Boston's Best Kept Secret Accommodations

With the waterfront balcony and cozy seating area of our room, I soon realized that Boston Yacht Haven is nothing like a typical urban chain hotel. The room my husband and I stayed in had enough space to lounge around in -- although with its proximity to all of the fantastic sites of Boston you may not want to spend much time lounging.

Arriving at the Commercial Wharf location via water taxi, we stepped on to the dock filled with varying size boats; including ones so huge that they looked like someone famous must own them. In addition to the overnight and conference accommodations that Boston Yacht Haven offers, they rent slip space to visiting boaters.

It was a bit cumbersome dragging our luggage across the rather long dock, but as soon as an employee realized we had arrived he rushed to our to aid.

Our room was furnished with a king sized bed, small dining table, and leather reading chairs. It even had an iPod ready alarm/radio which we used to listen to some Boston travel podcasts we had downloaded before the trip.

The most magnificent part of the room was the balcony. Facing Boston Harbor, it was a delight to sit on the balcony in the evenings watching the dinner cruises go by.

My favorite part about Boston Yacht Haven, however, had nothing to do with the room and everything to do with the location. It is situated on the waterfront, but remains within walking distance of the aquarium and Rowe's wharf activities, the shops and restaurants of Faniuel Hall, and the charming North End neighborhood. If you want to take a trolley tour or harbor cruise, the ticket offices and loading points are nearby as well.

My gripes were few and small; the first one being the continental breakfast. The breakfast consisted of pastries and Danishes, fruit, juice, and coffee. Not being a morning sweets person, the pickings were slim. Just a bagel or cereal would have been fine with me. Our room did have a small refrigerator in it, so it is possible to keep some alternative breakfast items there if you desire.

The second gripe was that water taxis were not running at the early hour we had to get to the airport, so we had to carry our luggage over to the Marriott at Rowe's Wharf to catch an early morning taxi to get back to the airport. Luckily, we just had weekend bags on wheels, but it is not something I would want to do with a large suitcase.

Boston is notorious for its expensive hotels, many of which are large chains that remain somewhat predictable. The small hotel atmosphere and exclusive yacht club feeling amid the big city is definitely something I would repeat on my next trip to Boston.

You won't find it in the guidebooks, making Boston Yacht Haven a best kept secret.