Fifteen Beacon Hotel in Boston
Oct 12th, 2003, 08:28 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 718
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fifteen Beacon Hotel in Boston
For those researching this high end boutique hotel, here are a few details.
Not a lot of available reviews since the hotel is smaller and about four years old.
Location is excellent, adjacent to one corner of the Boston Common (NE). The hotel is in what was once the city's education building, a 12 story historic building, with between 4-8 rooms per floor.
The designers did an impressive job with the restaurant (The Federalist) and interiors of the hotel, using mocha and cream colors.
Very elegant and traditional walls and moldings, but feels up to date and stylish at the same time with very stylish furniture.
Most beds are canopied.
Sheets are among the highest quality you'll find in a hotel, surely 400 thread count or more.
Very nice carpeting, towels, toiletries, marble baths with big sunflower shower heads and huuuge water pressure (on our floor, anyway).
Very, very clean and great attention to detail.
Fireplaces in most rooms (gas).
Free Mercedes S Class sedan to take you and pick you up from dinner, errands, airport, etc. Very helpful staff and excellent concierge.
Fitness club next door (large, full service) is complimentary, and there are a few treadmills, bikes, stepper on the 11th floor.
My only complaints? It's a small hotel in an older building so you get temperature fluctuations in the shower, and there really aren't any rooms with great views due to the surrounding buildings.
Pricey yes, but if a stylish, upscale boutique hotel on the Common is what you seek, XV Beacon is well worth a look. They've done an outstanding job thus far IMO.
Not a lot of available reviews since the hotel is smaller and about four years old.
Location is excellent, adjacent to one corner of the Boston Common (NE). The hotel is in what was once the city's education building, a 12 story historic building, with between 4-8 rooms per floor.
The designers did an impressive job with the restaurant (The Federalist) and interiors of the hotel, using mocha and cream colors.
Very elegant and traditional walls and moldings, but feels up to date and stylish at the same time with very stylish furniture.
Most beds are canopied.
Sheets are among the highest quality you'll find in a hotel, surely 400 thread count or more.
Very nice carpeting, towels, toiletries, marble baths with big sunflower shower heads and huuuge water pressure (on our floor, anyway).
Very, very clean and great attention to detail.
Fireplaces in most rooms (gas).
Free Mercedes S Class sedan to take you and pick you up from dinner, errands, airport, etc. Very helpful staff and excellent concierge.
Fitness club next door (large, full service) is complimentary, and there are a few treadmills, bikes, stepper on the 11th floor.
My only complaints? It's a small hotel in an older building so you get temperature fluctuations in the shower, and there really aren't any rooms with great views due to the surrounding buildings.
Pricey yes, but if a stylish, upscale boutique hotel on the Common is what you seek, XV Beacon is well worth a look. They've done an outstanding job thus far IMO.
Oct 12th, 2003, 10:47 PM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,421
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We booked a weekend there in April and just were not comfortable or impressed. Rooms are slick and modern, but we thought them "austere". Service was at best "perfunctory". No one seemed to care in the least about making any effort whatsoever to be helpful. For sure, perhaps, the sheets were nice, but the bed was awfully uncomfortable. We left after two nights of a four night stay and moved to Le Meridien (at a ridiculously low rate courtesy of Hotwire on the laptop) where everything is magnificent in every way.
I did not find the prices remotely worth the experience.
If you want "lux", try Nine-Zero (at significantly better rates with a far more convenient location).
I did not find the prices remotely worth the experience.
If you want "lux", try Nine-Zero (at significantly better rates with a far more convenient location).
Oct 13th, 2003, 07:44 AM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 718
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
One of the most difficult things about using information on this forum is that readers have no way of knowing how a reviewer's taste meshes (or not) with his or her own taste. Simply taking reviews at face value can result in disappointment.
I suspect the majority of people would not want to spend the money on XV Beacon and/or wouldn't appreciate its uniqueness and quality. I'm much pickier about hotels than most. So someone used to staying at mid priced chain hotels is not likely to enjoy a stay at XV Beacon IMO.
I will say that Nine Zero is not in the same class as XV Beacon at all.
I also note that djtbooks recommends priceline a lot (which almsot never brokers rooms for true luxury hotels) and recommends places like the Holiday Inn in New Orleans. Which is fine, but confirms that we look for very different things when it comes to hotels.
We found the service at XV Beacon solicitous and liked the room atmosphere, which I found easy to gauge by looking at the photos on the hotel's website.
I suspect the majority of people would not want to spend the money on XV Beacon and/or wouldn't appreciate its uniqueness and quality. I'm much pickier about hotels than most. So someone used to staying at mid priced chain hotels is not likely to enjoy a stay at XV Beacon IMO.
I will say that Nine Zero is not in the same class as XV Beacon at all.
I also note that djtbooks recommends priceline a lot (which almsot never brokers rooms for true luxury hotels) and recommends places like the Holiday Inn in New Orleans. Which is fine, but confirms that we look for very different things when it comes to hotels.
We found the service at XV Beacon solicitous and liked the room atmosphere, which I found easy to gauge by looking at the photos on the hotel's website.
Oct 13th, 2003, 11:13 AM
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 718
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
...and the Four Seasons is better than all the above. Best service in town, across from the Public Garden. But having stayed there my last two trips to Boston, I decided to venture out this time. I haven't seen the refurbished rooms at the 'old' Ritz since it re-opened this summer. We walked through the lobby and tea room to see if we could spot any changes. Looked the same. But the public areas weren't really in need of the re-do like the rooms were.
The 'new' Ritz, BTW, has remained unprofitable since opening (according to the Boston newspaper yesterday), which doesn't surprise me. It lacks the location, charm and style of all the other hotels noted above.
The 'new' Ritz, BTW, has remained unprofitable since opening (according to the Boston newspaper yesterday), which doesn't surprise me. It lacks the location, charm and style of all the other hotels noted above.
Oct 13th, 2003, 12:12 PM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,421
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We've stayed at Le Meridien in Boston, Le Parker Meridien and the Waldorf in NYC courtesy of Hotwire. Can't imagine paying "regular" rates.
Haven't tried Spire. Note that Chef-partner Jeffrey Everts has left. Lately we've been underwhelmed with the latest and greatest "hot tables". These days, we stick to our old faves, Maison Robert, Julien, L'Espalier, Aujourd'hui, Abe & Louie's.
Haven't tried Spire. Note that Chef-partner Jeffrey Everts has left. Lately we've been underwhelmed with the latest and greatest "hot tables". These days, we stick to our old faves, Maison Robert, Julien, L'Espalier, Aujourd'hui, Abe & Louie's.
