Holiday Inn Express Boston by IHG

Good Hotel for South Boston Area This Holiday Inn Express is new, big, and modern, located next door to the South Bay Mall - a large, spread-out shopping area with a Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, several restaurants, etc. (The Mall has a huge parking lot, which is free, so it seems silly that the Holiday Inn tries to charge people for parking in their smaller lot.) The hotel is also a little less than a 0.5 mile walk from the Andrew Station, over the adjacent freeway, which will allow you to take the subway to anywhere in the greater Boston area. (If you purchase a "Charlie Ticket" at the Station, you can use the city subways and buses. on an unlimited basis, for a week for only $22/person - a good deal if you like using the subway and public transit.) Restaurants are nearby in the Mall area, about 0.3 miles away, including an Olive Garden, Applebees, Chipotle, Halal Guys, Dave's Hot Chicken, etc. Fast food, like a 7-11 and McDonalds is a little further away near the Station. Before walking from the hotel, I'd suggest talking to the front desk to insure you know where you're going as the adjacent neighborhood is not the best, although fine to walk during the day, and the streets/intersections are not laid out in an intuitive pattern. Some in our party found the walk to the Andrew Station to be too much of an inconvenience, and they called an Uber, which showed up in minutes and took them to the north-side of Boston for about $16, so that's an option if you don't have a car. We stayed with some friends, in two rooms, for 3 nights in June. The rooms were very nice and clean, and everything worked well. The facility is secured by a 24-hour pass key system, even the front door, lobby bathrooms, and elevators are locked, which is somewhat annoying should you forget your keycard. The elevator will only take you to the upper floor authorized by your keycard, which confuses everyone who tries to use the elevator for the first time. (One time, in search of ice, I had to visit three different floors to find an operating ice machine which took about 45 minutes. To get to the floor with an operating ice machine, I even had to get the desk clerk to use their master key to permit me to go to the proper floor.) Later, however, I found you could traverse floors via the two stairwells, which are not restricted at the separate floors. The building's two elevators are quite busy, especially when housekeeping is working. The building has a very large, open lobby with seats/sofas/tables where large groups of people can assemble and plan their day - perhaps the hotel's best feature. The lobby also has a computer station, with four computers and two printers, where you can quickly print out boarding passes, etc. The WiFi network in the rooms also worked well. Next to the lobby, there is a large area where breakfast is served from 6-10 AM. The breakfast is very popular at this location as there is plenty of seating and its not too cramped finding your food. They have all the standard fare, including hot items like scrambled eggs, pre-made cheese omelets, sausage, bacon, etc. plus a small grill to make pancakes or waffles. All in all, one of the best complimentary hotel breakfasts I've ever seen. Lastly, there is a workout room downstairs, but no pool. Other than the fact that the hotel is a little farther from the Andrew Station subway connection, than I would have liked, the hotel was a good choice for our small group visiting the Boston area.