Wife and I had the pleasure of staying at the Boston Harbor Hotel for 1 night on Friday March 21st to attend an evening wine event during the Boston Wine Festival. After checking rates on the usual big name online travel sites, we reserved a Harbor View Superior Room only three days prior to arrival at a fantastic rate of $275 through the hotels own web site which I found offered the best rate. I did notice however, that prices nearly doubled for dates just after the weekend of our stay. I assume now this is due to a seasonal rate change occurring just following our weekend, but it certainly emphasized to me the good deals that can be had when visiting even 4 and 5 star city hotels during slow seasons.

Due to low occupancy that weekend and plenty of availability, we were able to get a complimentary upgrade upon checkin from a Superior to a Harbor View Deluxe room through our ‘I Prefer Guest Benefit Program’ which was free to join on the respective web site (benefits of which also included late checkout and complimentary internet access, though we did not use the internet benefit so cannot speak from experience).

We enjoyed ourselves immensely and would recommend a stay at this hotel to anyone. Arrived promptly at 3PM which is the official checkin time, and was immediately met curbside by a very courteous Valet attendant who also made sure to see if we needed help with any bags. We stepped through the inviting front door held open by an equally attentive doorman and were immediately impressed with the simple yet refined elegance that greeted us in the main lobby. We found the ambiance and décor within the main lobby area and through out the hotel to be very classy yet not so overly extravagant as to feel pompous.

Our Harbor View Deluxe room was fantastic and very memorable. At 525 square feet (according to their web site), the room felt very large and was finely appointed with a multitude of amenities. We were on the 8th floor which is actually the FIRST floor of guest rooms, but would suggest requesting a higher level floor to really maximize your enjoyment of the superb view of Boston Harbor through the large picture window in the separate sitting area the Deluxe accommodations offer. The sitting area included business desk, couch and upholstered chairs, short cornered curio that housed a second TV, two lamps and end tables, and fine, heavy window treatments.

The sleeping area was equally cozy with a very comfortable king bed (in our case) with very good quality linens and hypoallergenic down like pillows. There was a decent size flat screen TV and accompanying DVD player directly across from the foot of the bed sitting atop a large bureau, and included multiple High Definition channels along with other digital cable channels. A Bose Wave sound system also rested easily within arms reach on one of the night stands beside the bed. Arriving back at our room later in the evening, the room had undergone turn down service and we were greeted with soft relaxing lighting, drawn drapes, soothing classical music playing on the Bose system, bottles of Fiji spring water with accompanying water glass on each night stand, and soft white slippers impeccably position on either side of the bed on a white cloth matt. Under darkness now, the details of an even well thought out lighting design were evident as I found combinations of small, soft lighting in strategic locations very conducive to relaxation and coziness within the room.

While not exceptionally extravagant, we were impressed with the overall bath retreat that was actually made up of three separate rooms. An open doorway led from the sleeping area into a short sort of foyer like hall with closet, bureau, and powder area with upholstered bench and large mirror. From here a closable door led into a middle room with vanity and wall-to-wall mirror and the usual appointments. Finally, through yet one more door was a separate, third room with the shower/tub combination and toilet. All three rooms had elegant marble flooring. Also provided, and thoroughly enjoyed, were the obligatory plush terri cloth bathrobes, and premium Pen Haligons shower and bath products which smelled heavenly.

Due to our plans, we were unable to experience dining at the hotels signature restaurant ‘Mertitage’, but we stopped by to take a look and it had a very hip, stylish look and ambiance and is definitely something we’d like to try during our next visit. We did however enjoy a lite dinner and some wine at the secondary eatery ‘Intrigue’ which was a very nice, relaxing experience with elegant, classy décor and ambiance as well, though more casual than Meritage. Late Friday night, after the ‘Taste of the Mediterranean’ food and wine event that we attended in a large room on the second floor, we found a cozy two seat table in the Rowes Wharf Lounge under subdued , low lighting with soft music and indulged in even more wine from a rather impressive selection while just relaxing and taking in the classy atmosphere.

The following morning, we went down to what was probably my favorite aspect of this hotel, the Fitness Center/Spa. We did not have time for any spa treatments this visit, but the small spa lobby looked and felt very cozy and inviting. Through the spa lobby was the entrance into the fitness room and pool area. The pool while relatively small, was a rather pleasant area that really facilitated relaxing. There was a 3 lane lap pool with surrounding chairs under beach umbrellas, and a large very enticing ‘t’ shaped hot tub. Just beside the pool and hot tube was a small relaxing lounge with chairs and couch with TV, daily newspapers, complimentary tea, coffee, orange juice, and big fresh oranges. A soothing choice of relax inducing music was also playing through out the pool area.

Checkout on Saturday arrived far to quickly, reluctantly drawing us back to a cold March New England reality from the previous nights comforting indulgences. Checkout, however, went as smooth and easy as checkin. A cheerful doorman grabbed our bags and offered two bottles of Fiji sprint water for the road. All in all, we would definitely recommend a stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel and wait anxiously for our own return visit.