Visited Boston during the weekend before Christmas 2012. The location of this hotel is ideal, as it overlooks the park and sits at the very beginning of Newbury Street, within walking distance to Fanueil Hall and the financial district. We stayed in room 1608, a deluxe park view room with a king size bed. Although the bathroom was small, the room was spacious overall with a comfortable bed. It's clean and offers wonderful views of the public gardens and the Boston skyline. This is an older building so the walls of the hotel are thin, and of course we had a drunk couple bickering back and forth in the room next to us (allegedly he lied to her and she spent the better part of the night attempting to understand why he'd do such a thing). The fitness center is superb and the overall feel of the property is old world luxury. Service is top notch. The hotel offers valet parking for about $45, which I recommend because Boston is a parking nightmare. Yes there are some stains dispersed throughout hotel carpeting, and this aspect is probably a year or two away from needing a complete overhaul. Unfortunately the elegant and sophisticated feeling hotel bar was packed both days we were in Boston, so we were never able to get a seat. I believe rates are significantly cheaper here in the winter. Another excellent option in a city full of them.

Have to say I did not always feel this way about the Taj in Boston. There was a time 2 years ago where I was really disappointed in the service of the front desk and the valet staff. It seems the service has undergone a transformation because at every turn I was impressed by the kindness and unsolicited generosity of the staff. The hotel has never been a question, great history and location...history...awesome bed linens and clean! Bravo for whatever happened to improve the service level.

This hotel has a terrific location in Boston.. Our room was very nice, and we were extremely pleased with it. The concierge made two recommendations for dinner and made the reservations for us- great choices! The only negative was that the bellmen were not "on the ball". We had to hail our own cab as they were too busy visiting. We had just come from a klimpton hotel in San Francisco, and they had excellent bellmen!

If you are an afficianado of early 1900's hotels, the old Ritz in Boston is for you. The lobby, elevators, hallways and our room were authentic and beautiful. Our room was like a jewel box. Super location for shopping and sightseeing. A word of caution: there is a construction site across Newbury Street. If you want to sleep in, ask for a different location.