Aloha aloft
When you travel on the road, you need to find joy and happiness in the little things (and I mean hotels, there is no joy to be found in a plane these days). Some folks want a nice restaurant, others a deathly quiet room, some just want it cheap, simple and to be left alone. When I travel on business, I like it to be simple, with a slight touch to make me feel like I am coming home. Little things, like a hello, or turndown service at night – service. So when Starwood began pushing their new brands, element (baby Westin) and aloft (baby W), I had to give them a shot.
I found out that there was an aloft and element hotel close to where I was traveling this week. After a lot of research (10 mins) I chose to try out aloft. I think it was the aloha that got me. I expected a tropical paradise in the middle of suburban Boston, ummm, not quite. I’m actually confused why they say aloha all the time, is that the ‘chic’ thing to do?
The hotel shares an address with the element hotel, located directly across the parking lot. Very nice area, new construction, and pretty hip location. This smells like a good tourist destination with a walkway to the national park on site.
The lobby was absolutely 100% inspired by W. The bass thumping disco music that makes you feel like you are going into that exclusive club for a $15 mojito, vibrates through my head. There are kiosks everywhere, begging to be used, just help myself and never have human contact. There was something wrong with the one I was at, but thankfully there was a live person available at the front desk, or more accurately the front pod. The check-in process felt just like a hotel, except they said aloha. Interesting of note, mahalo, e komo mai, & aloha kakahiaka were noticeably absent from the vocabulary. I got my key and proceeded to the elevators. I’m a platinum member in the Starwood program, so I got my 250 bonus points, but that is all you will get here with status, just a warning up front.
The elevator door opens and I immediately thought, oops, service elevator. It was new, but it had those furniture moving blankets hanging from the sides. I thought this was because the hotel was so new, but upon further inspection, I see that they are indeed there permanently. The floor in the elevator must have been designed by Dr. Scholls… blue liquid that squeezes away from where you stand. I get off the elevator and into the hallway of the 4th floor (top floor at this hotel). The hallways were new and very inviting, quiet quiet quiet. Loved it. I find my room, insert the key and open the door.
My first reaction to the room was, WOW, I really like the layout. The room is longer than wide, with the bathroom immediately to your right, then you walk a bit to the bed to the right, finally to the exterior wall with a 42″ LG LCD tv mounted on it. Putting the TV on the exterior wall is perfect, no more listening to the guy next door watching the golf channel at 5am. Matter of fact, you won’t hear the television, telephone or showers of your neighbor’s room because none of them are actually near your head when you are in bed. You also will not hear doors slamming up and down the hallway. Very quiet rooms, which I loved. The decor is cheesy, art deco old and modern at the same time. Horrible wood paneling that reminds me of the 70’s and a neat 60’s style clock. The desk chair was like sitting on a snare drum, don’t expect to work there. In the bathroom section, the shower is great, no wasted space for a bathtub, just a nice tile floor shower with a big rain drop shower head and a glass door. The sink is outside the shower/toilet section, which I always appreciate. The sink is a fancy kohler model, you know, the big bowl on top of the counter. I did not like it for shaving in the morning, but otherwise it does look cool. One thing that I did not like about the bathroom area, the lighting. If you turn the light on in the bathroom, it bleeds over to the sleeping area. There is no way to isolate the light behind a door (even in the shower/toilet area) its either on or off. That is a bit much, especially with someone sound asleep in the bedroom section. Behind the vanity is an open closet (with a curtain as a door) a coffee maker and 2 bottles of free water. There are also an assortment of magazines (the New Yorker, Wired, Style, etc) which is a nice touch and did bring a degree of hominess to the room. This place is absolutely inspired by the W chain. Now, let’s list out some of my complaints:
1. The work area sucks. I can’t say it any better. Work on the bed, the floor or in the courtyard area, but not on the desk in your room. The chair is horrible, and in reality must be there for display purposes only.
2. The light in the bathroom. Please think that maybe someone gets up before someone else, I know it sounds crazy, but it does indeed happen!
3. No vending machines – want a coke? go to the lobby.
There are outlets everywhere, which is great, but after seeing all of the room, I just get a sense the business traveler should not be here.
I left the room and decided to get a beer in the lobby.
The lobby is typical of W, however it has windows, lots of windows, so its not as dark as some of the W hotels I have been in. They do not have vending machines and instead opt for a community kitchen that has all kinds of snacks, and drinks, muffins and cereal, etc. The bar area is H I P. All of those plushy couches with big pillows. I sat at the bar, ordered a bud light and watched ESPN trying to decipher what was being said over the loud dance music playing “boom boom boom, push it, grab it, boom boom boom”. There were 4 people at the bar, two women and an older couple who both wore matching andy warhol glasses. I took my beer and moved to a comfy arm chair, and observed. There were a lot of people here. A couple in their 30’s playing pool, both drinking Mojitos. A ‘casual’ business worker who was downing shots with a beer chaser as if he was in college, all the while the andy warhol couple is saying “chug, chug, chug”. That is not sarcasim, that actually was going on. Mr casual business said “hah, you should have seen me last night”. I got the feeling this was all staged, but no, its reality right in front of me. I finish my beer, and decide to head back to the room. I notice the pool on the way to the elevator, its always in motion as if someone is swimming and there are plenty of kiddie beach balls in the pool. So if you want to swim some laps, this might not be the place. The workout room is small, but very functional. Plenty of machines for the size of the hotel and a nice selection of free weights.
Back to my room for bed time. Only 2 things to report here:
1. The bed is like the first adult bed you ever bought. The one that you either got from the thrift shop or it was on close out from that mattress store going out of business. The comforter was comfortable. The bed was very much bumpy stiff. No sweet sleeper or heavenly bed here. Pillows were nice and comfortable one real soft, one mid level.
2. You will wake up around 1am to the sound of a 757 taking off. Seriously the AC is that loud. BAAAAHHHHwwwooooooooooosh. Make your life easier, put the fan from Auto to ON. Trust me on this one, with it on, at least you can stay asleep.
In the morning, breakfast options were pretty good, some hot sandwiches, bagels, breads, cereal, fruit cups, yogurt, etc. Prices were reasonable. I recommend the muffins and a snack box. They have one for night and one for morning. I picked up the night pack. The night pack features cheese and crackers, jack links prime rib tender cuts, raisins and 2 Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. Not the breakfast of champions, but a bit more substance than the morning pack with its granola and fruit chews. I also wanted an orange juice, let’s see, here are my pepsi products, my amp energy drink selection, some red bull, 4 different types of water, naked juices, a whole bunch of teas, but no natural orange juice. I got the closest thing I could find “IZZE” sparkling clementine tonic. They also have a nice selections of coffee available. There is also a decent selection of newspapers for your use in the lobby (no delivery to the room) and what appears to be another “no business” sign, they do not have the Wall Street Journal available.
The hotel is very nice, it is priced inline with a full service Sheraton. I would say for a business trip aloft is not the destination of choice. Maybe element is, but I have not stayed there yet.
For business I recommend:
1. Sheraton
2. Westin
3. Courtyard
4. Marriott
5. Doubletree
6. Hampton Inn
cheers….
element does have a very comfortable bed, so give them a shot next time. It’s a bit more low-key which can be nice if you want quiet time at night… Thanks for a great review, this certainly helped me make my choice.
Hi Mike – I’ll give the element a shot next chance I have on a business trip. Thanks…