InterContinental Boston

December 28th, 2021

Posts in this series:

Getting Ready - Thailand Pass and Singapore Airlines Saga

Review - Intercontinental Boston

Review - Japan Airlines Business Class B787-9 Boston to Tokyo Narita

Review - Japan Airlines Business Class B787-8 Tokyo Narita to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi

Review - The Athenee Bangkok, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Review - Le Méridien Chiang Mai

Review - Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa

Review - The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui

Review - Emirates Business Class A380 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Dubai

Enroute:

After the debilitating fiasco with Singapore Airlines, which you can check out in the previous post here, we decided to start fresh all over again. I was able to find an itinerary on Japan Airlines (JAL) that worked for us, as many of the airlines weren’t even flying much internationally at the moment.

One minor inconvenience was that we had to go to Boston, because Tokyo has two airports, Haneda and Narita. The New York flight was flying into Haneda, while the Bangkok flight was leaving from Narita. Japan wasn’t allowing any foreigners to enter so we weren’t able to transfer between airports. We could’ve gone to Chicago or Dallas as well, but Boston was just an Amtrak ride away.

Although I’m definitely an airplane person, there’s something ritualistic and sentimental about being on a train, at least for me. When we used to live in DC and needed to be in NYC, we’d always hop on the Acela or NE Regional. Often times we’d bring a bottle of wine and a pizza for the ride. So once I secured our reservation on JAL, we ubered to Penn Station and boarded the Acela bound for Boston.

During the ride I started looking for hotels for our 2-night stay. I’ve been to Boston a few times and stayed at the Envoy in Seaport. It was a very nice hotel with a beautiful rooftop and heated bathroom floor, which made a lasting impression given how cold Boston is in the winter. This time I figured I’d try something different. I had a bunch of IHG points so the InterContinental became a decent choice, The paid rates weren’t bad either, around $250/night.

Boston as a market hosts quite a few luxury properties, including two Four Seasons and a Mandarin. Neither was really necessary given it was essentially a layover stop on our way to Thailand. We probably could’ve booked an airport hotel.

Check-in:

The InterContinental is right across the river from the Envoy, which means it’s close to Seaport as well. The location could not have worked out better for us, as it was a 7-min walk from South Station.

The hotel was this rather towering and modern building, which blended in quite well with the downtown offices.

You’d think city hotels would be largely unoccupied between Christmas and New Year, but that wasn’t the case at all. Upon arrival we were greeted by a long line at check-in.

The queue didn’t move particularly fast either, so it was about 20mins before our turn.

Our room was a corner room with a “city” view, which was more or less just a street view. I had IHG Platinum status through the Chase IHG credit card, but that status wasn’t really valuable, so I didn’t bother asking for an upgrade.

The room was sizable due to its corner location. After a long entryway, the bathroom was to the right.

The bathroom was fine. I appreciated the separate tub and shower. Is Aveda now the official toiletries for InterContinental? I remembered it being something different, not that I liked the previous brand or anything. I do want to point out the toiletries in the shower were kind of randomly placed? Aren’t they normally side by side so you could see which bottle is what?

Outside the bathroom was a closet.

The rest of the room was right in front, featuring a king bed with ottoman, a desk and a chair.

The room had one of those smart minibars where you get charged when you move something. It was locked when we checked in, but it seemed like it wasn’t stocked.

The coffee machine provided was a Keurig, which was appropriate for InterContinental, as it’s not trying to be St. Regis or something.

Room service was available, though we didn’t order anything. Across the street from the hotel was James Hook, my favorite lobster roll in Boston. There were plenty of other restaurant options within a 15-minute walking radius as well. You could see the menu here:

Depart:

InterContinental Boston was great for our short stay before a big international trip. While the hotel was by no means luxurious, it was reasonably nice with all the necessary facilities. We didn’t use any, but there was a gym, a pool and a spa. These days I don’t have many demands for a city hotel - as long as there’s a spacious bathroom with a soak-able tub, decent quality robes, and slippers, I’m a happy camper.

The service at the InterContinental Boston was alright. I recall the Bostonians being pretty friendly and outgoing, however the front desk agents were a bit more indifferent than that. Overall I don’t have anything bad to say about this property and would recommend it.