Location: 420 Totten Pond Road, Waltham, MA 02154
Dates: 07/05/07-07/08/07
Price: $49/night (http://www.hotwire.com)
Rating: 
I booked this hotel as a cheap last-minute option for a post July 4th trip to the Boston area. It is a very decent hotel and especially if you need to be in the Waltham area on business, it will work out fine.
We arrived around 3pm in the afternoon and after a small wait (~15 minutes), were given a room with two double beds. It was a decent sized room, although not huge by any stretch. It was certainly adequate for the two of us, however. I thought the beds were a little on the soft side (you kindof “sink” down into them). There is a thermostat on the wall, which was nice for keeping the room nice and cool. It had a relatively new TV with an adequate selection of channels. I will point out that they seemed to be having AC troubles in the hallways but our room was fine.
We did try the buffet one morning and my recommendation is that if you don’t have to, skip it. It is nothing special. Yes, they have omelettes and (supposedly) french toast. The self-serve waffle makers were better than usual fare at continental breakfast. This is not included in the room and probably not worth the $10.95 that they charge for it. We only did it to save some time in the morning. Personally, I wish we had just waited until we got to Boston where there were tons of good choices for food. I also want to add that there is pretty much NOTHING in the vicinity of the hotel. There was a relatively nice looking restaurant across the street, and a bunch of hotels in the area. And there is a Costco not far away. But you have to drive a bit to find any kind of selection of services. Not recommended if you don’t have a car!
Getting to Boston itself was so-so. We drove to the “T” station at Alewife, which was about 15 minutes away. This gave us full access to the subway system and got us to downtown Boston in less than an hour (from our hotel). We purchased one-day passes for $9/each. I think we could have saved some money by paying as we went (individual rides were $1.75). Personally, if I were to go back, I’d try to stay slightly closer to the city. Getting around Boston by car is rather inconvenient and time consuming. But for the price I paid, I was happy with my choice.
Overall, this is a fine mid-range choice for the Waltham area, especially if one has to be there on business. It is certainly clean and comfortable and sometimes that is all you can really ask for in a hotel.
Tags: boston · hiltongardeninn · hotel · hotwire · waltham1 Comment
Not bad for the price you paid. Sounds like a place more convenient to Boston would be better if going to Boston is the goal.