Copley Square? Take Me There (Copley Square Hotel)

Member Name: amyturtle

Product:	Copley Square Hotel
Date:	24/05/02 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfort and character, Convenient location, Friendly staff

Disadvantages: Rising prices

The Copley Square Hotel is situated in the Back bay area of Boston a couple of blocks back from Newbury Street, one of the best places for shopping in Boston. It is a fairly old hotel but it's been really well looked after and inside there's a comfortable luxuriousness about it. When we stayed there we were lucky enough to get a huge corner room with a view down Huntington Avenue past the Prudential Centre and the Copley Mall. (It might even be the room in the picture, it looks exactly the same!)

Our room was really comfortable and warm which was good because it was January and it was snowing. Most tourists visit Boston in the Summer and Fall but I can highly recommend a Winter visit although the Boston Tea Party Ship isn't open over the Winter months. The Copley area is a really good base for exploring Boston because so many things are within walking distance and those that aren't are easily reached on the T, Boston's metro system. I would recommend a weekly pass if you're staying a few days because it's such a cheap convenient way to get around.

The staff at the Copley Square Hotel were fantastic. We had managed to get a great deal that included breakfast in Speeder and Earls, a public diner style eatery at the front of the hotel. On our first morning there was a bit of a debate about whether this was included or not but it was sorted out really easily and after that we stuffed ourselves stupid every morning. Speeder and Earls is very typical American fair with waffles, pancakes, cream, strawberries and lashings of maple syrup on everything, including sausages. (Don't worry if you don't like it, you add it yourself at the table.) It's also incredibly cheap and we found that the breakfasts really set us up for the day and meant that lunch wasn't too much of a worry because there wasn't much room for it.

We bought telephone cards from the hotel reception which were $10 for about 12
minutes. It turned out that these didn't work very well and we tried two or three before we got one that worked. The reception staff were really helpful and even phoned England for us to check that there wasn't a problem with the line. They said that they had had a few problems with the cards and were looking to maybe change to another company so it's possible this wouldn't be an issue any more. Personally I wouldn't buy them there though because later in the trip I found a street vendor that had cards for $10 that lasted almost an hour calling England. I thought that was fantastic value, especially because you can use them from the hotel room so make your calls in privacy. There are vendors all over the place although the cards they sell will vary in how long they last.

The Cafe Budapest is also part of the Copley Square which is renowned for its amazing food. We didn't try it but we did eat in the Original Sports Saloon where the portions are huge and delicious. We could work some of it off climbing the stairs as the lifts are fairly small and can take a long time to come. When we arrived we put our bags in the lift and walked up the stairs rather than contorting ourselves into the tiny space that was left.

Unfortunately since we stayed there, there don't seem to be as many real deals at the Copley Square. The prices have risen fairly steadily as more and more people have caught on to this little gem. I would still want to stay there though and I think if you shop around you can save a lot of money. And believe me, it's worth it!

Overall the hotel is comfortable and characterful. The heating has its own appeal and makes some clunky whirry noises which lull you to sleep. We only had a couple of small problems which were sorted out with no fuss at all and I can safely say it stands out in my mind as being the most welcoming hotel I have ever stayed in.

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To all those
who have placed comments on this opinion "Sorry guys!"

I had a bit of a debate with myself about whether to put the price on or not because of the variations depending on where you book. Anyway I'm more than happy to provide some info as requested.

When I went I only paid about £60 a night through Cresta World Travel but the cheapest prices I could find on the Internet now are on Expedia at £143.75 a night in August or £112.94 a night in January. I think you could probably get it for less at a travel agent. Virgin Holidays is advertising the extra night price at £100 per night. I have no idea what Cresta World Travel are currently charging as their website doesn't seem to allow you to search just for hotels but I did find that I saved a lot of money by not booking the holiday as a package.

Hope that helps. :)

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