Restored fire house with individually distinct rooms. Quiet, pretty, quaint, charming and unusual. Attention to detail throughout. Breakfast buffet better than most. If you are tired of chain hotels, this is definitely the place for you. They even have parking beneath, but don't bring a huge vehicle.

This hotel is a converted fire station on the East side of the MIT campus. It's also on the edge of "Area 4", a part of Cambridge consisting mostly of impersonal office blocks (many of which used to be abandoned factories). This is not the nicest part of Cambridge, but it has a number of good restaurants, and the Red Line "T" station right next to the hotel gives a convenient connection to anywhere in the central Boston area. Beacon Hill is a short and scenic walk over the the Charles Bridge.

Don't expect a nice view, because the nearby buildings are generic-looking and much taller than the hotel.

In the public areas, the hotel may take the dalmatian-and-fire-truck theme a little too far, but the rooms are very nicely decorated -- more personality than your typical hotel, without being overbearing. Our room was very comfortable. This is the city, so don't expect absolute quiet (for example, we could often hear the distant rumble of the subway, and one morning we briefly heard a garbage truck), but there was nothing objectionable.

The staff were very pleasant. The internet worked well although it took a few minutes for the connection to become stable at the outset. The complimentary buffet breakfast was way above average.

They have covered parking under the hotel (usually $20/day but included in the package we got). It's a bit of tight fit even for a smaller vehicle, so if the weather is OK it's easier to use the side street behind the hotel (which has about 10 reserved spaces).

The only downside -- the hotel is too small to have its own fitness center. They offer complimentary use of a nearby gym, but it's a bit of a walk and not open on holidays.

Overall, this is a small urban hotel with real personality (and a nice one). We got a very good price over the winter break, presumably because MIT was not in session and the hotel was fairly empty. In consideration of this good value, they merit 5 stars.

This hotel is great. I was in town with friends, and we were just looking for a place to crash - and we were figuring on bunking up, or sleeping on the floor if need be. We had reserved a room online with one King, and gotten a cot...at check in they noticed our numbers and moved us to a room with two queens - and a cot. No one had to sleep on the floor, and they didn't charge extra.

Breakfast was quite good, and included bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, toast, muffins, fruit, etc. and comes in the price of the room, which is hardly standard.

Parking overnight costs roughly $20, but you're not going to do any better anywhere else in Boston/Cambridge.

As for the hotel itself, the room was comfy and clean. Apparently all the rooms are different, so it may vary from room to room - but I thought the size was fine. In terms of location this hotel is great as well, it is right next to MIT and is in a quiet part of town, which is good for sleeping. It is, however, easily accessible to the T, which makes getting around Boston/Cambridge pretty easy. Next time I'm in the area I'll definitely stay here.

Friends and I stayed here for a night in December and it was wonderful-- great location (2 minute walk to the T, very convenient in the winter!), the room was beautiful and spotless, all the staff were very helpful, and the breakfast buffet was awesome. Highly recommended-- a great value for the price.