Marriott Rewards won another best hotel travel rewards program from U.S. News & World Report this week. I don’t have elite status with Marriott Rewards this year, yet I have been treated impressively on several stays at Marriott brand hotels this year, from Courtyard Salt Lake City in January to Boston Marriott Copley Place, where I stayed last month on an $80 winning auction bid for a room and breakfast.
Boston Marriott Copley Place – The Neighborhood
Marriott has hotels in several outstanding locations around Boston. I had stayed at InterContinental Boston on the Boston Waterfront and at Wyndham Beacon Hill, near hospitals by the Charles River of Beacon Hill area. Boston Marriott Copley Place has major shopping opportunities and historic sites in an area of Boston called Back Bay.
Back Bay Boston used to be an estuary with marsh land where the tidal water actually came up the peninsula to near Boston Public Garden, which is now about the center of the city for the historic peninsula district.
Back Bay was a massive 19th century landfill project from 1857 to 1882. This area was planned communities with some of Boston’s finest 19th to 21st century architecture.
Copley Square
I arrived at the hotel via Boston subway trains, called ‘The T’ locally. Copley Station is on the green line with frequent train service from other city center locations. Exiting the station reveals Trinity Church to your left and Boston Public Library to the right.
Trinity Church Boston (1877) at Copley Square
Copley Square as a name place has an interesting story. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) is one of the most notable Colonial-era painters. He was born to a tobacco trade family in Boston. His portrait painting earned him a fine income for colonial era Boston. He married well. Family issues created turmoil in Boston for the young artist. His father-in-law was the tea trading merchant for the central flash point event of the Boston Tea Party. His house was attacked by a mob searching for loyalists. Attention from the English art establishment encouraged him to go to England. Copley went to England as the Revolutionary War was sparking. His wife soon followed. He made his fame and living painting in Europe. His fame as a son of Boston led to the Copley names for Back Bay developments in the late 19th century.
  
Boston Public Library (1895) and Old South Church (1873) at Copley Square.
Marriott Copley Place is in the direction of the skyscrapers behind Boston Public Library. The Prudential Tower (1964) is second tallest building in Boston at 749 feet and 52 floors. Prudential Tower is across the street from Marriott Copley Place.
  
Marriott Copley Place is connected to Prudential Center Shopping Mall with high end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor anchoring the mall.
There is Star Market, a major supermarket directly across the street from Boston Marriott Copley Place. I picked up cooked whole lobster for $6.99 per pound and two crab cakes for $4. Stella Artois 12-packs were $13.99. I loved this market.
Boston Marriott Copley Place Lobby
The lobby is set on two levels with registration at ground floor and Starbucks, Champions Sports Bar and Restaurant and a gift shop on the second level. The second level is also a passageway between a parking garage and the Shops at Prudential Center. There is plenty of non-hotel guest traffic passing through the space.
  
  
Elevators at Boston Marriott Copley Place
The elevators use an electronic push button assigned floor. I had to physically select a floor on electronic screen and an elevator letter is assigned. There are no floor buttons inside the elevators. There are numerous elevators at lobby level and around five I think for higher floors of the building.
  
Elevator touch screen shows 38 floors. In other hotels I have seen a similar system with key card coded elevator assignment with the tap of your key card on the screen.
The Room
I was on the 25th floor. Floors 28 and 29 are Concierge Level rooms with lounge. The view was great from my room.
  
Hard to believe these two views are out the same window. To the left were miles of gridded streets covered in summer green deciduous trees with hills visible in the distance. Look to the right and some of Boston’s tallest skscrapers stand close by with the prominent glass building being 111 Huntington Avenue (2002), a 36-story tower topped with a dome. It is the eighth tallest building in Boston at 554 feet. In the far right background is the Prudential Tower.
  
  
An empty minibar frig in the TV cabinet and ice down the hall made me a happy guest.
  
The Cheesecake Factory
I had eaten very few hot meals in three weeks of travel, primarily eating salads, fruit, bread and cheese with several cold sandwiches and Indian entrees in London and Copenhagen. In my wallet was a $50 gift card for The Cheesecake Factory. I can’t remember if this was a gift card from last Christmas or before that. Turned out The Shops at Prudential Center have The Cheesecake Factory. I was amazed at the line of people waiting for dinner at 8pm on a Sunday evening. I ordered Grilled Salmon and potatoes takeaway. That meal used up $28 of my $50 card. I had a beer and ate salmon dinner in my room at the Marriott. There are several other restaurants at Prudential Center.
The only other time I have eaten at The Cheesecake Factory was another time I had a $50 gift card to burn. Prices are pretty high at the restaurant, except for some good dessert values, but I only ordered a main entrée.
Boston Marriott Copley Place breakfast at Champions restaurant included the buffet for free, normally a $25 or so meal. Nice selection of food.
Boston Marriott Copley Place is a category 8 hotel reward night at 40,000 points. Average rates this summer were $200 to $400 per night.
My one-night stay at Boston Marriott Copley Place cost $80 from an Omaha Children’s Miracle Network Fundraiser auction bid I won last December for one free night with breakfast.
Related Posts:
Loyalty Traveler – Marriott deals scored on Super Silent Auctions (Dec 18, 2014)
Loyalty Traveler – On the Waterfront at InterContinental Boston (July 23, 2015)
Loyalty Traveler – Marriott Long Wharf Boston (July 19, 2015)
Loyalty Traveler –Marriott’s Custom House Boston (July 19, 2015)
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