I was pleasantly surprised.
Truth be told, I tend to look at the major brands first when hotel shopping. I was drawn to the Harborside Inn because the name brand hotels were pricing their most basic rooms at over USD350 per night, while Harborside was offering rooms at the USD250-300 range. That Harborside places relatively high in Tripadvisor helped seal the deal. (Why Boston's hotel rates were as high as they were during the time of my short visit, I do not know.)
Stayed at a Queen room on the 8th floor facing State Street for 3 nights.
At around 230 square feet, I expected the room to be and feel small. I was wrong, it actually felt quite spacious. I liked the room's nautical motif as well with the exposed brick and lighting fixtures adding to the room's overall character. The in-room basics were more or less present (mini fridge, LCD TV, WiFi, desk, personal safe). The room even had a DVD player. Overall, the room looked and felt new and well maintained. The bed was queen sized, fine if you're traveling alone, as I was. The mattress and pillows were just right.
The property being an inn rather than a hotel, the room had no pens or writing paper, mini-bar, laundry service, or slippers. The guest services directory was a cheap looking binder with the information printed on basic bond paper. But those don't really matter. The only thing I seriously missed was the complimentary bottled water, a standard amenity in many 5-star hotels. (It helped that the convenience store next door was offering a Buy 1 Get 1 free promotion on 750 ml sized Poland Spring bottled water.) Also, the WiFi signal in my room was pretty weak and the speed was slow. I got a better signal and speed at the lobby.
The bathroom was pretty nice. While it was not large by any means, it was nicely designed, compact and functional. No tub. Just a shower. I should mention that the shower area was large for such a compact bathroom. The same was true of the counter space. (They certainly made efficient use of the available space.) I liked the hand held shower and the strong water pressure. The towels were nice, large and soft.
The toiletries (shampoo, bar soap, conditioner, shower gel), however, were your no-brand type made in faraway China (relative to Boston). (Good thing I brought my own.) Plastic cups but made of sturdy rather than thin plastic.
The room key was a real key not the electronic credit card sized plastic keys you get in most hotels nowadays. Not a criticism. I just thought, as other reviewers have done, that I'd mention it.
Room lighting was weak to adequate.
I had read other reviews complaining about street noise seeping in for those rooms that face State Street. I can indeed confirm that street noise does seep in. Thankfully, I was in Boston mid-week, so State was relatively quiet at night for the whole duration of my stay.
Staff were professional. I checked in early (around 11 am) and was immediately given a room. No waiting. I asked for a late check-out. While I was told that they were booked full for the night, I was nevertheless allowed an extra 30 minutes from the 12 pm check-out time.
As for location, as it's name implies, Harborside is close to the harbor. Quincy Market and Faenuil Hall are a short walk, away as are some of the other major tourist sites. It helps that Boston's downtown is actually quite compact.
Overall, Harborside was definitely better than I expected.
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