Back Bay Beacon

Most of the fixtures seem updated, and reasonably cared for. The kitchen was reasonably stocked with most of your typical needs. Extra paper towels, toilet paper, and even dishwasher soaps were found in the cabinets. The bedding all seemed clean, no signs of terrible things at all.
The only thing that was not fabulous about the experience was the parking, and the walk. It’s a long couple blocks away from the garage under the Boston common. Parking there for a weekend was over $ 50. The Park Street Station is right there, so you’re pretty central for wherever you want to go, T-​wise.
There were a lot of places within walking distance that were decent. Dunkins (Of course) and a Starbucks. You’re literally right up the street from Cheers.

Floors look like they had not been vacuumed in months. There was a dirty sock in the corner. Bathroom is falling apart. Tiles are pulling loose. Very little water pressure in shower. Cheesy mirrors throughout. Great location. Very poor management of building

So gross! Imagine sleeping in a fraternity house during football season. This was the standard of cleanliness in our unit.

We stayed at the Back Bay Beacon in Early October 2012. We had originally reserved a second night, but after the first night we found the apartment to be so uncomfortable we had to find another place to stay. I’ve never left a hotel in the middle of a reservation, but there was no way we could get a good night’s sleep at this place and thus decided to make the painful decision to eat the $ 250 we had paid for the night’s stay.
It’s clear upon entering the apartment that quality furnishings aren’t the first priority. We stayed in unit 5f. I didn’t find any pictures of our unit online but I thought they would be similar to the pictures online. Not so! There is no granite countertops or luxury furnishings. All of the furnishings are walmart-​grade, aging, and uncomfortable. The kitchen is too narrow to actually do any cooking inside of it, and the appliances are 20 – 30 years old. The only television was a 19″ circa 1997. There wasn’t even an area rug to prevent the cheap furniture from sliding around (and scratching) the floor.
We put our young daughter in the master bedroom bed since the pullout couch was too unsafe for her to sleep on with all of the exposed sharp edges and levers. That meant that my husband and I had to sleep on the «mattress». This «bed» is not fit for human use. It was like sleeping on a chain link fence. It was an excrusicating six hours trying to sleep on this thing while the sharp springs bruised my thighs.
It was chilly in Boston the night we stayed there and the only blankets provided to us, on the bed and for the pullout couch were as thin as an ordinary bed sheet. We posted pictures to facebook of my husband sleeping on the hard wood floor. Still, more comfortable than the bed.
The only good thing about this place is the location, but that isn’t reason enough to stay here. Overall, I’ve never stayed in such cheap accommodations with such a poor quality bed and linens. The fact that I paid over $ 500 for this place is unbelievable ($ 250 per night once of which wasn’t used). Take the $ 250 and go buy a television made in this century!

Just this last weekend my mother and grandmother flew out from California to visit me (my 84 year old grandmother’s first time visiting me since I moved here 10 years ago). My mom found this place on line, thought it seemed like a good deal as it has a kitchen, a little living room to hang out in, and a great location (a few doors down from the Public Garden).
What we found:
Kitchen: cabinets were not aligned, there was no soap to wash dishes, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such an old dishwasher (I’m 37, so not _​that_​young), I watched a mouse run across the floor, It lacked many of the basic supplies of a «Full, Accessorized Kitchen».
Living room: One Lamp. We had to bring the One Lamp from the bedroom out to the living room each night so that more than one person could read a book. And then each night my grandmother unplugged it and carried it back to the bedroom. They did not have a DVD player should you want to relax after a day of walking around town, but they did have a VHS player. A VHS PLAYER??? So maybe they have full cable so you could watch movies? No.
Bathroom: One towel for each person. For the whole stay. Fully mirrored walls (never had the chance to see myself pee before.), tiny vanity (no counter space) was old, needed a paint job, sink very worn. Just didn’t look clean. And the door– not only did you have to lift it to clear a bump in the floor, it was not solid, but louvre (slotted).
The loft situation just looks like its someone’s storage space/​dumping ground. The entire place needs a coat of paint. As someone who has done my own bathroom and kitchen remodel, (not hired someone, but really done it myself), I know what it would take to bring this up to par– not so very much.
Given the location of the residence, we had expected a certain level of décor and maintenance. I was embarrassed to have my family staying here. As Nurse Practitioner at 2 large local hospitals, I’ll be making sure to tell as many people as possible about the atrocity we encountered.