Boston Medford's BEST Hotel? TownePlace Suites Review!
TownePlace Suites Boston Medford: My Honest (and Slightly Messy) Take
Alright, buckle up buttercups, because this isn't your polished, sanitized hotel review. This is real life, experienced at the TownePlace Suites in Medford, Massachusetts. We're talking Boston, baby! And let me tell you, my expectations for a "best" hotel in this neck of the woods are pretty high. Let's dive in, shall we?
Accessibility: (Mostly) Thumbs Up, BUT…
Okay, I am not a wheelchair user, but I did keep an eye out for the accessibility features, since that's important to, well, everyone. The website says "wheelchair accessible," and from what I saw, it mostly delivers. The lobby seemed good, and the elevators were spacious. Now, I didn't personally try pushing a wheelchair through every nook and cranny, so take my word with a grain of (deliciously salted) Boston pretzel, but it looked promising. One thing that always gets me is how accessible the parking is. And this is where it's slightly a letdown. Even if a spot is accessible, those spaces are usually taken (or blocked) by someone else. I think a hotel need to enforce the policy.
Internet: Bless the Wi-Fi Gods!
Free Wi-Fi in all rooms? Hallelujah! In this day and age, that's a must-have. My phone is basically an extension of my arm, and being disconnected from the internet is like going back to the dark ages. It was surprisingly fast, too. Uploading those Insta stories of the Boston skyline was instantaneous. I'm just saying. Instant!
Dining, Drinking, and Snacking: A Mixed Bag of Pretzels and Poutine
Let's talk about the food, because, honestly, what's a trip without some serious gluttony?
- Breakfast: The "breakfast buffet" was… okay. It was free, and you get what you pay for, right? It had the usual suspects: bagels, pastries, and the suspiciously generic scrambled eggs. It wasn't a foodie festival, but it did the trick for a grab-and-go start to the day. The buffet did a great job of providing and keeping the line moving and not making you wait.
- On-site Restaurant/Lounge: I didn't see a proper restaurant on-site. The lobby area had a small shop for grabbing snacks, which I did, more than once. (The coffee was passable, which is a win in my book.) Room service? Sadly, no. But hey, there are plentiful food delivery options in the area.
- Coffee/Tea: They had complimentary coffee and tea available, which is a nice touch. Bonus points.
- Snack Bar: As mentioned, they have a small snack bar in the lobby which is great for those late-night cravings.
Things to Do, Ways to Relax (Or Not): Spa Dreams Dashed!
Okay, this is where TownePlace Suites, for me, takes a hit. While they advertised amenities like a fitness center, well that's about it.
- Fitness Center: It was small but functional. I did manage to squeeze in a quick workout, which was good for counteracting the bagel consumption.
- Pool with View: Sadly, no pool (or view, for that matter).
Cleanliness and Safety: Feeling Safe, But…
I was obsessed with sanitizing my hands and surfaces (like, practically OCD-levels). They seemed to be taking things seriously. They had hand sanitizer stations everywhere. The staff looked as if they were trained in safety protocols, and the hotel was pretty clean. Room sanitization opt-out? I didn't ask for that - didn't even know it was a thing!
Rooms: Cozy…ish…
My room was fine. Clean. It had all the essentials, which included a comfy bed and air conditioning that actually worked. I had a large window, so I was surprised to find no view. I'm not sure what to expect from a hotel in the Boston area.
Services and Conveniences: The Good, the Bad, and the… Laundry?
- 24-hour front desk: Super convenient, especially after a late night.
- Laundry: Thank God for the laundry service.
For the Kids (and the Kid in All of Us):
I didn't see any features for kids. But hey, Boston is a great city for families!
Getting Around: Location, Location, Location
- Free Car Park: Free parking is a major win, especially in the Boston area.
- Taxi service: Good, but I preferred using ride-sharing apps.
- Airport Transfer: Didn't use it.
My Overall Verdict: Pretty Good, Needs More Pizzazz
TownePlace Suites Boston Medford is a solid choice. It's clean, convenient, and a good value for the price. The staff were friendly and helpful. It's not a luxury experience, but a comfortable, no-frills stay. It could use a little more oomph in the amenities department. Overall, it was a decent stay, and I might consider staying again if visiting the area.
Buenos Aires' BEST Luxury Hotel? (Scala Hotel Review)
Okay, buckle up buttercups, because this isn't your grandma's travel itinerary. We're going full "I-regret-nothing" mode on this TownePlace Suites adventure in Medford, MA. Prepare for a mess, a masterpiece of imperfection, and a whole lotta me.
The Medford Mayhem: A TownePlace Suites Survival Guide (and Possibly, a Glorious Debacle)
Day 1: Arrival and the Great Breakfast Buffet Inquisition
1:00 PM: Landed at the airport, immediately feel the familiar sting of "Did I pack enough socks?" (Spoiler: Never. There's never enough socks.) Uber ride to the TownePlace Suites. The driver, bless his heart, spent the entire ride complaining about the Red Sox. Already feels like a Boston experience. Love it.
2:00 PM: Check-in. The lobby smells faintly of chlorine and ambition. My room feels like a perfectly bland rectangle, which is exactly what I needed after a flight. Settling in… discovering the mysteries of the "pull-out couch" (will it actually pull out? The suspense is KILLING ME.)
3:00 PM: The Real Question: where's the food? Found the pathetic little "market," grabbed a sad-looking bag of chips and a diet soda. Not a great start, but I'm starving and desperate. Then again, those chips WERE flaming hot…
6:00 PM: Dinner. Found some local pizza place. The pizza itself wasn't amazing (but the guy at checkout had the BEST Boston accent, so worth it.)
9:00 PM: Unpacked (mostly. One suitcase remains a mystery with its contents) TV. Realized the pull-out couch does, indeed, pull out. Progress! Settling in.
Day 2: The Quest for Authenticity (and Decent Coffee)
7:00 AM: The Breakfast Buffet. This is where the magic should happen. Reality: a sad collection of lukewarm scrambled eggs, suspiciously pale bacon, and a waffle maker that looks like it hasn't been cleaned since the Reagan administration. My inner food critic is screaming for a bagel and great coffee. Decided to tough it out - a life lesson, truly.
8:00 AM: The Medford Square Exploration. Armed with Google Maps and a general sense of "I'm going somewhere," I set out determined to find some REAL Boston. (Translation: a coffee shop that understands the meaning of "espresso" and good pastries.)
9:00 AM: Coffee Shop Discovery: Found a charming little place that makes killer lattes. Victory! The pastries… well, they were passable. Still, the people watching was excellent.
- Rambling Alert: I spent an embarrassing amount of time eavesdropping on a heated debate about the best type of clam chowder. Honestly, I feel like I learned more about Bostonian culture in that five minutes than I did in all the museums combined.
11:00 AM: Toured some local Boston spots. Really loved it, and I was a tourist for the day!
2:00 PM: Lunch at a restaurant with great reviews. The food was amazing, the waiter was cranky, and I forgot to take a picture. Sigh.
4:00 PM: Back to the hotel to rest. Stared at the ceiling for a while. Wondering what to do with the rest of the day.
7:00 PM: Dinner and drinks at a local bar. The atmosphere was electric, the beer was cold, and everything will be great.
9:00 PM: I went to bed.
Day 3: The Deep Dive (or, My Very Own Thoreau Moment - Sort Of)
9:00 AM: Breakfast: I learned from Day 2, and this time, I brought my own granola bars to breakfast!
10:00 AM: This is where the itinerary gets… interesting. Instead of sightseeing, I decided to hole up in the hotel room and do nothing. I felt this overwhelming need to write. To think. To simply… exist. I know, I know. Sounds cheesy. But after all the hustling and bustling, I think it's important to just be.
1:00 PM: Lunch: Ordered takeout. Another burger and more fries. Don't judge.
2:00 PM: Back on the bed. I am reading until a certain point.
5:00 PM: Packed. Realizing I didn't buy any souvenirs beyond the aforementioned chips, so now I have to frantically search for a "Boston" t-shirt.
7:00 PM: Dinner: Last meal in Medford. Ate at a casual restaurant.
9:00 PM: Final reflection. I'm leaving tomorrow!
Day 4: The "Goodbye, Medford" Debrief (and the Sock Situation Update)
- 6:00 AM: Wake up feeling surprisingly refreshed. The hotel room, with its perfectly bland walls, oddly felt like home. It was a good few days.
- 7:00 AM: Breakfast. Attempted the waffle maker again. Managed to create something resembling a pancake. Small victories!
- 8:00 AM: Check out.
- 9:00 AM: Uber to the airport. The driver regaled me with a story about a particularly stubborn Red Sox fan. It was a fitting end.
- 11:00 AM: Flight home. Did I find enlightenment? Nope. Did I maybe, kinda sorta figure out how to navigate a waffle iron? Perhaps. Is my sock situation still dire? Absolutely. Final Assessment:
Medford (and the TownePlace Suites) were okay. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't glamorous. But it was real. I learned a lot about myself. And yes, I would go back.
(P.S. I finally found a Boston t-shirt. It says, "I Heart Boston" with the heart shaped like a clam. Don't judge.)
Unbelievable Luxury Awaits: Citadines Yunlong Lake Xuzhou!
So, is this TownePlace Suites in Medford, Boston, really "the BEST"? Please, spill the tea.
"Best?" Oh honey, that's a loaded question. Look, it's a TownePlace Suites. It's not the Ritz. It's not even... well, it's not the *worst*, okay? Depends on what your priorities are. If your priority is a clean-ish room, free breakfast that vaguely resembles food, and not having to sell a kidney for the privilege of staying, then yeah, it's a solid contender. "Best" implies a level of perfection, and let's be honest, my life has seen less perfection than this hotel. But… *sigh*… let's break it down.
Let's talk Location, Location, Location. Is this place actually *in* Medford, or am I going on a wild goose chase? And is it convenient?
Okay, so here's the deal: It's *technically* in Medford. But it's tucked away, like a shy puppy. You're gonna see an industrial park and a sketchy McDonald's before you see this hotel. It's not like, right in the heart of the action... unless your definition of "action" involves a really enthusiastic FedEx delivery driver.
Convenience? Well, *kind of*. Close to the highway. Which is good if you're escaping Boston’s traffic… or adding to it, depending on the time of day. Close-ish to Assembly Row, which is… fine. More chain restaurants and outlet stores than I can shake a stick at. But if you're itching to be *in* Boston proper, you're looking at a drive. Traffic is the enemy, my friends. The *constant* enemy.
Here's a pro tip: The first time I went, I *missed* the turn. Twice. My GPS was probably laughing at me. So, watch out for that. Seriously.
The Rooms! Are they...livable? I’ve seen some hotel rooms that look like they were last cleaned during the Clinton administration.
Okay, so the rooms are… decent. Clean-ish. I mean, I didn't find any biohazards lying around, which is always a plus. They're spacious, which is nice. I've stayed in rooms that felt like storage closets. These actually have a kitchen area, complete with a mini-fridge. And a microwave. That's the key to hotel survival, folks. Leftover pizza = happiness.
But, and there's always a but, the decor is… beige. Very, very beige. It's almost aggressively inoffensive. The kind of beige that screams "we don't want to offend anyone" and maybe "we hired an interior designer who peaked in 1998." I swear, the only color in the room was a slightly faded abstract painting that looked like someone spilled coffee on a canvas. It wasn't *terrible*, just… forgettable. Bring your own color, people! A bright scarf, a funky pillow… anything to save your sanity.
Oh! One time, I swear, the shower curtain was…sticky. Like, oddly sticky. I'd rather *not* dwell on what made it sticky, but let's just say I’m now a shower-curtain-inspecting connoisseur. Always check your shower curtains, people ALWAYS.
The Breakfast… oh, the breakfast. Does it even *remotely* resemble food? I'm a breakfast person, ok?
Breakfast. Ah, the make-or-break moment for a hotel stay. Look, it’s… free. That’s always a plus. And they *try*. They really, *really* try. There's usually a waffle maker (score!), some sad-looking scrambled eggs (sometimes edible, sometimes… not so much), and the usual suspects: cereal, fruit (possibly slightly bruised), and those little individually wrapped pastries that are basically pure sugar.
The coffee? Hit or miss. Sometimes it's borderline acceptable. Sometimes it tastes like the brown water that ran off the roof. My advice? Bring your own instant coffee and a travel mug. Trust me on this one.
One morning, I saw a guy assemble *five* waffles. Five! He was clearly a breakfast pro. I admired his commitment. I took one. It was… adequate. The whole experience is an experience, like a communal, sleep-deprived breakfast club. You make friends, you judge the pastries, and you strategize how to get the best waffle-to-syrup ratio. It's a bonding moment really!
The Staff. Are they friendly? Do they, like, *care*? Or are they just robots programmed to hand out key cards?
The staff? They're… fine. Honestly, I've met hotel staff that are genuinely delightful, and I've met staff that looked like they'd rather be anywhere else on Earth. The TownePlace Suites crew in Medford is… somewhere in between. They're generally polite. They answer your questions. They probably don't remember you a day later, and frankly, I don’t blame them. It's a thankless job!
I had one particularly memorable interaction. I was locked out of my room at 3 AM. My fault, entirely. Didn't have the key. The poor guy at the front desk was clearly not thrilled. But did he sigh and roll his eyes dramatically? No, he didn’t. He was efficient, helpful and got me back into my room. I appreciated that. I mean, it would have been *awful* to actually sleep in the lobby. So, yeah, A+ for handling a sleep-deprived, incredibly-embarrassed guest at 3 AM. That really shows character!
The Pool. Does it exist? Is it a cesspool? Does it have a slide? (Please say it has a slide…)
A pool! Okay, here's the honest truth. I am a pool person. Give me a pool, and I'm a happy camper. This TownePlace Suites… it has a pool. It's... indoors. And it's… well, I've never seen anyone *actually* using it. Maybe it's a secret portal to another dimension, used only by interdimensional beings on Tuesdays at 3 AM. Or maybe (and this is more likely) it's just… a pool.
I peeked once and I saw it was a reasonable size, looked clean enough, and the water had that slightly disconcerting chlorine smell. There was no slide. Big disappointment. No fountains. But it was there. So, if you *really* need a swim (and haven't brought your interdimensional travel pass), it's an option. But temper your expectations. It'sBest Hotels Blog
Post a Comment for "Boston Medford's BEST Hotel? TownePlace Suites Review!"