My spouse and I stayed at the
Hilton Boston Back Bay for three nights in late May 2017. We booked our stay
online months prior using the Hilton website. As our stay approached, we
received an email promotion for a reduced rate on one of the nights of our
stay, so we edited our reservation online; however, when we checked out, our
booking had not been updated to reflect that promotion, so the manager refunded
the difference with a manual credit.
As its name implies, the
Hilton is located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, near Boylston and
Newbury Streets, and close to Hynes Convention Center, Prudential Center,
Coplay Place Mall, Berklee College of Music, and the Boston Public Library. We chose to stay at this
hotel because we planned to walk from the Hilton to the Fenway-Kenmore
neighborhood of the city so that we could visit Fenway Park, the Museum of Fine
Arts (MFA), and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM). (It was less than
1.5 miles [about a 25-minute walk] to the farthest point.) The Sheraton, located
directly across the street from the Hilton, provides indoor sky bridge access
to the Copley Place Mall and the Prudential Center. The nearby Marriott and
Westin hotels also provide access to the mall.
The Hilton Back Bay offers approximately
390 rooms (including 5 suites) in various categories, including Deluxe Corner. Hotel
amenities include a Starbucks counter and lounge in the lobby (open from 6:30
am until 3:00 pm daily). The Forty Dalton restaurant is located on the lobby
level and offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks from 6:30 am until 10:00
pm, with room service until 12:00 midnight. Certain floors offer ice machines,
or you can request ice from the Starbucks in the lobby. A business center
occupies a section of the Starbucks lounge area in the lobby, offering four
computers and three (!) printers, but no fax machine or copier. Two 24-hour pantry
areas flank the front desk; one sells strictly food items (including fresh deli
sandwiches; we bought a tasty brie and turkey on ciabatta and a roast beef wrap
for about $10 each), and the other offers toiletries and small forgotten items.
(A Walgreens pharmacy was within walking distance if you need larger items.) A
fitness center (including a locker room with showers) on the seventh floor is
accessible 24 hours-per-day, and the indoor pool (open 5:00 am until 10:00 pm)
located on 7th floor offers an outdoor sundeck. Self-parking costs
approximately $43 per day, which is added directly to your hotel bill/folio. Check-in
time is 3:00 pm, whereas checkout time is 12:00 noon.
This hotel offers a Diamond
Executive Lounge for HHonors members that offers breakfast (from 6:30 am until
10:00 am on weekdays, and from 7:00 am until 11:00 am on weekends and holidays;
you can upgrade to a full buffet breakfast across the hall at Forty Dalton for
$10 per person), evening snacks and non-alcoholic beverages (from 5:00 pm until
9:00 pm), and light refreshments all day. Although we find international Hilton
lounges to be good, we are generally disappointed with domestic ones; however,
the Diamond Lounge at the Hilton Boston Back Bay was a pleasant surprise!
Although the lounge was not large, it maximized its space. It was necessary to
use our electronic keycard to enter, because a dedicated staff member did not
man the door as we have seen elsewhere. Although not expansive in square
footage, the space offered many different types of settings to lounge and dine,
including a high communal table that sat about six people, a two-sided shared
padded banquette with small cocktail tables in front, a large regular-height
traditional dining table and chairs, a living room area with four comfortable
chairs and some side tables, and a café area with a high shared padded banquet
on one side with round high-top tables and high bar stools on the other side
(with coffee machines and necessities along one wall). Several televisions hang
around the various spaces, and the décor, furnishings, and lighting are
attractive and modern. A small room operated as a buffet area for the
breakfast, evening reception, and snacks, with a permanent under-counter
glass-fronted refrigerators offering non-alcoholic beverages.
We occupied Room 2317, which
we had chosen during the online check-in process. (Usually, when we check in
electronically, we are given a choice of rooms, but on this visit, only one room
available to select.) Because the hotel building is oddly shaped (sort of
triangular), the rooms are pie-shaped, they are narrowest at the point of entry
and widest at the back window wall. Disappointingly, we could see that our room
once included a tiny outdoor covered balcony, but the previous sliding door was
disabled to prevent access. Although floor 23 was recently renovated, when we
descended on the elevator and it opened onto the lobbies on other floors, we
noticed that the floors below the 15th displayed older décor. The
bathroom for our room was a bit small, with a combination bathtub/shower,
toilet, and vanity with one sink. The hotel provides toiletries by Peter Thomas
Roth (including shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and body wash), a (movable)
hairdryer, and sufficient towels. A nearby closet held bathrobes (but no
slippers), an electronic safe, luggage stand, iron and ironing board, and
plenty of hangers. Our room contained a king-size bed with a nightstand on each
side. Across from the bed was a 4-foot high dresser-type piece of furniture
that contained an empty mini-refrigerator and held the flat-screen television
on top. A large desk with a chair on each side provided space for working or
dining, while a sofa provided a place to relax. A padded bench at the foot of
the bed held luggage (in addition to a metal folding luggage rack in the
closet). Furnishings are contemporary, and lighting is modern and sufficient. As
Diamond HHonors members, our maid provided us with two bottles of water per day.
We enjoyed our stay at the
Hilton Back Bay- the location suited our needs perfectly, our room was
well-outfitted and attractive, and we liked the executive lounge privileges.
