Seaport Boston Hotel Rating: 3.5 Pearls

Downtown and Waterfront, Boston, Massachusetts

Simple cherry wood furniture throughout

Affordable, immaculate, serene, and modern, the 426-room Seaport Hotel is an unsung business hotel that distinguishes itself from its competition with a few unique features like its no-tipping policy, noteworthy environmental efforts (see Eco-initiatives), a full-scale gym (with spa services), and a whole floor of hypoallergenic rooms. The hotel opened in 1998, but thanks to a 2009 renovation, it looks brand new. The serene lobby and guest rooms are decorated in soft sea-foam greens, corals and beiges, with handsome, simple cherry wood furniture throughout. In 2011, the hotel saw even more improvements, as soft renovations to rooms brought in new bedding and paint. These small touches have brightened the space considerably.

Standard guest rooms (referred to as "Deluxe") are a comfortable 310 square feet and have large wooden desks and wall-mounted 22-inch flat-screen TVs (with a meager 38 channels). Marble bathrooms are clean and bright, with Gilchrist & Soames toiletries and tub showers with excellent water pressure. A few thoughtful touches include a black "makeup" towel (for ladies who want to avoid smearing mascara on the pristine white towels), a pillow menu, nightly turndown service, and a Bose Sound Machine. For $30 more per night, you can book one of the hotel's PURE rooms, which are certified 99.6 percent allergen-free but are otherwise identical to the Deluxe Rooms. Or you can upgrade to a Harborview room for spectacular views of the Boston Harbor.

An array of deluxe amenities adds to the Seaport's appeal. The huge, full-scale WAVE gym is outfitted with a heated lap pool and about every cardio and weight machine on the market, and offers free bike rentals, exercise classes, and spa services. The business center comes equipped with a copy machine, color printer, and conference room for six. There's also a Select car rental counter, a Zipcar parking lot, and a gift shop on-site. Aura restaurant serves upscale nouveau-American dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a children's menu. The more casual Tamo Bar offers a full bar and a light menu, while the Seaport Cafe serves Starbucks coffee and prepackaged sandwiches. Service is comprehensive and all-inclusive -- meaning that hotel staff is trained not to accept tips -- if not altogether fastidious.

It all adds up to an impressive package -- not especially stylish, but a great value and a sense of understated luxury. The Seaport beats the nearby Westin Boston Waterfront with its cheaper rates and closer proximity to area restaurants like Morton's Steakhouse, and Legal Test Kitchen. But the comparably priced and newer Renaissance Boston Waterfront (opened in February 2008) has a better on-site restaurant and a livelier bar scene.

View on a Larger Map

Smack in the middle of the rapidly developing waterfront district, directly on the waterfront, and closer to the airport and the South Street train station than hotels in central Boston, the Seaport Hotel is ideally located for business travelers. The Boston Convention Center, connected to the Westin Boston Waterfront, is a seven- to 10-minute walk. With a focus on business and large residential condominiums, the area isn't filled with tourist attractions, but there are a few. Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art is just five blocks away, and the Children's Museum is nearby. Still, the area feels a bit remote, and it's dead at night, though it has a small handful of notable bars and restaurants like the Legal Test Kitchen (one block away) and Drink (five blocks away), a cocktail lounge from Boston restaurant maven Barbara Lynch.

• A five- to 10-minute walk from the Boston Convention Center
• Five blocks from the Institute of Contemporary Art
• Seven- to 10-minute walk to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
• The nearest stop on the T (Boston's subway system) is Silver Line Way station on the Silver Line, one block from the hotel
• The Silver Line runs directly to Logan International Airport. Getting from the airport to the hotel on the Silver Line T takes less than 20 minutes.
• A taxi from the airport takes 10 to 15 minutes.
• South Street Station, Boston's main regional train station, is a five-minute cab ride from the hotel.
• Faneuil Hall, a pedestrian mall and tourist haven lined with Irish pubs, restaurants, and chain stores, is 20 to 25 minutes away via public transporttion.
• The Boston Common, the country's oldest park and the start of the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail, is 15 to 20 minutes away via public transportation.
• A 15-minute cab ride or 45 minutes on public transportation to Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox
• Harvard Square is about a half-hour away via public transportation.

An extensive list of environmentally friendly initiatives has earned the Seaport Hotel numerous awards and accolades.

• Energy-smart roof and thermo-glass windows conserve heat and energy.
• Philips EcoVision flat-screen TVs in every room
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs in guest rooms and public areas
• Aura Restaurant recycles its cooking oil for biodiesel and uses local, seasonal produce in the majority of its dishes.
• The city's first in-room hotel recycling program