The Kendall is a visually quaint, lively and comfortable (70-80 room) hotel in urban New England. Well located for MIT and the business/organizations in this part of Cambridge, MA. If you want to be closer to Harvard - and still avoid chains – then somewhere like The Veritas Hotel (where I have also stayed) is an option. I asked for a quiet room and was put in a rather dark room on the corner of the hotel by the archway to the parking lot. It lacked the level of natural light that I would have liked but it was quiet-ish and comfortable. Other rooms that I glanced in during my stay seemed bright and all rooms were individually furnished (the New England style theme runs throughout the hotel without being too cutesy). The Black Sheep restaurant provides a very high quality select breakfast menu with fresh fruit and a special that changes every day. They also serve lunch which seems very popular with local people. The dining area is relatively small so go down early if you want to avoid the crowd. Overall the food was really tasty and the service very good - definitely a strength at The Kendall. Note if you are given a discount coupon be sure to present it when you dine rather than when you check out as the restaurant is run as a separate business. In terms of local dining, I particularly enjoyed going to Legal Sea Foods across the street (their crab cakes are excellent). If you want something quicker/easier then there are sandwich places nearby. Transport options are convenient (red line, buses, taxis rank outside the Marriot). The view from the nearby Charles Bridge is terrific but otherwise this is a fairly functional urban location. As others have noted, this means that there is some light traffic/street noise but nothing too unbearable. In terms of services, there is Internet (bit clunky to connect sometimes but fine) and they offer complimentary use of a nearby gym – however it is tricky to find and I found the opening hours awkward. This brings me to my only gripe about The Kendall – the front desk. The hotel staff seem to work in a back room and you have to ring a bell to call someone to a booth. I don’t necessarily need someone to give me the obligatory greeting every time I pass by but sometimes I wanted to ask a quick question about the local area - there was rarely anyone around and when I rang the bell to call for assistance (maybe it was just me but…) sometimes I felt like I was bothering them. However, this is a relatively minor point in an otherwise very pleasant stay at a really good hotel.

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.