I was curious to see if the Back Bay hotel was consistent in quality with Croke Park Hotel in Dublin, also from the Doyle Collection. I was pleased to find that it was. I think something that this chain is doing better than other hotel chains is their customer service.
We stayed at this hotel because my husband was running the Boston Marathon and because of our positive experience in Dublin. The Back Bay hotel has an excellent location for the marathon—and the hotel was quite a busy place. What I found that was consistent with the Croke Park Hotel was that the staff was so professional. The concierge at the Back Bay Hotel was amazing. I think most reasonable people would have started to become annoyed at the endless chain of questions our group of five had for him. But, he was such a gentleman, and had such a great demeanor. He even double-checked with my husband to be sure he was clear on the transportation process for the runners to get to the start of the marathon.
Another feature that was really nice with this hotel was that their adjoining rooms connect a little differently than what I have seen in the past. Instead of having a door between the rooms, they have made the ends of the hallway rooms adjoining. So, we had a private hallway with a locked door, and then we could chose to either lock our doors or leave them open. I felt this offered another level of security (all three locked doors at night), and it also made it so there was absolutely no hallway noise. This hotel was actually one of the quietest hotels I have stayed in!
This hotel certainly has the staff to make it world-class. For example, even though the restaurant and bar were overwhelmed with marathoners after the race—I could tell the staff was trying so hard to please everyone. I caught a couple of workers on the verge of a run trying to serve people. (And the food was good!) My only suggestion to this hotel would be to pay slightly more attention to detail to take it to the next level. The carpet in our room was showing a little wear—and they could have added little touches like fresh flowers in the rooms, or chocolates on the pillows, or linen squares on the floor by the beds. But, from my suggestions you can tell that there is not much room for improvement, and I don’t think you will be disappointed. I know I will look for a Doyle Collection hotel the next time I travel.
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