I stayed at this hotel with in-laws for graduation week. We were thinking about not going here after some of the poor reviews, but everywhere was packed.
We were pleasantly surprised. We had no noise concerns and everything was well kept. The service was good, and very patient with my 86 year old father in law--and that's saying something!
The staff quickly calls cabs and the hotel is a half block from the subway (but you will have a flight of stairs so pack light). There is no point in having a car.
There were about four or five restaurants about a half block away, within view of the hotel. We ate at the Chinese place on the corner (excellent) and an Indian restaurant (good). There is also a California Pizza Kitchen in the same block. There are no hotel restaurants, although there is a small space open for a sit down breakfast. There is a nice little self serve area off the lobby where you can get free coffee, tea, or hot chocolate 24 hours and a small area where you can buy salads, ice cream, and other cold items.
The only down side for some people is that this is an old hotel. The HVAC is more or less centrally controlled, which means there is a chance that you won't be able to get the air/heat at a temperature to your liking. There was a sign on the thermostat that explained that there were fans and space heaters available on request. And the windows do open.
The hotel is completely smoke-free.
I guess I should also comment on the unhappy reviewer who expected "views". There aren't views per se, it's just an in-town hotel. It is next to the Wang Hospital and other buildings, nothing exceptional.
The rooms are small by suburban-motel standards, but unless you want to do aerobics in the room, you will be just fine.

As others have noted, the rooms are small, but this will be an issue in any older hotel. My room was very nicely furnished and clean. If you are staying on a weekend, be sure to get a room away from the club that is located on the first floor; my room was far away from it, but I can definitely see it being a problem. My only problem with the stay was that some baggage that I checked on the last day of my stay was not stored properly and could easily have been stolen, but I guess that this was an isolated incident. If you don't mind walking, you can park for much less money on your own at the Radisson around the corner than having the valet park for you (there is no self-parking at this hotel).

This hotel is in the theater district...that is all I can say about it. It is not that convienent to anything. Boston Common was down the street but not really any good restaurants near by. When we checked in , the desk told us that we had been upgraded to the top floor because of our points with Marriott. Excited we went to our room.......well..we over looked a parking garage, no view at all.Went back to desk and told them we did not want to over look a parking garage. We were told that THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY ROOMS WITH A VIEW We were told if we wanted a view then we should have booked at another Marriott on the water or the Copely Marroitt. Well on late notice we could not fine another hotel. We had a nice room on the 15th floor but if you really want to see Boston stay at a happening place AND MORE CONVIENENT. NOT RESTAURANT ON SITE..NO ROOM SERVICE :(

I wish I had read the reviews before I booked our reservations here!

The down side: No dresser, small room, flat pillows and a WET CARPET! Poor service: The waitress who took my order at their morning "cafe" got both my beverage and egg orders wrong and when I complained about the wet carpet in the entryway and closet, the front desk did not call me back as promised about getting to change rooms. Also unappealing, several of the walls looked cumpled under the wall paper - mind you the wall paper wasn't crumpled just the wall was- how is that o.k.?

The worst part of the stay: sirens all night long and no end to the shouting and yelling from the nightclubs.

The up side: You're in walking distance of the Commons, several nice resturants and the trains.

We liked Boston, we just didn't like our hotel