Last month I stayed at Raffles in Boston. Most of the reviews I’d read beforehand said things like “this is the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed at but the service is horrible.” I booked it because I’d been there for afternoon tea last year and it was indeed gorgeous, and I was there for an event that gave me a decent discount, so I figured I’d give it a try.
Maybe my expectations are low, but I was very, very satisfied with pretty much everything about my stay.
We arrived to some thoughtful homemade treats left in the room for us, centered around the event we were there for. We only got turndown service the second night and it didn’t include any treats, so we left the do not disturb light on the rest of our stay, which was probably a mistake because I heard there were treats other nights. For me, turndown is all about the treats.
Our room didn’t have a great view, but it looked like a theatrical set out there, which was fun. No complaints there.
The pool was especially nice for a city hotel. It reminded me of the Burgenstock pool (but without the incredible views). The sparkly tiles made what could have been a boring lap pool gorgeous. Even the showers were sculptural. And being able to swim laps every day was fantastic. (Unfortunately, the pool closed at 8 pm, though, and after seeing how busy/borderline rowdy things got in the evening, I can understand why.)
We had dinner in the restaurant — very nice, great food. Very comfortable and really lovely servers. We went back for tea the next afternoon and didn’t love our server then, but the tea service is outstanding. (Tea last year was in the bar, which is also a gorgeous space, but they’ve moved it to the restaurant.)
The worst I can say about our stay was that (1) we arrived Thursday night and almost had the place to ourselves, but by Saturday, the two guest elevators weren’t really adequate (long waits, especially since we were on the top guest floor), and (2) since we were there for the marathon, they generously left epsom salts and a bath bomb in the room for after the race…but the room didn’t have a tub. 🤦🏽♀️ All in all, though, I would 100% stay there again.