Thanks all!!!

@ABG - ahh yes the Fireplace Suite would be lovely but not in the cards price wise.

The Raffles Boston is offering a 3rd night free through Accor HERA/Virtuoso for stays through December 31st.

We had a really nice long weekend stay at the Newbury over Veterans Day. The location is perfect, the staff extremely kind and helpful. The rooms are bland in color but comfortable and you can't beat the park view.

Looks like Raffles was pulled off FHR? I was just about to book!!

Chiming in to report that I've had two delightful weekend stays at Raffles in Boston. I booked via my Chase Sapphire Reserve (and within the last few weeks), so I got all the nice extras using that card. They are nicely presented as well: hand-written letter, facts spelled out, no deviation from my expectations...

I'm open to trying other luxury hotels in Boston, but Raffles hasn't given me any reason not to return, except perhaps that their nice restaurant isn't particularly to my tastes being predominantly seafood dishes (while I don't eat shellfish.) Even so, I've enjoyed at least one satisfactory room service dinner on both visits.

If I have a favorite thing about the Boston Raffles, it might be their floral arrangements. They are magical, including the orchids and succulents in the guest room. This point is after all fundamental expectations of a 5 star property being met, of course. Helpful staff, minimal waiting, comfortable bed, etc.

I tend to get a hotel room when attending the theatre in the city because I live in the suburbs and don't enjoy feeling rushed/stressed around the event. Aside from the 2-3 hours spent at a show, I spend a lot of time in my hotel room and see it as a pampering escape opportunity.

We've stayed at just about every luxury hotel in Boston, and IMO, there are two real choices: Raffles and the Newbury. The Newbury for its location and bar (as someone else said, you can't beat the park views); the Raffles for pretty much everything else. The new Italian restaurant on the ground floor of the Raffles is lively and delicious (can't speak to the Portuguese restaurant, we haven't tried it); the "speakeasy" Blind Duck has great drinks (though kind of a weird vibe, I can't explain it - feels a little commercial maybe?); and if you go when it's warm enough, the Terrace Bar is lovely. Also - the guest experience manager, Anya, is an absolute delight and we always enjoy getting the chance to chat with her.

I know not everyone loves the rooms at the Newbury (they are a bit plain), but if you get a suite with a fireplace, they can be quite cozy, and the HP itself is high quality. Contessa on the top floor is a very fun vibe (as others have said, the food isn't always stellar, but it's buzzy and the drinks are good, and we enjoy that).

I had a suite with fireplace and it was unsatisfactory, Never again for me.

I find myself going back to the Langham every year. The staff is fantastic and love the club lounge.

I will say, don't get a room that is on the side of the entrance. You will hear the flags hitting off metal when it is windy. Lovely high ceilings in those rooms but we had to move after one night.

We're thinking of an overnight in Boston in June, mainly to visit the MFA and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and are leaning towards the FS One Dalton in an executive suite. The rooms look better to us than the Newbury, Raffles or Langham.

Any reason to avoid the FS? Anywhere else we should be considering?

Chiming in to bring back some blood into this thread's veins. I have an upcoming trip and I ultimately decided on the FS One Dalton. I went back and forth for a while between the following properties:

1. Newbury -- this was my first option when I initially started planning this trip. The idea of having a fireplace was greatly enticing, especially since I'm going right before Christmas. Two things ultimately turned me away: (1) the fact that there's no real lobby or sense of space for the hotel, and (2) I emailed their concierge and found out they don't have any classic fireplace suites with a park view. That's simply absurd to me. So you have rooms that face the park and then....studio suite (no park view), classic studio (no park view), classic fireplace suite (no park view), and only until park view suite do you get a view of the park. Why are there 3 tiers of suites without park views but a good chunk of the rooms have them???? No thanks.

2. Langham -- I loved the rooms here and the club has only stellar reviews, but the location is simply horrible. Hard pass.

3. FS Boston Common -- This hotel had the charm but I was worried it was a bit dated. Also quite expensive (more then FS One Dalton), and I preferred the location of One Dalton.

4. Raffles -- This was a really tough decision for me. Raffles is by far my favorite brand, and I was so excited to find out they had a location in Boston. I had one minor concern and a really, really big concern. The minor concern was that they had no Asian food offerings at the property, which felt off-brand to me since their origins are in Singapore and a majority of their properties are in Asia. There are a ton of Asian-inspired aesthetics chosen throughout the interior...but no Asian restaurant. Secondly, and the bigger concern, was the service. I'm not going to invalidate or discount anyone's positive reviews upthread, but I have seen VERY polarizing reviews of the service at this property, and my travel agent (who I book through) also advised against booking here due to the service kinks that they need to work out. With how much they were charging, I'm not in a financial position to gamble with my money on that big of a risk.

5. FS One Dalton -- besides the reasons above for which I didn't choose Raffles (2nd choice), I absolutely loved the fact that they have Zuma here (see comment above abut no Asian food offerings at Raffles). The location was excellent, right by Newbury and Prudential, and I'm visiting a friend who lives near Northeastern, so that worked out in my favor. And finally, they had the FSPP promotion of a guaranteed one-tier upgrade, including suites. So I was able to spend $3,800 on a premier room for 5 nights, and I got upgraded to an executive suite. I'm not a huge fan of the bland decor, but I'll look past that for all the other reasons I mentioned.

I love that you brought this thread back because I've been debating trying a few more of these options to pair with my season tickets to the Huntington Theatre.

I've had 2/2 lovely experiences at Raffles and did not experience any service failures on my visits, but I'm trying FS One Dalton this week because it is physically so much closer to the venue for my show and I'm even more exhausted than my (low energy) usual post-Thanksgiving, plus there's winter weather in the forecast so a long walk sounds miserable.

My early contact with the concierge team at One Dalton was great; I'll report back this weekend after the stay and share more thoughts. I did look at the FS by the Common but its location would be better for shopping than for the tickets I have this week.

With my health acting up, I've realized I'm really looking forward to staying somewhere festive and decorated as that is something I miss from when my mother was alive. That's never been a hotel point of comparison for me before, but I guess it is now, at this stage of my life. I'm not saying a "chocolate bar" in the lobby was my primary motivation to try One Dalton, but I hope it is as charming and welcoming as it sounds.

I'm checking in to FS One Dalton next Wednesday, will the hotel reach out to me before my arrival, or my Travel Agent? I'm trying to change my pillow preferences on the FS website but every time i go to click 'save' it gives me an error. Should I just call in directly instead?

This time I booked via my credit card points/portal (CSR) and I got an automatic pre-arrival email directly, though I do have a FS account from previous resort stays (and maybe I manually "added" the trip in their system when I was checking out menus and spa options?)

I've found FS to respond promptly to email queries in the past, so I'm sure calling would also work.

If you have the 4 Seasons app on a phone or iPad, I find the chat feature to be a quite effective means of communication for things like pillow preferences.

IMHO, the Newbury Boston converted from Taj has the best location: close to the public garden and Newbury St.