Boston is a city where hotels tend to be quite expensive, but with a little research, it’s not hard to find some excellent weekend bargains. Such was the case with my friend and I choosing the Hyatt. On our last trip to Boston, we redeemed some of my frequent-guest points for a room at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport, a great hotel in a less than convenient location. Not wanting to deal with the inconvenience of a shuttle bus between the hotel and Airport T stop again, this time we opted to look for a hotel downtown. That’s when I found the Hyatt Regency and a variety of very reasonable weekend rates. We opted for a special on a business class room that included breakfast for up to two adults each morning.
The Hyatt has recently undergone a renovation and looks practically brand-new. In its former life, the hotel operated as the Boston Swisshotel. Since being re-branded as a Hyatt, the hotel’s level of luxury has been scaled down – amenities such as the 19th-floor concierge lounge are a thing of the past – but the hotel still offers upscale accommodations in a location that is hard to beat. The hotel is located near the bustling Downtown Crossing shopping district, home to such department stores as Filene’s and Macy’s, and the city’s theater district. It is also just a few blocks from the Boston Common and Public Garden and an easy walk from four T stations (Downtown Crossing, Chinatown, Park St., and Boylston) and from many major historic sites.
Our 20th-floor room featured a great view facing the Boston Common, Massachusetts Statehouse, and Beacon Hill. Compared to other Boston hotel rooms I have had, the room was fairly large, with plenty of space for two double beds, a desk, and an armchair with a small side table. Our executive-level room also included two terrycloth bathrobes and a nightly turndown service with chocolates. Additional amenities included a large bathroom with a marble vanity and tub/shower with wall-mounted shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers. The beds were extremely comfortable, featuring down comforters, plenty of pillows, and feather bed mattress toppers. Also included with our stay were coupons for the full breakfast buffet for both mornings of our stay, a $64 value.
There were a few minor issues with our stay. Somehow, housekeeping missed servicing our room after our first night. After a call to the front desk, the housekeeping manager called to apologize and ask what time we’d be going out for dinner that evening so that he could send a housekeeper up to service the room while we were out. When we returned from dinner, the room had been made up. Additionally, during our last night, the room’s thermostat jammed, causing the heat to run nonstop for the last few hours of the night. Fortunately, it was cold enough outside that the room did not become unbearably warm before we checked out.