Fairfield by Marriott Hotels in Woburn

As a hotel under the Marriott flag, I expected better. The pool was out of service, the elevator clunked like a car with a flat tire as it slooooooooooly made its way up to my 4th floor room. One of my two keys wouldn't work. The toilet sometimes wouldn't flush without opening it to fiddle with the float. The air conditioner is a window unit that smells like mold. The interior was crowded and outdated, though it seemed to be clean. The breakfast was disjointed and not very good. One day there were soggy sausage patties, soggy biscuits, and pre-fab looking eggs. We laughed that there was syrup but nothing to put it on. The next day's breakfast was quiche that was still a little runny in the middle, pancakes (finally something to use the syrup on) and more of those plastic-looking eggs. The staff was courteous, and they were helpful when we had a bit of an unusual need. Remember how at most hotels the drapes are doubled, one very sheer layer, and one layer to darken the room? Not here. They look like they would be that way, but in reality only the sheer layer closes. The outer black-out layer was just decoration, not on a track, couldn't be closed. So.... don't stand by the window changing. There was road noise coming from the highway behind the hotel. So between the curtains that won't close and the road noise, don't plan on sleeping into rush hour. I was pleased that there was already an iron and ironing board in the room, so I wouldn't have to ask for one. And I was glad there was a fridge for leftovers. There is no room service, but there's a 99 restaurant next door. The nearest convenience store closes at 10. I didn't have trouble with the hot water, but others in our travel group commented that it was finicky. Was it terrible? No. But was it up to the Marriott standards? Hardly. I'm surprised they still operate under the Marriott flag. They would be more appropriately associated with a budget hotel brand. Overbooking: One person travelling in our group discovered the hotel had overbooked, and they had to walk him over to some other hotel for one night. This was inconvenient for him for several reasons, one of which is that the second night he still wasn't sure where he would be staying. And although ultimately he did have a room both nights (one of which was at a different hotel), it added some stress to his trip.