The hosts are incredibly accommodating and responsive. Massive props to the cleaning crew for the prompt & hotel-like presentation of the unit.
Exactly as the pictures show.
A freshly renovated building with dorm-like vibes.
The fixtures are fabulous:
Grohe showers
Toto toilets
Flexible kitchen sink arm with spray option
Unit 306 has a very long runway-like hallway. The 4 bedrooms are all on one side, and the 2 bathrooms on the other.
The 1st bedroom is the master with a king-sized bed, and the subsequent 3 have queen beds. The mattresses, their sheets, & covers are unbelievably comfortable. Each room comes with a built-in closet with hangers, a white noise machine (with different settings), and a dresser with light fixture above it on either side of the bed. Each room also has a ceiling light.
The bathrooms are simple and very effective. The shower stall is very neat, clean, equipped with a shower caddy for your various products, and already comes with Maelin+Goetz toiletries as well. Toilet paper, facial tissues, and hand soap bars also provided, along with towels (large, medium, & small) for each guest. Hair dryers also provided. The water pressure is excellent and the temp can get really hot, which we 4 girls loved.
There is a front loaded Frigidaire washer (bottom) and dryer, which we used. Very effective!!!! Clothes came out clean and dry. Detergent provided.
At the end of the runway hallway, you’ll find the kitchen and living room area. The kitchen has a counter; an island; salt, pepper, & olive oil; an American coffee drip machine, sealed coffee, & filters; toaster; plenty of plates, bowls, glasses, & mugs; various pots & pans; as well as flatware & various tools (wine opener, potato/apple peeler, pizza slicer, spatula, pasta spoon, ladle, etc). The dishwasher is a godsend (detergent provided).
The fridge is empty. We bought groceries @ Trader Joe’s and cooked breakfast & dinner every night; we only ate out for lunch & snacks. The freezer comes with ice trays.
There’s also a medium round table in the corner. Used as a work desk during the day and dinner table at night, it comfortably fit all 5 of us for dinner and card games.
There are a few brass candle holders around; we bought black tapered candles in Salem and sat in candlelight that night.
The living room has a very comfy couch and chairs facing the TV to seat all guests. There is an HDMI cable to plug your laptop to watch whatever streaming services you have.
The WiFi is great. If you have spotty WiFi all the way at the end of the unit where the master bedroom is, it’s the same password for the WiFis in the neighboring units. Helped a bunch when I was working remotely on my laptop.
There’s a rather hi-tech, yet user-friendly, thermostat on the wall on the side of the bathrooms right before the living room area. We used it to set our optimal temps and put it back down to 65 degrees upon checking out.
The crown jewel at this end of the unit is the Julienne balcony overlooking Winter Street. Even on a chilly day, it’s lovely to have open for a few minutes to let the unit breathe. Certainly came in handy when we “tested” the smoke alarms by cooking steaks one night and it getting pretty smoky in the unit. I personally think it’d be less upsetting to actually wake up on fire (I joke), but the smoke detectors certainly do their job and well. Luckily we didn’t have a repeat scenario when we used the oven to bake an apple pie.
Remember, this is located in the downtown area of a metropolis. If you’re expecting country/suburb quiet, you may be disappointed, especially in the summer. That’s probably why the white noise machines are provided. We’re from NYC and used 1 of the machines only once to simulate thunderstorm noise in the living room while we sat around chatting and sipping spiked hot apple cider with the TV streaming Netflix’s “Fireplace For Your Home” program from my laptop- just to set the ambiance, not even to drown out any annoying street noise.
Note from 5 savvy NY’ers: the main entrance is on Hamilton Place. After the sun sets, use the Winter Street entrance (explore the building common areas; familiarize yourself with the elevators, stairs, and in/egresses)- same entry protocol.
Also regarding Hamilton Place: despite the lack of obvious signage on the one side of the street, it is a completely privately-owned street and you park there at your own risk. We asked the local police and towing on H. Place is out of their jurisdiction. We only parked to (un)load the car.
To leave the car alone for the few days we stayed, I used the ParkWhiz app to locate & pay $50 at a nearby (5 mins walk) covered, self-park garage with 24/7 security @ 30 Hawley/33 Archer Streets for 65 hours; that’s less than $1 an hour. When we returned from a day trip to Salem, I used the same app to park in the same garage for 14 hours for $13. Much more cost-effective than I feared.
You’re pretty much centrally-located to everything you could possibly want here. Right by Boston Commons.
Starbucks, GameStop, Macy’s, TJMaxx, HomeGoods, TD, Chase, BoA, CVS/Walgreens, Shake Shack, Insomnia Cookies, and all the good stuff is a mere few minutes’ walk away.
10-15 mins walk to Neptune Oyster, Bell in Hand, the markets, etc.
It’s just a very walkable town.
Hope this review is informative. We enjoyed our stay and definitely recommend.