STAY DETAILS
May 25, 2008
1 king room
$189/night at Sheraton.com, included 2 adult tickets to Six Flags New England (worth $80-$100) and self-parking (worth $9.95)

LOCATION
The Sheraton was right off I-91 (Exit 7). Businesses, stores, restaurants are just a walk away from the hotel. We got out of the hotel and walked around the area for dinner. The area was so quiet, with barely any people. It got scary when I noticed a lot of the stores were closed or shut down. I would prefer staying in West Springfield along RT-5.

We ate at Red Rose Pizzeria in Main St, an Italian restaurant 5 blocks away and we liked it. They had good food and huge servings. We spent $53+ for 2 people including tax.

PREMISES
The hotel lobby was a little dark, but very nice and clean. The rooms are situated around an indoor atrium. You can easily hear anyone talking in the hallways in the nearby floors because of the set up. But you don’t hear in the rooms. Check-in was a breeze and staff was friendly, but nothing out of the ordinary.

ROOM
The room was spacious, clean and smelled great. The carpet by the door had a couple of very small stains, but not very noticeable. Our room (room 1106) was very close to the elevator and had a view of the river and I-91. You could faintly hear the cars driving through by the window. But you won’t hear them by the bed. The Sweet Sleeper king bed was very comfortable.

AMENITIES
Pool:
The pool was located in the Fitness Center on the 4th floor. I was only able to see the pool area. The place wasn’t crowded. There were only 2 people swimming. The pool was 50’ long and 3’-5’ deep. It had 3 lanes. The area had a hot tub, cold tub, sauna, 2-3 shower stalls, water fountain, and an access to an outdoor balcony where you can sunbathe. The pool had too much chlorine in it that I had to cut my swimming short coz my eyes were burning. I didn’t have my goggles with me. My eyes were red and bothered me the whole evening.

Wi-fi:
You could get wireless internet connection in the room for $8.95/day. Don’t get it, it’s not worth it. Connection was horrible in our room. When John called the front desk to ask where the connection is better, they didn’t know. The connection at the Business Center was better, but still not good.

Parking:
Parking was $9.95/day for self-parking or $12.95/day for valet parking. I thought it wasn’t worth it, but I got it free with the package we got. As I said earlier, I would prefer getting a hotel in West Springfield by RT-5 for the location and most of the hotel there have free parking.

Newspaper:
Usually included in the room rate is a free daily newspaper. But you can get $0.75 credit if you cancel delivery of the newspaper by calling the front desk.

MY RATING:

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STAY DETAILS
May 24, 2008
1 double room with free breakfast and wifi
$89/night at DaysInn.com

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel/motel for long stays because of the small space.  The location, convenience, and good wi-fi connection may make it good enough for short stays or business travelers.

LOCATION
The location was great. The Days Inn was right off of RT-5. The area was quiet enough, but there were a lot of restaurants, stores, cinemas just a very quick drive up RT-5.

PREMISES
The lobby vestibule had a weird smell. But the lobby was alright. The inside of the hotel looked outdated. It was quiet and check-in was a breeze. The front desk staff was friendly. I saw one reviewer complained about the staff not telling them there was an elevator. I don’t think it necessary since the elevator was right by the reception desk to the right.

ROOM
We were given a handicapped room (room 312) when I didn’t request one. The bathroom was huge, but the shower head was too low.  You would have to hold it to wash your hair.  But the bathroom was the only handicapped-friendly part of the room. The rest of the room was tiny! We had a double bed and there was only one night stand with a lamp. The “closet” (with no doors) was on the other side of the bed. The TV was really old, but at least it had remote control. However, it didn’t show on the TV screen what channel you’re on, so you will have to stay close to the TV to read the tiny channel screen that didn’t light up. The cable stopped working in the middle of the night. Right before we left, the cable still wasn’t working. There was a small table with 2 chairs which made the room more cramped. There was no clock/alarm. I think the TV had an alarm, but I didn’t try to use it.

AMENTIES
Pool:
The outdoor pool was right in front near the road, so it wasn’t very private. It’s the first thing you see when you enter the premises. The pool on the photo at the hotel’s website looked huge, but it wasn’t. The pool wasn’t open at the time of our stay.

Wi-Fi:
Wireless internet was free. They had a wireless network for each floor and the connection was fast enough for John to play his game.

Breakfast:
Breakfast was included in the room rate. The breakfast area was tiny and offered so little, so we skipped on that.

MY RATING: 

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It appears that MegaBus has increased their maximum fare for the NYC-Boston route.  According to an article at Boston.com in March, MegaBus was going to offer seats that start at $1, but won’t go higher than $14.  This was great because the highest fare was still cheaper than the Chinese buses that offer $15 one way.

As I was booking a trip today, this wasn’t the case.  I have seen fares go up to $35!

Click on image to enlarge

I still prefer MegaBus over the other buses because of its proximity to where I work, the bus schedule, and the free wi-fi. 

I know I promised I will give a review about BoltBus, but I still wasn’t able to book a trip with them.  I haven’t found a fare lower than $17.50 with them on the days I’m traveling.  I tried to book way in advance to see if I can snag one of the cheaper fares, but BoltBus only offers reservations up to a certain period of time - up to September 15, 2008 at the moment.  But I’ll definitely try to book at least one trip with them.