This Ritz-Carlton Boston Common Review is from a recent stay in a Deluxe Room with Club Lounge access. Visiting Boston? See all our Boston reviews and posts.
TravelSort Clients may book the Ritz-Carlton Boston with Virtuoso benefits:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Continental breakfast daily, for up to two in room guests
- $100 USD Equivalent Food & Beverage credit, to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
The Ritz-Carlton Boston is located at 10 Avery Street near Boston Common, a minute's walk from the Chinatown T station, and close to the Boston Opera House, local theaters, and the Financial District.
The lobby is small, but I liked that instead of a conventional check-in desk and line, there were a couple of desks where guests could be seated while checking in across from an associate. We did have to wait a bit, so it's not as efficient as a larger check-in desk staffed by three associates, but the more personal welcome was nice once it was our turn.
Right off of the lobby is Avery Bar, although it never seemed to be very busy during our holiday stay.
An especially welcome touch, given how cold it was outside during our holiday visit to Boston, was complimentary hot chocolate for guests. That was definitely a hit with my son (and husband).
Ritz-Carlton Boston Deluxe Room
The Ritz-Carlton Boston has 193 rooms and suites. We were in a Deluxe Room with City Views, which is 425 square feet. Rooms were last renovated in 2008, and at this point look a bit dated, in my view–especially after our stay at the sleeker Mandarin Oriental Boston.
Our city view looked somewhat bleak given the winter weather, although it didn't matter to us as we spent little time in the room. If you are planning a special occasion stay, I'd recommend a Park View Room or Luxury Park View Suite, however.
Still, we had no complaints about the comfortable king bed and got a great night's sleep.
The bathroom was on the small side, with a single vanity (although even the newer Mandarin Oriental Boston also had a single vanity–even Boston luxury hotels seem to lack dual vanities with his and hers sinks, at least in their room categories.
I was glad to see a bathtub and separate shower (although a regular shower, not a rain shower) and separate toilet chamber.
Bath products were by Asprey. Not my favorite, but still better than Ritz-Carlton branded bath products, which was the case a few years back at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.
Ritz-Carlton bathrobes were in the closet, along with padded hangers. Unlike the Four Seasons, however, there was no kid-size bathrobe for my son, nor any special kids' welcome amenity.
Turndown service brought the Ritz-Carlton's signature touch, a couple of Ritz-Carlton chocolates: one milk chocolate, the other dark chocolate.
Ritz-Carlton Boston Club Lounge
The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge offers daily food and drink presentations, the most substantial of which is breakfast. Here is the welcome letter I received, detailing the time of the 5 daily food and beverage presentations:
Other Club Lounge benefits include:
- Complimentary access to the attached Equinox Sports Club
- Complimentary Internet access
- Local phone calls
- 2 garments pressed daily, up to 9pm
Since our visit was during Christmas time, the Club Lounge was adorned with Christmas trees:
We never had an issue finding seating in the lounge, although typically Christmas is not a very busy time for Boston hotels.
We peeked into the Club Lounge just before 5pm, so most of the hors d'oeuvres had not yet been set out, although the wines had, and there were various snacks such as chips, dried fruit and nuts, and olives.
I can't say I was very impressed by the wines. I don't expect $30 bottles of wine, but Canyon Road is really atrocious, and retails for around $6 a bottle. The Apothic was certainly better than the Canyon Road, but nowhere near as good as the Cabernet we get from Trader Joe's and drink as our everyday red. Surely it's not too much to expect some decent $12-$15 bottles of wine from a Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge.
Perhaps the white wines were better; I didn't try them, or the Prosecco.
You'd probably be better off with some of the spirits, listed below, or simply making yourself an Irish coffee with the Baileys.
After our get together with relatives, we came back and while my husband and son went to sleep, I got some work done until the lounge's 10pm closing time. Mini desserts were available, so I sampled a mini berry tart, creme brulee and a cookie with some Tealeaves peppermint tea. The best of the four was the tea, but the cookie wasn't bad, just too sweet. The creme brulee topping wasn't very crunchy; it had probably been bruleed some time ago.
Breakfast seemed to be the Club Lounge's strongest suit. Here's the buffet setup:
There was a good selection of fresh fruit, and I was happy to see raspberries and blueberries among the offerings.
We also enjoyed the mango yogurt paired with some of the housemade granola:
And the quiche was quite good as well:
The breakfast pastries were disappointing, but they often are in U.S. club lounges.
The Verdict
The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common enjoys a great location by Boston Common, and the best rooms and suites overlook the park. Standard Deluxe Rooms are perfectly functional but somewhat dated looking. They do have good bathrooms for Boston, however, with a soaking tub, separate shower stall and separate toilet chamber. The best part of our stay was the Club Lounge breakfast, which, while not huge in terms of variety, was of good quality for a U.S. club lounge, apart from the pastries. Check-in and Club Lounge service was friendly, so while I've heard reports of inconsistent service for this property, we had no issues during our short stay.
If you've stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common, what was your experience?
Related Posts
Review: Mandarin Oriental Boston
Four Seasons Boston State Suite Review
Club Lounge, Ritz-Carlton Denver Review
Review: Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston
Trade Boston Restaurant Review
Disclosure: I paid a travel professional rate at the Ritz-Carlton Boston, and enjoyed complimentary Club Lounge access, however the views expressed in this post are my own.
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