Boston Harbor Hotel
 

Hi all
I was wondering if the Boston Harbor Hotel is a good choice for our stay in late June?
I have read a few reviews that say it is way overpriced but I haven't been able to find
a hotel that stands out from the rest. We love to be near water or at least have a decent
view when on a vacation....so I'm not sure if this hotel is a good choice.
Any comments?
Thanks much,
Auty1

I like this hotel, and , yes, it is probably overpriced. Boston hotels are all overpriced imo.

I used to live in the ugly condominiums next door to the Boston Harbor Hotel.

It is a beautiful building, one of the first to open the city to the harbor. It is quiet, luxuriously comfortable, and has a good staff and excellent restaurants. I used to take business guests to breakfast there and have enjoyed casual meals and drinks on the wharf outside.

It is not convenient to most of what people want to see as tourists in Boston. The nearest subways are at Aquarium, Downtown Crossing, and South Station. There are no buses. You can walk to the Common and the Freedom Trail, but after you walk the length of the Freedom Trail, you still have to walk back to the hotel. I think the same thing applies to the Intercontinental.

It would be a great place to stay on business because it is located between the new commercial districts across Fort Point Channel and the traditional financial districts downtown. Many people have events there -- weddings, anniversaries, etc, and it would be a lovely place for that.

But given the location, it probably us overpriced, and I don't have a clue what it costs.

I always say it is cheaper to go to Paris than Boston. I think the Marriott on the harbor is cheaper. Charlestown is nice and on the water.

Marriott Long Wharf is near Aquarium Station but the Boston Harbor Hotel is less than a ten minute walk and Quincy Market is way less than a mile.

I think it's a great location, especially in the Summer. They have movies and music programs outside during the week. You can easily walk to the North End and also the the Seaport area. There are lots of nearby restaurants as well. I would stay there easily.

It borders on the relatively new Rose Kennedy Greenway, which is a pleasant park walk to Faneuil Hall or you can take the scenic harbor walk.

It is a beautiful luxury hotel. I love to have a meal outdoors there by the water.
As far as prices, as others have mentioned, Boston hotels are expensive and this is a luxury hotel on the waterfront.

The Marriott is not only "near" the Aquarium station, it is, in fact, directly next to the entrance.

The only problem with depending on the Aquarium station is that except for going to and from the airport, it us more or less useless for the next 18 months because the station at Government Center where you connect to the Green Line is closed for rebuilding. Without the Green Line, you can't connect to the Red Line.

The Red Line takes you to Harvard and Somerville in one direction and connects to the Kennedy Library in the other. The closest place to get it might be South Station or Downtown Crossing. The Green Line takes you to the Back Bay, Fenway Park, the Museums, Copley Square the Public Garden etc. The Good Stuff. With Government Center (ex Scollay Square) closed, you can walk to Haymarket (the length of the Greenway) or to Park Street (all uphill) or to one of the Red Line stations above to connect at Park Street.

Thus my comment on the BHH not being super convenient for tourist sites. This statement is at least partly based on the fact that the longest walks most of our US visitors ever make is from their cars into the mall.

YMMV

I work across from the BHH. While it is directly on the water, the "view" is essentially of the inner harbor (lots of natural gas tankers going through) and the airport. If I were traveling in any other city, I'm not sure I would pay up for that particular view, it's not like being on the water on the North or South Shores of Boston or anywhere like in California, no beach, no rugged coast here, just a lot of docked boats, planes and tankers. The Harbor Walk which runs behind it can take you to the Aquarium in one direction and the Seaport with a slew of swanky new restaurants in the other.

<i>I have read a few reviews that say it is way overpriced but I haven't been able to find
a hotel that stands out from the rest.</i>

1) All Boston hotels are overpriced at this point.
2) The BHH is a bit older, but well-maintained.
3) The Mandarin Oriental is probably the best hotel in Boston and I wouldn't say that the BHH is still in the top tier.

Of the hotels in that neck of the woods, I'd choose the Intercontinental as I think it is slightly more convenient to transit than the BHH or Marriott.

At the price point of the BHH, though, I'd go for the Taj or Four Seasons if they are comparable.

<i>We love to be near water or at least have a decent
view when on a vacation</i>

As noted above, the view of the water isn't exactly a normal beach view. The "best" views are probably from one of the hotels on the Public Garden, like the Four Seasons or Taj.

<i>Charlestown is nice and on the water.</i>

And also boringly residential and hard to get to from public transit.

I hate the place.

Not that there's anything wrong with the hotel -- it's beautiful from the outside -- but they tore down my beloved old watering hole, Herbie's, to build the place. (Ackislander would not likely have known of Herbie's, as Harbor Towers residents typically covered their eyes when passing by.)

I didn't move in until after Herbie's, but the windows were still popping out of Harbor Towers and the Hancock!

There are not a lot of real water views from many Boston hotel rooms. If you get a room facing water, it is of oil tanks and tankers. I would pick a better location than this hotel for supposed views. As several above, Marriott Long Wharf would be preferable.

If you want a hotel that "stands out from the rest" stay at the Liberty Hotel - which was created from the old Charles Street Jail. They have maintained much of the prison interior - a bar has soon nooks that used to be cells, the old catwalk is maintained, and there is an open air bar/restaurant in the old prison yard. I have never seen the rooms, however - just the common spaces. Probably not a similar hotel in the US, since this was one of the older jails.

But really expensive.

it's a great place imo and the water is the water...

<i>I have never seen the rooms, however</i>

The rooms are very nice. Kind of standard luxury/near-luxury in feel, but very nice. I really liked my stay there a couple years ago.

>>and the water is the water...<<

Sure about that? The view out my window at work (over the BHH) is nothing like what I see (and prefer) from my favorite perch in Malibu.

Thanks so much for all the advice...I am looking forward to my first
trip to Boston. Everyone I talk to that has visited....says the same
thing..."I love Boston."
Thanks again!