We stayed 9/6-9/10/07. Had a great, clean room, friendly front desk service. We forgot about the offered breakfast, so don't know how that is. The room was a bit noisy from the fitness center across the street, but the location couldn't have been better; across the street from the T, we never used a taxi. We will definitely stay here again, suggest it to anyone. Don't go on appearance of the downstairs front lobby, hotel begins 2nd floor.

Never even got past the front lobby, which was shabby and dark. I was supposed to stay here while travelling with a friend, who is the person that made all the arrangements and paid up front for the room. Well, she had a family emergency at the last minute and couldnt go. I went alone and got to the city too early to check in. So I left my bags with the hotel and wandered around the city for 5 hours. At 5pm I came back, exhausted. I just wanted to get the room and lay down for a few minutes.

The girl at the desk told me I couldnt have the room because the person that reserved it wasnt with me. I tried to explain that my name was on the reservation as well and that they could call my friend and have her explain the situation to them. So she gets the manager, who calls my friend. I overheard the conversation and it seemed like everything got worked out, except when he hung up the phone he says "OK, you can have the room as soon as she arrives." I got mad and said "UM, she isnt coming! Thats the whole reason you called to talk to her!" So he just shrugs and says no dice. No friend, no room. Even though it was paid for a month in advance. You lose.

Now its 6pm and dark out. He told me he would cancel my friends reservation and give me my own, but for some shifty reason the price was double. I ended up leaving, dragging 3 pieces of luggage 4 blocks to a rental car place, renting a car and driving to a relatives house 2 hours away.

Then when I tried calling to complain about this place to whoever owned it, I got a runaround by some girl on the phone who said there "aren't really any owners" and the person I need to address my concerns to was the jerk manager who originally helped me! Oh but she did say she would write everything I told her down and make sure it "got filed in the proper place." Gee thanks.

The reason for the review title is that the affordability of the Shawmut Inn needs to be called into question if you are driving into Boston and have to park.

1st - they don't have anywhere to unload your stuff, as the street is entirely no parking. It worked out ok for "us" but if you were alone it would be a drag to worry about your car being ticketed/towed while you checked in & brought your bags up to the room.

2nd - parking in the nearest "overnight" available parking added $93 to the cost of our TWO NIGHT stay. Which would have paid for the much more upscale hotel that had discount parking available.

About the hotel: The room was dingy but clean [a 5" square tile was missing out of the middle of the bathroom floor and toilet listed to the left], service was friendly. It is RIGHT by North Station, the TD Banknorth Garden is literally at the end of the street, around the corner on Canal St you will find a few blocks of bars & places to eat.

The Shawmut Inn has it's pros and cons. Let's start with the good stuff. The location is perfect. It is right in the heart of the city, with North Station one block down. Easy access to the T. There are some sketchy people around yes, but it never felt unsafe. There's way more normal, regular people walking around. The few crazy/homeless just tend to stick out. Another positive aspect is the staff. They were friendly and and provided complimentary breakfasts every morning. Another positive is the price. It was very affordable.

Now for the negatives. The air conditioner did not work. The first day we showed up it went down, and were told that it was being fixed. We were there for 4 days and it still wasn't fixed by the time we left. (It didn't help that this was during Boston's 3 day heatwave with temps from 90-100. Another negative aspect was the appearance/cleanliness. It was kind of dirty. Our bed blanket cover even had cigarette burns in it. (Granted our room was a smoking room, but one would think a hotel would be able to afford new blankets without cigarette burns.) Also, the window would not stay up on its own for long. It would come crashing down on it's own if left open for a long time.

Overall, I'd recommend the Shawmut to the budget traveler who wants a convenient location to get around the city. However, if you are going to spend a lot of time in your hotel, you may want to pay a little more for a better quality place.