With the COVID-19 crisis beginning to ease up in New England at the beginning of the summer and the kids safely off to sleepaway camp, my wife and I decided to venture into Boston for a couples staycation weekend. We were hoping to try some new and exotic things like… sitting down to eat at a restaurant and walking around the city at our own pace.

Finding a Hotel

While we could have driven in for a day or two, we decided to see what a hotel stay was going to look like. Checking both Marriott and Hyatt properties in Boston, we saw several that were closed. Others had surprisingly high prices considering the likely low occupancy rates. In the end we decided on the Hyatt Regency. We had been there twice before and wondered how the COVID version of the stay would compare to the previous stays. Additionally, I had achieved top level Hyatt Globalist status at the beginning of the pandemic (mostly due to spend on my World of Hyatt Visa card) and this would be my first change to use it.

The hotel location is fantastic for the type of weekend we were hoping to spend. We were a short walk shopping and restaurants. It would be more a matter of what would be open both at the hotel and in the immediate area.

The hotel usually charges a hefty “destination fee” though they were suspending that fee since all the restaurants and fitness center were closed, though as a Globalist, these fees are waived.

The nightly rate for the hotel was $120 which is a fantastic price for a normal summer and was one of the more attractive rates among the options we considered. We knew the hotel and rooms were excellent and there was a chance we could get upgraded due to my status.

We would drive in and park in the garage under the hotel.

Checking In

The website said masks were mandatory and I was interested to see how seriously management took the rules. I had read widely varying stories of other hotels and cities.

In the end the front desk followed the rules to the letter. I was quite impressed. Checkin was completely touchless. There was plexiglass separating us at the checkin area. There was hand sanitizer at every elevator and entrance. Most guests wore masks as well.

The elevators had signs requesting one party at a time and people were very good about that rule. There just weren’t many people in the hotel which made the distancing thing that much easier.

On checkin we were upgraded to a suite as a benefit of being a Globalist. It’s funny, when we don’t have the kids we got upgraded to a larger room we didn’t need. We still accepted and appreciated it though! Another benefit of being a Globalist is free breakfast. Since the restaurant was closed the offering was a pre-packaged croissant and juice or points. I look the points.

Our suite was a nice two room suite with more space than we really needed. It would have been great if the kids were with us. The room was at the end of the hall and we had some noisy neighbors, but could only hear them from the common room. With the bedroom door closed we couldn’t hear them at all.

During our stay housekeeping was not offered, which we were notified of during checkin. The room itself was clean and the remote control was wrapped in a plastic bag. We never had any concerns about cleanliness.

Enjoying Boston

We never go into Boston in the summer. It’s always overcrowded and traffic makes it miserable to get around. This year was definitely different. There were people, but it was far from crowded. We had no problems getting patio seating at any restaurant we visited city we’ve never enjoyed in the summer. It was quite pleasant. Even the North End, the notoriously crowded Italian section of Boston, was very manageable. We enjoyed several meals at normal eating times without waits.

People generally wore masks and more importantly kept their space. We sometimes spend some staycations in Boston in the middle of the winter to avoid the crowds and the crowds were even thinner, especially during meal times. We do feel bad for the restaurant industry and realize times are tough for them so we were sure to leave big tips wherever we went.

Conclusion

Things are different during COVID-19, but we were still able to enjoy our stay. The hotel amenities were all closed so it was essentially just a place to sleep and the nightly rate reflected that. We had lowered expectations going into the stay, but we definitely had a good stay.

Based on this stay and the likely continuation of these types of limited service stays, we may be changing the types of hotels we look for on future trips. Full service hotels aren’t as attractive when they aren’t actually offering additional services. Sometimes the location or rooms are better than lower services hotels, but there’s more of a trade-off until full service hotels return to normal operations. The price on this hotel was right so that wasn’t part of our equation during this trip.

It was enjoyable experiencing the city in a new season and without the crowds. We’re glad we got to take advantage of it!