Omni Parker House, Boston

...

The Omni Parker Hotel opened in 1855 and is situated right on the Freedom Trail - you couldn't ask for a more perfect setting to explore Boston. For America, this hotel is really old, and was the location for the famous 'Boston Tea Party'. For Europeans a 110 year old hotel is somewhat less amazing! Some of the rooms are named after famous literary figures who have stayed there: Ralph Waldo Emerson & Louisa May Alcott. John F Kennedy ...
...expensive dining costs in the Omni Parker. If you can't do without your gym and if there's not enough walking for you, the hotel has its own gym. I couldn't tell you what its like though!

For an authentic American bar experience - and a chance to be horrified at the legendary American portion sizes, turn left out of the hotel, pass the very new boutique Hotel Nine Zero and enter the bar on the corner. You could be on the set of 'Cheers'. ... more

We were lucky enough to be invited to a wedding in Boston last year, which provided me with the excuse to book a holiday to the States. My other half hardly put up an excuse either as he's never visited the USA.

I love using the net to find great deals on independent travel, so I customised a 10 day holiday which saw us take a hire car up the east coast and into French Canada first, and then hit Boston in time for a pre-wedding party, the big day, and a couple of days sight-seeing afterwoods.

I knew things were going to go well when we got a virgin atlantic upgrade because we wouldn't have been able to sit together in economy! It's never happened before, and may never happen again, but that champagne on the upper deck tasted better than I've ever tasted in my life! All the horror stories I'd heard about hours of queues to pass through immigration evaporated as we were given preferential disembarkation and everyone was held back waiting for us!!!

Our road trip up and down the East coast were fab, but let me skip forward to Boston and the subject of this review. We picked up a car load of extra luggage, crates of Magic Hat beer (you've got to try it!) and a novelty lobster souvenir. The idea of returning the car and taxi-ing it to the hotel was just too much to bear, so we ignored all the guidebooks and tried to drive into central Boston. Don't. It was hell. We got hideously lost, stupidly tried to ask the police for help who just looked at us amused and walked away, and nearly had a relationship busting argument. By a stroke of luck finally we came across the hotel. A bemused porter loaded all our luggage plus lobster onto a trolley and we passed from outside mayhem to the gilded luxury of the reception and foyer. Prepare to be blown away by the sheer elegance and luxury of this hotel in all the common parts and rooms. It's just had a multi million pound refit and it shows.

The Omni Parker Hotel opened in 1855 and is situated right on the Freedom Trail - you couldn't ask for a more perfect setting to explore Boston. For America, this hotel is really old, and was the location for the famous 'Boston Tea Party'. For Europeans a 110 year old hotel is somewhat less amazing! Some of the rooms are named after famous literary figures who have stayed there: Ralph Waldo Emerson & Louisa May Alcott. John F Kennedy proposed there, and Dickens is also rumoured to have stayed. For pastry fans the Boston Cream Pie originated here.

There are 551 rooms, of varying sizes, over 14 floors - try to get as high as possible for the views. We found it strange that two double beds had been crammed into our 'European' sized room, as seems to be the trend in America. We would have been quite happy with just the one bed and a little more room to move around. What I did love however, was the mini-fridge and tray of goodies (aka a 'Refreshment Center'). The bathrooms are luxurious and include his and her robes. The TV was playing back to back Fawlty Towers on one channel, a happy contrast to our luxury pad.

The hotel is so busy, it seems amazing they can keep track of all the people passing in and out, and the concierge seemed fairly disinterested in our request for a dinner recommendation, handing us a pre-prepared print out. Generally you are not going to get much personal service here as you never see the same member of staff twice.

Parker's Bar however was American customer service at its best. On the day of the wedding we found ourselves running really late but starving hungry. We asked the waiter for the fastest lunch available and he literally whisked out bowls of soup and hot chicken gougons with salad. The bar drinks were expensive but I don't think the barman used a drinks measure, the measures were generous and intoxifying! And the ambiance of the wood panneled room and fabulous huge library type chairs meant we stayed in the bar for a rather large tabs-worth each night.

You can feel like a President outside the hotel too, as you emerge and a doorman in tails whistles a cab for you.

Boston itself is another whole topic, but in brief there is so much to see, buy and eat you will find yourself spending precious little time in the hotel, and you can certainly bypass the expensive dining costs in the Omni Parker. If you can't do without your gym and if there's not enough walking for you, the hotel has its own gym. I couldn't tell you what its like though!

For an authentic American bar experience - and a chance to be horrified at the legendary American portion sizes, turn left out of the hotel, pass the very new boutique Hotel Nine Zero and enter the bar on the corner. You could be on the set of 'Cheers'. There are lots of locals, the beer's cheap and the food's great. There are pool tables at the back. That's where our whole wedding party ended up - drinking and playing pool in our posh clothes till 2 in the morning, then we hit someone's 'refreshment center' till the early hours.

Our price deal is sadly out of date, but somehow I managed to get a room only price at the Omni Parker on Expedia of £65! A true bargain. I've just had a quick search and the lowest I've found today is £118 per night. Americans don't like small rooms though - so if you want a bargain, opt for one of the very small 'European rooms' in this lovely hotel and stay in luxury for less.

We had to travel in cattle class on the way back with no leg room and not a sniff of any free champagne! But the novelty lobster made it home OK and has pride of place in the kitchen. 

...less