kay this is th last year i will room at the sheraton!

[Suna Sato]

they make us check out way to early they charge a freaking arm an a leg they even had the gull to charge us a cleaning fee of 250 dollars cause we had some makeup on towels!!! Seriously?! I feel very unwanted at the sheraton the cleaning lady came in when we where changing didnt knock and we had a please do not disturb sign!!! The room was only a king when i reserved a double! the wait for the elevator is obsessively long on sunday because the kick us out so damn early!!!! Either lower your rates or improve your service.... im very displeased....

Any horror sherton stories?

[ZenErik]

I only spent about 6 hours in my hotel room the whole weekend. The early check out was annoying, but I didn't bring too much. So, I was able to just leave all my bags at my friend's art table.

[woooot]

I stayed at the Colonade, no complaints. Check out time was noon. I think it was cheaper per night too. Its smaller than Sheraton though.

[Meowzie-chan]

Okay, I hate to break this too you... but MOST hotels have a checkout time at around 10, 11:00. All hotels are expensive, especially the larger chains. The cleaning fee, IS a bit excessive, but makeup should generally be cleaned with something disposable, like a tissue. They may have miscounted the rooms, it happens. A lot more than one would like, but it happens.

The cleaning lady, though, that's just rude. I've been staying in hotels for years, and I've always had the staff knock before they enter, and they're supposed to skip over the room if the sign is on the knob. (of course, it may have been the wrong sign. Some hotels have a 'please service my room' sign, which may have been on your door.)

At least the chain on the garage sign didn't break while your school van was under it, smashing one of the windows. That happened to my group at the Hilton. They said they were going to clean up the glass in the van. Did they? Not until we were ready to pack said van on Sunday.

yeah. Are you new to staying in hotels?

[Suna Sato]

no not at all but i was expecting a check out at 11 or 12 not at freaking 10.... i had the do not disurb sign up and the cleaning fee was soley on towels so 5 towels with a bit on makeup on them was worth 250.... i just ....gah... im very rawr at the treatment i recieved

[DrakaDark]

Most Hotel's have early check out. For stains left on any white surfaces, bring some sort of bleach spare. It will come off. One year my roomie dyed her hair in the hotel bathroom and it bleed every where. We walked down the street to one of the 24 hour Walgreens/CVS, and bought some. By Sunday morning everything was fine.

Also they usually won't charge you if ur running a little late for check out. One year I didn't check out till 11am or so and it was no big deal. Also they want early check out so that they can clean, fix and tidy up the room.

Also my suggestion to avoid rushing in the morning. Keep everything tidy during ur stay their. Don't throw ur cloth around everywhere and try to collect trash every night. Also just pack up almost everything the night before check out. Also try to leave ur room before 10am for bag check. Usually 15 minutes of 10 is when the line starts to get long.

[Viajeras]

The only problem my group ran into this year is that we also were supposed to have a room with two beds and only got one. This exact same thing happened to us last year and it is kind of annoying to split a single bed between three people. It's not the worst thing that could have happened though and we lived with it.

The thing about the cleaning lady is messed up. How awkward...

[TarouSatomi]

Ran into the same exact problem with the "Reserved a Double, got a King." Honestly I think the Sheraton just ignores the room availability and will book out rooms they don't have, then have the audacity to act like it is commonplace and you should just accept it.

Kinda makes me wonder if anyone got the "Sorry, ALL rooms are taken" speech during the much larger PAX East.

As for the OP's cleaning fee, yes, $250 for a towel is absurd. They should be cleaning the towels with bleach anyways. That's just basic sanitation. And even if they flat replaced the towels, 5 towels don't cost anything like $250.

[SlAyErPaTh]

Here's what you should do next year: Book at the Marriott hotel near North Station, it's $100 less and free breakfast buffet. I bunked there for PAX East and the dislike about it was spending money to use the subway going back and forth to Hynes and then the dark walk back through the Charles Park but its like a 10 minute walk from North Station to the hotel so it ain't that bad. Plus there is police in the zone so nothing bad won't happen. And also the beds are much more comfortable with the addition of watching HBO for free .

[AliceTanzer]

[quote=TarouSatomi]

Kinda makes me wonder if anyone got the "Sorry, ALL rooms are taken" speech during the much larger PAX East.[/quote]

*whisper* PAX actually had less attendees than AB, by about 2000. They report their attendance as a turnstyle number, meaning that if you buy a 3 day pass you count as 3 people. One per day. Anime Boston uses a warm body count, meaning it just counts the number of passes.

[SlAyErPaTh]

Remember, they sold out 3 Day Passes and then later sold out of all the single day passes so PAX East really had more attendance.

[ProdigyFandork]

Huh. We booked a double and got a King as well. They called it an "upgrade."

To be honest, it's happened to me a few times before. I won't be going to another hotel simply because I enjoy not having to walk.

[everywhereXOXnowhere]

My only problem with the hotel was the obnoxiousness of the elevator in the South Tower. Really. Honestly. As we stood waiting for the elevator for 10+ minutes we could hear it hitting floors 8 and 10, but NEVER floor 9 >.<

[Roessen]

[quote=everywhereXOXnowhere]My only problem with the hotel was the obnoxiousness of the elevator in the South Tower. Really. Honestly. As we stood waiting for the elevator for 10+ minutes we could hear it hitting floors 8 and 10, but NEVER floor 9 >.<[/quote]

This. The elevators seem to hate people.

Oh, I also disliked the beds. My back still hurts.

[everywhereXOXnowhere]

[quote=Shiroyu][quote=everywhereXOXnowhere]My only problem with the hotel was the obnoxiousness of the elevator in the South Tower. Really. Honestly. As we stood waiting for the elevator for 10+ minutes we could hear it hitting floors 8 and 10, but NEVER floor 9 >.<[/quote]

This. The elevators seem to hate people.

Oh, I also disliked the beds. My back still hurts. [/quote]

They only ever seemed to go up... HOW DID THEY GET DOWN?!

[Willowoflight]

When waiting for an elevator during rush times, I always just pushed the up button instead of down ^_^

[KingPads]

[quote=everywhereXOXnowhere]My only problem with the hotel was the obnoxiousness of the elevator in the South Tower. Really. Honestly. As we stood waiting for the elevator for 10+ minutes we could hear it hitting floors 8 and 10, but NEVER floor 9 >.<[/quote]

I WISH it hit floor 10! It seemed to be only responding to the up call, so we kept hitting up, riding to the top and then riding down.

The staff at the Sheraton was terrible! The front desk lady was really nice, but our bellhop who didn't speak English kept demanding a bunch of money in cash up front just for calling him. Then he ran off an ditched our stuff in the middle of the lobby. Our bellhop in the morning, who was emotionally despondent and made us load and unload our own cart (which we still tipped), was 'free', and the one to leave needed $25 in cash and wouldn't tack it on to our hotel bill.

Oh we also ordered 2 beds and got one king.

Yea they definitely didn't like us there...

[everywhereXOXnowhere]

I keep thinking "Hey, why didn't I have a problem with my room?" Then I realize that I asked for a King bed >.< lol

Last year was weird, too. When we got up to our room we opened the door and there was someone sleeping on our bed!!! But they made up for it by giving us one of the handicapped rooms which was nice and roomy

[Bluebeard45]

Did you discuss the cleaning fee with the front desk or a manager? If all it really was was a ruined towel then I wouldn't have let them charge me that much especially considering that I stay there annually for this event and there is another hotel right across the street I could stay at instead.

The one issue I had was that I did book a King room, but the bed seemed kinda... small. I thought all their single rooms were King beds though, so it very well could've been a king though and my perception had been thrown off by the room size. Did anyone else book a single and find the bed smaller than they expected?

Overall though I really enjoy staying at the Sheraton. The staff is always friendly and the elevators are fast except for Sunday of course. The early checkout was a surprise to me though since their checkout time is normally 12 for normal reservations. Luckily I had packed the night before and planned on checking out before the Charity Auction which started at 10, so it didn't pose a problem for me.

[Freyawazhere]

I dont suggest the Hanncock for anyone.
It royally sucked and I payed over $350 for two nights.

[everywhereXOXnowhere]

It's weird that everyone's complaining about checkouts before 12 because ours was 12...? Maybe I'm just not hotel savvy lol

[Gale]

In my experience booking either doubles or a king is not a given. Granted I've not been the one among my friends to book for Anime Boston, but for other cons it's always been on a REQUEST basis. It sometimes has to do with when you check in and how many rooms have been filled at that point in the day/weekend.

As for check-out, my suggestion to all (especially if you're involved with cosplay chess) is stay organized and pack Saturday night. I always run all but my PJs, toiletries, and Sunday costume to the car Saturday night so I can get out as quickly as possible in the morning. Or you can look into requesting a late check-out time.

Finally, in terms of elevators...well simply get used to it. You're going to run into that at any convention hotel. The times of day when elevators are hardest to catch are pretty easy to figure out: mealtimes and check-out times, as well as when major convention events (like the dance or masquerade) are going on. During those times plan an extra 15 minutes for elevator waiting, take stuff going in either direction and just wait for it to reset at one end or the other, and if your costume allows and you have little to no luggage be prepared to take the stairs.

Key to all is organization and patience. And remember, no matter what happens it's a convention: you're there to have FUN. Roll with the punches and keep things in perspective. It is, after all, a weekend where most of us are running around dressed as cartoon characters. How ridiculous is that?

[MomoMiraculous]

I have stayed at the Sheraton in the past and the main reason I don't anymore is the ridiculous amount of wait time for elevators. I was on floor 7...yea the damn elevators were packed full by the time they got to us so we ended up running up and down the stairs all weekend which sucked since your feet are usually quite tired by the end of the night. Also, I have this uncanny bad luck of getting a room directly above the dances so all you can hear is the music shaking the floor lol (this was CTCon I believe). I stayed at the Marriott this year and will definitely book again for next year there providing the rate isn't ridiculous. I like the fact that it's quieter there and I can actually sleep and I don't wait FOREVER for the elevators. Plus, the beds and pillows are super comfy. ^_^

[burrito]

I recommend the Colonnade.

[coolforever]

I checked out at 11:45 cause I thought it was 12 too. If they charge my credit card extra I will go ripsh*t.

[Meph]

we stay at the marriot. prices/service/rooms are all better! o-o

[Salith]

My first year I went to AB ('06) I stayed at the sheraton. I remember the room was small and the extra bed was small that we ordered. Now we stay at the Marriot across the street and although it's a bit of a farther walk, it's not bad at all. (The Skywalk keeps you inside ^^)

No staff has ever walked in on us because we have the "Do Not Disturb" sign out on the door.

I reccomend to everyone staying in a hotel though, when they are in the room:

-Put the "Do Not Distrub Sign" outside the door. Then lock the door from the inside.

At the marriot there was the deadbolt and that other hook lock thing.

I understand that you will have roommates who will want to come in but they can knock and someone can let them in. It's safer that way ^^

[Shady Lane Cosplay]

Frankly, I've never really had an issue staying at the Sheraton. I've reserved a hotel room a few times, and it has always worked out. The biggest problem has been the elevator wait, but that's just an overcrowding thing; too many people + too few elevators = traffic jam. Plus, I kinda like the Sheraton. It's convenient. Walking through the mall at night creeps me out, seriously.

This year at the Mariott, though, we had reserved a room with two doubles, and wound up with a king. They were kind enough to offer us a rollaway...that was a piece of junk that should have been thrown out instead of being offered to paying customers; the supports on the bottom were severely bent, making it uncomfortable and somewhat hazardous to sleep on.

[T I G G E R]

I stayed at the Sheraton this year. It wasn't that bad, but, like a lot of people, we ordered two beds, but only got one. I don't know if the king size bed is considered better or something, but when you have 6 people in your room, and half are guys, it's not better.

Also, the maid on our floor was like, stalking us. She would wait by our door for us a lot and ask to clean our room, even though we had the "do not disturb" sign.

Other than that the only thing that bothered me is the checkout, but I think most hotels check out that early anyways

[stardust462]

[quote=Meowzie-chan]Okay, I hate to break this too you... but MOST hotels have a checkout time at around 10, 11:00.[/quote]
In my experience (which is at least 8 different hotels a year for my own travel, plus another dozen that I do for my boss at work), check out times are usually noon, sometimes 11am. I've never seen 10am.

[kiarrens]

Did ANYONE who requested 2 beds actually get them?! We only had a King as well.

[Shadow]

Oh, I know why the elevator waits are so long. Some inconsiderate people either:
A. Hold the Door Close button so it doesn't open at other floors
B. There is a trick to make elevators go directly to your room, put there for use by construction workers. I forget how it works, but most elevators do it

[shiroi_yukiko]

My group got two beds. What time did everyone else get there? We got in at about 2:30pm on Thursday. Last year we only got one king bed, but we didn't arrive until around 9pm on Thursday and they were so out of rooms they put us up on the club floor. (Which was a blessing in disguise, because of the express elevators and the free breakfast.)

[Shadow]

You got a breakfast!?

[AnimeAnthropologist]

im not a fan of the sheraton. They charge an arm and a leg for a small room.

I stayed at Westin Copley (at the other end of the mall complex) for about...$170 a night (that was with fees), and they were fantastic. I'd also recommend the Midtown Hotel on Huntington Ave- I stayed there Thursday night for less than $100.

My tip for hotels (since I go to a lot of cons each year) is to check expedia and set parameters for near the convention center. Aside from one con (where I love the hotel) I've gotten rooms close by for a fraction of the cost.

[SlAyErPaTh]

Sheraton has breakfasts?

[KingPads]

lol Sheraton breakfast: Oatmeal - $12.95

[troublemaiker]

last year i stayed at the sheraton, waited 20mins on average for an elevator, hotel cleaning staff repeatedly walked in on us, it finally got to the point where we had to bolt it...then they'd just bang on the door. I think they were given orders or something, i mean i can understand being so in habit that you "accidentally" go into a room with the sign, but if its bolted?! clearly you are not wanted -_-
The staff also gave the person checking in a **** of a time, charged her twice and it was absurd.

I switched to the Westin this year. Rooms were almost twice as big, it was only 430 if I paid upfront by December (couldnt get money in time, so it ended up being 500) the walk wasn't that much longer if you cut outside. however, if you throw in the wait time for elevators at the sheraton? waaaaaay shorter time getting to and from the con

[BlackSunRising]

[quote=SlayerPath]Remember, they sold out 3 Day Passes and then later sold out of all the single day passes so PAX East really had more attendance.[/quote]

Incorrect. PAX had a set number of passes to sell, AB doesn't. Just because PAX sold out of their passes didn't make their event larger, it just made them...well, sold out.

[snowtay]

I succeeded in getting the two beds that I requested, but then again, I reserved the night the social block was available. The only problem I had was a malfunctioning door lock, and while Engineering was quick to be up to our room to replace it (2 minutes), Security took 2 hours to get up to the room to reprogram it. During this time, I had to sit and wait, missing the one panel I wanted to see this year. But stuff happens, and everything else was fine.

[President Aria]

Eh, I'm probably done with the Sheraton as well. This year I was booked there, but I had to cancel since my work situation was making it look like I wasn't going to attend. Then the day before I found out I would be able to be there, and due to my occupation, I booked my stay at the Mariner's House on the North End. $65 a night plus free full breakfast (as in guy working the griddle asking you what you want and cooking it up right there for you). And that $65 includes all taxes, so for a 4 night stay (since I always stay Sunday night so I'm not rushed) it was almost as much as a single night at the Sheraton.

The only downside to it all is, it's about a half hour from the convention center back to my room after walking and taking the T, so once I was at the convention, there really wasn't any opportunity to head back to my room and relax a bit before going on to another panel. On the other hand, I feel like I got a lot more out of this Anime Boston because I attended panels I normally wouldn't have, just so I could have a place to sit down for a bit, and actually found myself enjoying them.

[danim]

Wow O_O...

After reading everyone's posts I think I'm done with the Sheraton >>; I didn't book there this past con because I got substantially cheaper at the Marriott...but I was pretty fed up with the Sheraton as it was. I've never stayed there and NOT had some kind of problem. Getting one bed instead of 2 is not an option for my group (it happened to us once before). That is, probably, the biggest annoyance to me. It sounds like they overbook their doubles, run out, and say "Oh well."

In 2007, they really ticked me off. They had in the system that we booked 3 rooms, each with one bed (mind you, they said we booked queens! Not even kings) and tried to play it off as my error. HOWEVER, we always bring our original confirmation number and reservation for the hotel which clearly stated we wanted 2 rooms with doubles and 1 with a king. Also, they made a critical error and accidentally put in all the rooms under MY name instead of my mother's (we had originally booked 2 and 1) which means, to me, that they took out our reservations in order to make room for someone else. Then grabbed one of our names and stuck it under all 3 (My mother and I have the same first initial as well as last name so they probably didn't even notice). Call me sour, but that kind of thing is unacceptable when I pay good money and have never disrespected the hotel in any way. We ended up with 1 double room and 2 king...still wrong. This was just the worst one. There have been other mishaps in 05 and 06 as well.

2009 seemed to go fine aside from the absurd checkin line with 2 people working the desk. After half an hour they finally decided to put more people on check in (2008 the Marriott hosted us)

Everything went great at the Marriott this year. The staff was very nice and check in went smoothly for me...not a fan of the elevator wait time though.

[SlAyErPaTh]

[quote=BlackSunRising][quote=SlayerPath]Remember, they sold out 3 Day Passes and then later sold out of all the single day passes so PAX East really had more attendance.[/quote]

Incorrect. PAX had a set number of passes to sell, AB doesn't. Just because PAX sold out of their passes didn't make their event larger, it just made them...well, sold out. [/quote]
Well I'm just saying, I went to PAX and there was a hell of a lot more people there then Anime Boston and for a lot of reasons too. The downside was that it didn't have a dance and the people were anti-social.

[Narcissism]

I LOL at the Sheraton. My 2nd year, we stayed there. Long elevator lines, early kickout, charge for internet, charge for tv, $250 charge for a missing cup (didn't take it), room key that didn't work after 3AM, and 1 queen size bed for 4 people...

Me being the only guy in that bed wasn't bad, but after night 3, I couldn't wait to have a bed to myself!

I got the best secret room this year! 2 king size beds, giant room, free internet, straight 300 foot walk to the convention, cable with HBO (great for thursday night!), giant bathroom, no elevator wait, checkout at noon. Good times!

[AmandaMaie]

My issue was that the room was TINY! I have always stayed at the Sheraton except the year before last when we opted for the Marriot instead they year they took over.

I usually don't have many problems, but seriously... the room was about big enough for the beds and the pieces of luggage stuffed beside them. Luckilly we DID get out double beds, but I have had the same issue in the past where we got the king instead.

I don't know what happened, every other year we had a little table area and a chair or something. Our "coffee station" was on the window sill. We could hardly change into our costumes. It felt like a closet.

[shiroi_yukiko]

The Sheraton only has breakfast if you're up on the club floor (I think it's the top two floors?). Those are the floors you have to put your key in the elevator to even get to. I'm assuming that in situations where they aren't putting you up there because they ran out of rooms it costs a lot more to be up there!

[kalevinrajo]

Next year will be the first year I'll have to mess with hotels for AnimeBoston (graduating senior woo :<). Thanks for the advice, I'll know not to stay at the Sheraton next year.

[ErinErin]

Wow based on what everyone is saying here it seems like the Sheraton was looking for ways to charge people more. The early check out time, pushy maids, outrageous fines, they must have known everyone was packing extra people into their rooms and figured they'd try anything to make an extra buck. I'm glad I didn't stay there.

I got a room at the Westin and it was amazing. Still connected to the Prudential center by skywalk and excellent service. Shop around online and I'm sure you'll find a great rate.

If anyone gets charged for an extra night due to check out time, be sure to read the fine print on your initial reservation and see what they had originally set as the check out time. Also see if it says anywhere on there that they hold the right to change that information.
Also for the future, if you make your reservation online (as I'm sure most people do nowadays) be sure the call the hotel afterwords and speak to someone that works there (not just the corporate reservations line) and repeat your requested room type (2 beds) and if necessary request a late check out time. I've found that you get much better service after you've confirmed everything with a hotel employee. Still, nothing is guaranteed, but it if you've done everything you can to inform the hotel of your wants and needs then the ball is in their court.

[autumnwolf]

Other than the room being very tiny (as AmandaMaie stated above - it felt like a closet), our group really didn't have any issues. We did indeed get our two double beds (I had my fingers crossed on this... last year they were booked up early and we ended up with a King with a cot). Our cleaning lady, while she did show up at 9am every morning, she was very pleasant and always checked and would come back if people were still getting dressed, still hadn't gotten up yet, etc. and tips were left. I didn't have any issues with the staff. I did however get charged earlier in March for the room (the computer glitch from a few weeks ago - I had been set for pay at check-in) and it never came off, but I felt it safer to keep it on the card than be accidentally charged twice if it should be recharged.

I agree, the Marriott beds are oh so comfy (from AB08 when they hosted AB). The rooms are very nice there, but I do try to stay with the con hotel if I can for ease of costume change, especially for larger cosplays, and goodies drop off.

I always try to keep my stuff somewhat in order to make packing easier, especially with Chess on Sunday morning. I bring everything that is non-essential to Sunday to the car the night before.

I didn't have any issues with the elevators this year, but I do recall a group of people getting pissed about the $2 a bag holding fee on Sunday, like it was something totally unknown, but it was posted on the site before the convention.

[lordshamus]

[quote=SlayerPath][quote=BlackSunRising][quote=SlayerPath]Remember, they sold out 3 Day Passes and then later sold out of all the single day passes so PAX East really had more attendance.[/quote]

Incorrect. PAX had a set number of passes to sell, AB doesn't. Just because PAX sold out of their passes didn't make their event larger, it just made them...well, sold out. [/quote]
Well I'm just saying, I went to PAX and there was a hell of a lot more people there then Anime Boston and for a lot of reasons too. The downside was that it didn't have a dance and the people were anti-social.[/quote]

PAX had fewer people, they just didn't have the kind of crowd control AB does so it seemed more crowded. Man, you should obviously find the guy in charge of crowd control at AB and buy him some kind of cupcake. Or cupcakes.