Thanks again for the advice on this thread; if you are arriving on Amtrak, it doesn't get much easier than staying at Copley Place. As others have advised, exit the station and either take the underground walkway or walk across the street to the mall and then a quick walk through the mall into the second floor of the hotel. It was nice that the mall was open to walk through, even late (11 p.m.) at night.

We did walk from the hotel into Chinatown and Boston Common; it's about a mile and took us about 20 minutes. Otherwise, taking the Orange Line from Back Bay is really easy.

The standard rooms are a little small but still very comfortable. The lounge remains closed during the weekend; we were given $10 certs for the Starbucks on the second floor. That would be more than enough for a drink, some fruit, and a breakfast sandwich.