hard-driving shower, prepare to be disappointed.
The rest of the staff was very pleasant to work with and the bellman were very helpful in getting packages/items from the meeting rooms down to shipping/receiving or the UPS store. This is the first hotel I've stay at that has had a UPS store located inside (usually, it's FedEx or an independent company). While the staff was OK, it was very frustrating to learn that packages insured for over $999 were not accepted and that the packages would have to be taken down to shipping/receiving. The bellmen were very nice about it (obviously used to this little caveat), but I found it very frustrating.
Regarding the restaurants, yes they are a bit pricey and there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance. As a solo business traveler, I tend to default to the hotel restaurants because of safety concerns. Champions is decent and serves typical Marriott sports bar food; the Terrace Bar is a bit more upscale but has a smaller menu, and on Thursday and Friday nights, has live entertainment. Gourmeli's is decent as well.
BONUS: Shaw's 24-hour grocery store is located across the street, so you can bypass the expensive gift shop for sodas and munchies (as well as toiletries).
My biggest complaint is about the internet service and Marriott's continuing insistence on charging $13/night for service. This is frustrating for a business traveler who needs the connectivity.
Overall, however, the Marriott is a good hotel. Perfectly located in the Back Bay, with access to the Prudential Center shopping plus three blocks away from Newbury Street shopping.
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