Boston
Boston Harbor Hotel
What it is: A waterfront 230-room luxury hotel off the Boston harbor.
The rooms: All 204 rooms and 26 suites are equipped with high-speed Internet access, Web TV, plasma-screen televisions, Bose Wave sound systems, and a choice of daily newspapers.
Amenities: The hotel boasts a spa, fitness center, indoor pool, concierge, child-care services, shoe shine, and florist. The staff can also provide pet care, including walking services. For food and wine with harbor views, try Meritage the Restaurant. There's also Intrigue Café on-site, with casual indoor and seasonal outdoor dining. For a lighter meal after a day of sightseeing, try Rowes Wharf Bar.
Activities: Guests will find themselves steps from the financial district and attractions, like the New England Aquarium with it's 187,000-gallon Caribbean coral reef tank and regular marine-mammal demonstrations, and the Children's Museum, with educational entertaining opportunities.
Details: 70 Rowes Wharf, from $440 for a Superior room with two double beds.
Hotel Marlowe
What it is: A four-diamond boutique hotel on the Charles River across from downtown Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The rooms: All 236 rooms, including 14 suites, offer complimentary high-speed Internet, CD stereos, and coffee makers.
Amenities: From a toothbrush to a razor, Marlowe's Forgot it? We've Got It! service will provide any travel necessities you may have left home without. The Mind. Body. Spa. program offers in-room exercising with yoga, Pilates, and core strengthening. Executive and Presidential suites offer Fuji spa tubs for further relaxation. Bambara, a restaurant adjacent to the hotel, offers 24-hour room service. Take advantage of the fitness center and complimentary kayak and bike rentals. The KimptonKids program makes traveling with children simpler, offering cribs, high chairs, booster seats, in-room child-safety kits, welcome gifts for children, lists of kid-friendly activities in the area, child-size robes, babysitting, car seats, and stroller rentals.
Activities: Walk through the charming downtown neighborhoods and parks, visit Quincy Market, or get tickets to a Red Sox, Celtics, or Bruins game. Boston Duck Tours and Harbour Cruises offer great ways to see the city from the water.
Details: 25 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, from $349 for a King Deluxe room with one king-size bed, or try the Kids' Planet Discovery Package, with four passes to the Museum of Science, fresh-baked cookies in-room, breakfast for four in Bambara, access to the Books on Call program, and two Kimpton Kids Kits, from $309 per night.
The Liberty Place Hotel
What it is: An 1851 jail (closed in 1990) turned modern urban retreat.
The rooms: Nearly three hundred 400- to 800- square-foot rooms with large floor-to-ceiling windows and beautiful mahogany accents. The more spacious suites have one-and-a-half baths with a separate living and dinning area and overlooks the Charles River giving guests great views of Beacon Hill.
Amenities: The hotel offers complimentary high-speed Internet and bikes, in season. Its main amenity is its location; being just steps away from Beacon Hill puts you and your family in the perfect spot to enjoy what Boston has to offer.
Activities: Explore the area by taking a boat ride from the Community Boating Dock and heading just across the Charles River to the Museum of Science. Or venture in the other direction and hit the shops at the Boston Common.
Details: 215 Charles Street, Boston; from $375 for a Luxury King room.
Nine Zero
What it is: A four-star, 190-room boutique hotel that's as friendly toward pets as it is toward children.
The rooms: All rooms feature complimentary high-speed Internet, 27-inch televisions, On-demand games, a CD player, complimentary travel essentials you might have forgotten, and in-room spa services including yoga, Pilates, and core strengthening.
Amenities: The hotel offers an evening wine hour, same-day laundry, 24-hour room service, a concierge, and a personal shopper. For children, the hotel offers the KimptonKids program. Parents can borrow complimentary cribs, high chairs, booster seats, and in-room safety kits, while kids will receive welcome gifts, a list of kid-friendly activities in the area, and child-size robes. The concierge can also help arrange babysitting, child safety seats for rental cars, and stroller rentals. The hotel's restaurant, KO Prime, features world-class Kobe beef, King salmon, and Kurobuto pork, as well as an extensive list of side dishes.
Activities: Contact the concierge before you arrive for suggestions and assistance booking tickets to sporting events, the theater, and musical performances, or for arranging sightseeing tours.
Details: 90 Tremont Street, from $329 for a King Premier room with one king-size bed.
