Boston Marriott Long Wharf Rating: 3.5 Pearls

Downtown and Waterfront, Boston, Massachusetts

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Rooms are comfortable enough, but feel dated.

The 397-room, seven-story Marriott Boston Long Wharf is an unremarkable large chain hotel in a prime location, smack in the middle of one of Boston's biggest tourist hot spots. Directly adjacent to the hotel are the New England Aquarium, the IMAX theater, the launching point for many harbor tours, and Legal Seafoods, one of Boston's most famous seafood joints; across the street is Faneuil Hall, a marketplace filled with more than 100 shops and cafes that makes just about every tourist's to-do list.

Inside the hotel, however, things aren't situated quite as conveniently. When you enter the building (after navigating past the noisy street vendors right out front), there's no indication whatsoever where you should be checking in. It's just you and your intuition (and the doormen, but they don't offer any guidance). Up the escalators you go, around the pointless giant red pyramid, and ultimately you'll find your way to the the front desk. I wondered if I was being overly harsh, but when I chatted with another guest, the first thing he said was that and his wife had an "awful experience going into the lobby; we were completely disoriented."

Much of the rest of the hotel's design had problems, too. The fitness center has windows that face an open atrium lined with rooms, making for a sort of creepy spectator vibe. There is plenty of new equipment in the gym -- several treadmills, ellipticals, free weights and weight machines -- but not much space to use it all. The guest rooms are not soundproof; my room, on the 2nd floor, overlooked the busy street outside, and I could easily overhear the street vendors' conversations. You can also clearly hear sounds from the rooms beside you, as well as any sounds coming from the hallway. On the positive side, the kid-friendly pool and hot tub are set behind large windows that face the harbor. Also boasting a beautiful view was the Oceana restaurant -- though the food can't quite compete with the world famous Legal Seafoods across the street.

The hotel, built in 1982, just completed renovations of its common areas and pool in the fall of 2011, and of the guest rooms in 2008; while the 37-inch flat screen TV in my 290-square-foot standard room seemed new, much of the rest of the room didn't. The bathroom door and windows were scuffed and grimy, and so were the tabletops. The inside of my fridge was rusted, and the privacy card on my door was filthy -- which was pretty gross the more I thought about it. (Even grosser was the short curly hair in my bathtub.) That said, the bathroom had plenty of sink space and Bath & Body Works products. The king-size bed was comfortable enough, but the sheets felt stiff due to the 60-40, cotton-polyester blend.

The entire hotel ended up feeling dated to me -- and, frankly, a little dirty. But it's a good price for the location; most nearby alternatives, like the Fairmont Battery Wharf and the Boston Harbor Hotel, are much more expensive. If you're willing to forgo the waterside stay, check out the nearby Omni Parker House (about a 10- or 15-minute walk), which costs roughly the same on average and sits across the street from the Boston Common, a calm, historic park.

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The Marriott Long Wharf shares its namesake wharf with some of Boston's biggest tourist attractions: the New England Aquarium, the IMAX theater, and Legal Seafoods, one of Boston's most famous seafood joints. The wharf also acts as a launching point for many harbor tours, the lines for which start directly outside the hotel. On the other side of the hotel is Christopher Columbus Park and its Rose Kennedy Rose Garden. Across the street is Faneuil Hall, a marketplace filled with more than 100 shops and cafes that makes just about every tourist's to-do list.

• Three- to five-minute walk to Faneuil Hall
• Directly next to the Aquarium Station stop on the T (Boston's subway system)
• Water taxi from Long Wharf to Logan International Airport costs $10 (one way).
• 15-minute drive to Logan International Airport (about a $25 cab fare)
• 10-minute drive to Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox ($10 to $15 cab fare)
• Less than a mile to the Boston Common (15-minute walk or a 10-minute ride on the T)
• One mile to TD Garden (10 minutes on the T or a $10 to $15 cab ride)

The hotel, which is near many family-oriented attractions, accommodates families well. The pool and hot tub area is kid-friendly, there's a game room with a bunch of arcade games, and there's even a self-service laundry machine. All rooms have the option of king-size beds or double beds, and the rooms do connect.

• Free rollaway beds and cribs
• Connecting rooms available
• Room service kids' menu: burgers, pizza, pasta, chicken fingers, all $8
• Refrigerator in lieu of a minibar is helpful for storing snacks and baby food