My spouse and I stayed at the Residence Inn Back Bay Fenway
for 3 nights on an extended weekend in late November 2019. We booked our stay
online using the Marriott website. Although we hold Marriott Bonvoy Platinum
Elite status and might have qualified for a complimentary upgrade, we wanted to
be sure that we received a suite, so we booked one in advance. Unfortunately,
we received Room 201, which offered us a terribly dark view of a sort of
service alleyway off of Burlington Avenue. (We do not recommend any room
numbers ending in -01 since they share this same awful view.)
The Residence Inn Back Bay Fenway is located where its name
implies: in the Back Bay just a few blocks from Fenway Park. Some rooms even
offer a view of the ballpark if you pay for that privilege; however, the
rooftop bar/lounge offers similar views for free. The hotel is located on busy
Brookline Avenue, across the street from a Marshalls (discount store), casual restaurants
(including Bar Louie [which provides room service for the hotel], Yard House, and
Wahlburgers [see our separate reviews on the latter two]), and fast casual
restaurants (including Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Saloniki, and Starbucks). A Target
store and other restaurants are located within a 2-block walk, as is a Regal
Cinema with 10+ screens.
The Residence Inn offers a complimentary breakfast daily
(both hot and cold options), business center, pantry (store) area, indoor
swimming pool, indoor/outdoor rooftop bar/lounge, fitness center, complimentary
internet, and meeting/event space. The hotel offers valet parking, although it
is pricy at $55 per day.
Rooms are available in studio, one-, two-, and
four-bedroom suites. Our one-bedroom suite had a combination kitchen/living
room with full-size fridge, two-burner stove (no oven), microwave, coffee
maker, toaster, and pots, pans, plates, and utensils. A two-person table
divided the kitchen area from the cozy living room space, which contained a
sofa, side table, and TV. The snug bedroom (which could be closed off by a
door) held a king-size bed with a nightstand on each side, second television,
and closet. The bathroom was accessible from the bedroom, and the sink/vanity
area was kind of a part of the bedroom (across from the closet) rather than
being in the room that held the toilet and combination bathtub/shower. We did
not care for the bedroom/bathroom layout, because if one of us needed to use
the sink/vanity while the other person was sleeping, the light and sound would
wake them up because there was no door separating this area from the bedroom
proper. (Rest assured, though, that the toilet and bathtub/shower were in their
own room separated by a door.) The hotel provides basic toiletries like soap,
shampoo, and conditioner.
We liked the location of the Residence Inn Back Bay Fenway,
but we hated the gloomy and dreary view from our assigned room.
