This review is somewhat delayed, but I wanted to be sure to share what a great experience my husband and I, along with another couple, had in Boston, including our stay at the Hotel Commonwealth. We came up from South Carolina to see both a Red Sox game and The Police at Fenway. Our room looked right out onto the Green Monster. The stadium was an easy walk from the hotel and filled with other Sox/Police fans starting hours before event time both evenings. And, the Eastern Standard restaurant was a great place to grab a quick bite and some drinks prior to game time!! We plan on going back next season!!! Maybe our next visit we can try the hotel's more upscale restaurant -- Great Bay.

Our son is a freshman at BU and based on the reviews on Trip Advisor we had tried to stay at the Hotel Commonwealth for his visiting days and drop off but it had always been booked. Finally because we made our reservations very early, we got in for Parents Weekend. What a pleasure! It was certainly worth the wait.

We booked one of the larger rooms looking out on Commonwealth Avenue. It was perfect - it was very spacious and there were two distinct areas. One had a very comfortable king bed with large flat screen TV with a DVD built in. Near the windows was a nice sitting area with another flat screen/DVD combo TV. There was plenty of room for us to request a rollaway for our son to stay with us which was an extra bonus. We never felt cramped even with the rollaway. They had all the tech amenities - free wireless Internet and the phones had LCD screens for info and were cordless. The bathroom was large and a separate room for the toilet which was nice. The soaps and shower gel was very high quality and smelled delicious.

The Eastern Standard restaurant is attached through a hallway. It is a separate building and the food was excellent, much better than the usual hotel food. This may be due to the fact it has its own entrance on the street and seems to have a lot of local business. It has a pub like atmosphere and specializes in fresh seafood. We returned for lunch twice and loved it, but when we tried to go late on Friday night it was too noisy for us because of the busy bar scene.

Every member of the hotel staff was excellent. BU Parents weekend coincided with the Head of the Charles regatta and the Hotel was the official hotel for the race. The front desk called our room to make sure we knew that they were operating a complimentary shuttle to the regatta and that there was a hospitality tent for hotel guests. It was wonderful - they had a clean, luxury van waiting to drive us to the race. When we got there we couldn't believe the tent and food - it looked like a wedding! White linen tablecloths and fresh flowers on the tables, a buffet for breakfast that included fresh crepes, followed by a lunch buffet of stuffed crab, pumpkin risotto, shepherds pie, deserts. There was even hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows. All the food was catered from the Eastern Standard restaurant and each guest received a goodie bag to take home with a jar of the restaurant's special spice mix. This was all complimentary. The tent was right on the bank of the Charles River near the finish line so it was a wonderful location to watch the regatta.

We really loved this hotel. Every detail is well thought out. As an example, we were constantly amazed that despite the fact the hotel was full, every time we pushed the button for the elevator the doors opened immediately. When we called for the rollaway bed it came almost instantly. We have stayed in several hotels in Boston within the past year - the Westin and Marriott in Copley Square and the Marriott in Cambridge and this is definitely our first choice for a hotel in Boston. It didn't cost any more than the other hotels and we left feeling it was money well spent. We can't wait to return.

Had a very nice stay at the Hotel Commonwealth. The room was beautiful and looked out directly onto Fenway, which was pretty neat. And even though you're right over the Mass Pike, you don't hear road noise.

No problems with the room itself or with the bathroom. Both are put together very well. We had a crib in our room when we arrived. Check-in was easy.

We had a problem with the valet. When returning one afternoon, we wanted to just park, run upstairs, change clothes, and run down again -- we didn't have time for them to park the car (we'd have had to immediately call and say we needed the car... and we were already running late... we were literally inside the hotel less than ten minutes). The stupid doorman or valet or whoever he was did not understand that we were guests of the hotel and was pretty rude about wanting us to leave until we spelled it out for him and showed him our room keys. Not like we were dressed strangely, either -- my husband was in a nice shirt and tie after an interview all day! No idea why they treated us that way! Guess if you want the rifraff kept away from your hotel, that will happen!

Had a much bigger problem with the paint fumes. Our last night there my husband woke me up at 3:30 am because of the terrible chemical smell. I got up and found it unbearably strong in the hallway and called downstairs. The guy on the phone informed me that yes, they were painting the service elevator, but it "shouldn't" be a problem for me. Ummm... would I be on the phone with you at this hour if there wasn't a problem?? Turns out it was paint thinner and no ventilation was set up. We were on the top floor, maybe the fumes collected there at the top of the shaft, or something. In any case, my eyes were burning, I was coughing, had a headache. Was online for 30 minutes trying to figure out if it was OK for our 6 month old baby to be in those fumes, or if we needed to make a run for it! But, the hotel did immediately get things ventilated somehow. Within two hours it was all cleared out and you'd never know it happened. So, while I'm mad that they did that, they did take care of it as soon as they knew it was a problem. (IN the meantime, we put a wet towel over the air intake for the heater. Hope that didn't wear the motor -- but it did work to clear the fumes more quickly from our room (I think), and it fixed the dry air too)!

We had a small problem with the breakfast menu -- the menus are old and they just substitute things at random and hope you like it. Seems it would be better to print new menus. No real harm, but at those prices, seems to me the thing to do.

Overall, though, it was a nice place to stay. Some things are over-the-top (borrowed movies arrive in gift bags), but I guess that's the type of hotel they want to be. The Eastern Standard restaurant was quite good too. Would definitely stay again, once I confirmed that NO painting was planned during our stay.

Well, after reading such great reviews of this Hotel, I decided to book it for my weekend away to celebrate my anniversary.

We booked a junior suite, which is a large room with a separate living room and bedroom. It had two televisions, a huge desk and comfortable chairs with an ottoman. The rooms are separated by curtains. It was nicely decorated, had great comfortable beds and super linens. They put a down comforter in between two high thread count sheets-what a great night's sleep. It wasn't too busy in November but the rooms were really soundproofed. When you walked into your room, you had your own little foyer with a closet. The bathroom shower was great with a shelf, immediate warm water and a separate toilet room

Service was great. The location was as well. Some have said it is less than desirable due to it's location, but the Kenmore T stop is right outside the door of the hotel. Also it is close to Fenway, Newberry Street and the Back Bay area is very safe. You have to ride the T to get to the start of the Freedom trail, but I prefer not to stay in such a touristy area myself.

It is well worth it to upgrade to a suite, by the way. For about $20 we had more space, and the extra curtains kept it really quiet and dark for sleeping. My husband had to wake me up one morning because I just kept on sleeping.

It is classy, has restaurants on site, is near convenient stores, and we walked to the movies from there (that's our kind of nightlife fun).

The only negative didn't have much to do witht the hotel-The T is a little confusing, sometimes you have to be careful not to take the wrong train on the same line, pay attention to the final destination on the outside of the car. Plus it can be crowded on the weekends.

Overall, a great city and a great hotel. I would definitely stay here again.