Hotel Review: W Boston

This is a guest post by Nancy’s husband, Brian.

On a recent business trip to Boston, I stayed at the W Boston hotel (in the Marriott/SPG family). I travel for work about 25% of the time, and I try to stick to Marriott or Hyatt properties to boost our personal points stash. This was my first time staying in the W hotel brand.

W Boston Location

The location of the W Boston is ideal. I took a 20-minute Lyft ride from the airport. It’s located in the theater district and only two blocks from Boston Common and a block away from a T subway station.

W Boston is surrounded by great restaurants. A brewery is across the street, and P.F. Chang’s, Maggiano’s and Legal Sea Foods are very close. I had a delicious breakfast at The Friendly Toast just down the street.

The lobby and décor throughout the hotel is modern and sleek.

W Boston Hotel Room

I had a room with one king-size bed. Since it was a corner room, the layout was a little funky.

The room had a chair with small table and a separate desk.

The minibar was anything but mini, with full-size bottles of booze. And a Nespresso machine!

A glimpse of the modern bathroom:

The hotel does have rooms with two queens (not doubles, which I know is important if you’re sharing beds with kids).

W Boston Fitness Center

When I’m traveling for business, I frequently use hotel gyms. I have to work off all that restaurant food I eat while on the road!

The gym at W Boston is one of the best I’ve seen. It has apples and headphones:

A large selection of modern cardio equipment:

Big free-weight section:

I was excited to see both a heavy bag and a speed bag:

And thankfully I could practice my ballet moves:

And of course the pièce de ré·sis·tance: a Peloton bike.

One of the cool features of the W Boston gym is that you can rent workout shoes and an outfit for just $5. The hotel partners with Reebok for this service, and the stuff is delivered to your room. This arrangement is appealing to me because I like to limit my packing to just a carry-on for more efficient traveling.

Restaurant and Hotel Amenities

W Boston has one restaurant. I didn’t try it because there were so many other good choices within walking distance.

The hotel doesn’t have a swimming pool, which is a bummer for families. But, it does have a large, full-service spa.

Using Points/Earning Points

If you want to use points to stay at W Boston, it is a Category 6 on the Marriott Rewards point chart. It costs 40,000-60,000 points per night. See Leana’s post about credit cards to earn Marriott points. The Amex SPG personal card will be discontinued for new applicants on February 12.

If you’re staying in the off-season cold winter like I did, you may do much better by paying a cash rate. I paid a cash rate of $215 per night, or around $250 including taxes. I used my Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay, which earns 3X spending on travel.

Bottom Line

W Boston hotel is in a prime location for both business travelers and tourists. It’s in a very walkable neighborhood with tons of great restaurants.

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