I receive a ton of questions from readers about where to stay when they visit Boston. I’m always hesitant to give my recommendations because I’ve only stayed at two hotels (now three) in the area. All of my family lives locally and when my friends visit, they stay at our house, so I just haven’t had a ton of experience with the hotels in the Boston area.
With that said, I finally have a great hotel recommendation for those of you who are visiting Beantown: The Charles Hotel . It really has a lot going for it, especially if you’re looking for a “healthy living” experience.
Quick side note: The Charles Hotel is located in Cambridge, which is not Boston proper. If you want to experience all of the Boston-y things in the city, I recommend staying at . It’s located in the Back Bay/Copley area of Boston, right on Huntington Avenue across from the Prudential, so it’s basically near all of the touristy stuff. The rooms are absolutely gorgeous, the hotel restaurant is amazing, and there’s a pool on the roof! If you want to learn more about it, here are my reviews: .
Ok, back to why I think The Charles Hotel is a great place to stay when you visit Boston. The main reason is that it has so much to offer; everything is right at your fingertips.
Obviously, and everything that goes along with it (shopping, restaurants, etc.) is right outside your door, but check out what The Charles Hotel has to offer (I totally nabbed this info from the website, but it’s really impressive):
- Full Service Spa & Salon – Corbu Spa & Salon
- Complimentary Wi-Fi access in all guestrooms and public spaces
- 24-Hour Concierge
- 24-Hour in-room dining
- Library in lobby with The Harvard Coop’s autographed bestsellers
- Avis Rent-a-Car located onsite
- Same-day laundry
- Valet, indoor/underground parking & car salon
- “Kid’s Kits” presented to children upon arrival
- Complimentary Children’s DVD Rentals
- Pet-friendly < --- Murphy wants to visit!
- Access to The Rink (seasonal)
Not included in that list, but what I liked most about my stay:
Ok, now that I’ve (hopefully) sold you on The Charles Hotel, here’s a recap of my morning there. (I apologize if this post sounds super sales-y. I just want you guys to know why I think this hotel is a great place for out-of-town folks to stay.)
Snack
Jen woke up bright and early for work, so I got up as well. I said goodbye to her and then threw on my workout gear for a visit to the hotel gym for a run. I snacked on a banana before I hit the treadmill.
Workout
The Wellbridge Athletic Club is a legit gym, meaning the folks who live and work in the area are members. It has all of the usual fitness equipment (and plenty of it) as well as a lap pool. It’s definitely not your typical tiny, dark hotel gym with old school equipment.
For some reason, I just wasn’t in the mood to run this morning, but I love trying out new gyms, so I forced myself to get started. The first mile of my run was brutal (like why the F am I doing this to myself?), but once I got warmed up, I was happy I got my sweat on.
My workout for today was 3 x 800 with 5 minutes rest in between. It looked like this on the treadmill:
As I mentioned, I felt terrible at the start of my workout, but, as it progressed, I felt better, so my 800 intervals increased in speed each time. It was a short and sweet workout, and I finished in under 35 minutes.
After my workout, I headed upstairs to my hotel room for a quick shower. I watched Live! with Kelly while I got ready in the bathroom. It was awesome. How cool would it be to have one of these TVs in your bathroom at home?!
Breakfast
Once I was ready to go, I went downstairs to Henrietta’s Table for breakfast.
I almost headed home and ate breakfast there to save some money, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dine at Henrietta’s Table. Their breakfast/brunch is epic.
The first thing I ordered: coffee! Nice and strong. Perfect.
Everything on the menu sounded delicious, so I had trouble making up my mind. Eventually, I just ordered a few different things, which ended up being a lot of food!
Check out the size of my fruit!
The waitress warned me it was a large portion, but I didn’t think it would be that huge! Ha!
I also ordered an egg and a Morning Glory muffin, which was also pretty big.
I had no problem eating the entire thing. Obviously.
Good times at The Charles Hotel. I definitely recommend it!
Off to CrossFit! Woot!
I receive a ton of questions from readers about where to stay when they visit Boston. I’m always hesitant to give my recommendations because I’ve only stayed at two hotels (now three) in the area. All of my family lives locally and when my friends visit, they stay at our house, so I just haven’t had a ton of experience with the hotels in the Boston area.
With that said, I finally have a great hotel recommendation for those of you who are visiting Beantown: The Charles Hotel . It really has a lot going for it, especially if you’re looking for a “healthy living” experience.
Quick side note: The Charles Hotel is located in Cambridge, which is not Boston proper. If you want to experience all of the Boston-y things in the city, I recommend staying at . It’s located in the Back Bay/Copley area of Boston, right on Huntington Avenue across from the Prudential, so it’s basically near all of the touristy stuff. The rooms are absolutely gorgeous, the hotel restaurant is amazing, and there’s a pool on the roof! If you want to learn more about it, here are my reviews: .
Ok, back to why I think The Charles Hotel is a great place to stay when you visit Boston. The main reason is that it has so much to offer; everything is right at your fingertips.
Obviously, and everything that goes along with it (shopping, restaurants, etc.) is right outside your door, but check out what The Charles Hotel has to offer (I totally nabbed this info from the website, but it’s really impressive):
Not included in that list, but what I liked most about my stay:
Ok, now that I’ve (hopefully) sold you on The Charles Hotel, here’s a recap of my morning there. (I apologize if this post sounds super sales-y. I just want you guys to know why I think this hotel is a great place for out-of-town folks to stay.)
Snack
Jen woke up bright and early for work, so I got up as well. I said goodbye to her and then threw on my workout gear for a visit to the hotel gym for a run. I snacked on a banana before I hit the treadmill.
Workout
The Wellbridge Athletic Club is a legit gym, meaning the folks who live and work in the area are members. It has all of the usual fitness equipment (and plenty of it) as well as a lap pool. It’s definitely not your typical tiny, dark hotel gym with old school equipment.
For some reason, I just wasn’t in the mood to run this morning, but I love trying out new gyms, so I forced myself to get started. The first mile of my run was brutal (like why the F am I doing this to myself?), but once I got warmed up, I was happy I got my sweat on.
My workout for today was 3 x 800 with 5 minutes rest in between. It looked like this on the treadmill:
As I mentioned, I felt terrible at the start of my workout, but, as it progressed, I felt better, so my 800 intervals increased in speed each time. It was a short and sweet workout, and I finished in under 35 minutes.
After my workout, I headed upstairs to my hotel room for a quick shower. I watched Live! with Kelly while I got ready in the bathroom. It was awesome. How cool would it be to have one of these TVs in your bathroom at home?!
Breakfast
Once I was ready to go, I went downstairs to Henrietta’s Table for breakfast.
I almost headed home and ate breakfast there to save some money, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dine at Henrietta’s Table. Their breakfast/brunch is epic.
The first thing I ordered: coffee! Nice and strong. Perfect.
Everything on the menu sounded delicious, so I had trouble making up my mind. Eventually, I just ordered a few different things, which ended up being a lot of food!
Check out the size of my fruit!
The waitress warned me it was a large portion, but I didn’t think it would be that huge! Ha!
I also ordered an egg and a Morning Glory muffin, which was also pretty big.
I had no problem eating the entire thing. Obviously.
Good times at The Charles Hotel. I definitely recommend it!
Off to CrossFit! Woot!