As with a Prima Ballerina, or a
professional Quarterback on an NFL team, you can tell when an act is perfectly
executed:
the pirouette, the touchdown
pass.
You don’t know quite why or how it
got to be that way:
the bench presses
and blisters, the finesse required to point the toe or release the ball just
so.
But you do know perfection when you
see it. And so it is, with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston.
Beginning with the expansive foyer
upon entry, the custom designed interior by the Concord, Massachusetts-based Frank
Nicholson, the 14 floors and 148 guestrooms (including 12 suites) will leave
you breathless at every turn.
Opened in
October of 2008, the Mandarin Boston subtly intoxicates with sophistication,
elegance, comfort, luxury, and harmony.
Simultaneously
dense and expansive, inviting and private, the Yin and the Yang of Boston and
the Orient become Gibran’s Oak and Cypress trees, beautifully intertwined by
their Mandarin roots.
With a combination of styling that
is both classic and modern, the hotel appeals to all sensibilities.
In a sense, the Mandarin Oriental gives you -
the guest - the opportunity to be the artist of your own stay.
The Mandarin provides the finest blank white
canvas, while supplying guests with the charcoal, oils, or watercolors for
envisioning and executing his or her own personal masterpiece.
As with the original museum-quality art
throughout the building (including originals by David Hockney and Frank Stella),
the Mandarin Boston shares its own version of the finest raw Italian Carerra
marble – as well as all the tiny chisels needed - to craft an incomparable
travel experience that’s perfectly and uniquely, your own.
The most efficient elevators whisked
me up to my Back Bay Room on the 6th floor, at approximately 600
square feet. Boasting the largest average guest room size in Boston, it rivals
many a New York apartment.
The rooms
feel homey enough to make you feel as though they could actually live there. (No
wonder the Mandarin Residences – both condominiums and apartments- sold out so
quickly).
With warm neutral tones in
butter or jade, 400 count Frette linens, Ploh duvets and silk pillows (a nod to
Boston’s connection with the Oriental Ship Trade dating back to the 1700’s),
sofa and club chair seating area, business desk with amenities from paperclips
and scissors to high-speed internet, and 42-inch flat panel TV, you’ll simply
want to move in.
Climate controls that reset
to your desired zone via motion detectors upon entry, doors specifically
crafted to cancel out noise, and universal light switches make your room your
own little oasis, programmed especially just for you.
With a human being delivering a
cheery morning wakeup call, the Mandarin is both personal and private. So
private, that the desire to head to the 16,000 square foot spa* is partially
mitigated by the draw to your room’s own bathroom.
And a bath room, is what it truly is:
with wall to ceiling mirrored double doors, a
deep tub with faucet and additional shower head, separate glass-encased rain
shower, and closed door water closet, there’s nearly no need. Aromatherapy
Associates amenities fill the air with scents of calming eucalyptus, and lest
you’d forgotten anything (toothbrush, razor, bath salts, loofah…) it’s all
there without even having to ask.
Furthermore, maid service is prompt and discreet, with none of the
typical noise filtering in from the hallway often found in lesser hotels.
(*See separate Mandarin Boston Spa review).
In testing the concierge’s mettle
(without realizing how demanding perhaps I actually was), upon driving to the
hotel, I called to ask if they could help me with a commercial advertising
shoot that happened to coincide with my stay at the Mandarin.
The mission: to locate, purchase, and have
delivered a particular vintner’s wine:
two bottles each, one cabernet and chardonnay.
Within ten minutes I received a call
back:
the wine had been located.
Purchases were made, delivery executed within
another ten.
Lest this seem indulgent, I
was running behind on a key deadline. Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly
surprised and pleased Concierge Services could turn around what seemed like a
tall order, in such short order, in effect saving me countless hours (and the
inevitable headache) from fruitlessly scouring Boston’s wine shops.
Perfectly suited for business or
leisure travelers and families, the Mandarin Boston has suites available with
one and a half baths, pull-out sofas, and welcomes dogs and cats.
The Mandarin is also entirely
pedestrian-friendly, and just steps away from haute couture boutiques on Newbury
street, the fashionable Prudential Center shops, Boston’s famed park Boston
Common, and the South End’s best restaurants.
The newly-built Newbury Arcade even allows guests to walk straight from
the hotel to the Prudential Center, extremely welcome on a Boston winter night,
or hot summer day.
Overnight and valet
parking is also available, as is a complimentary car service to drop you off
within a two-mile radius of the hotel.
With a 4,200 square foot Ballroom
and additional smaller meeting spaces (each with its own kitchen and high-tech
A/V equipment) conveniently located on the second floor, the Mandarin also
plays host to business impresarios and their requisite meetings, as well as
social weddings, parties, and fundraisers.
With sumptuous meals designed by Executive Chef Nicolas Boutin (see
separate reviews of M Bar and Lounge and Asana Restaurant*), your palate is
sure to become as sated as your mind and body.
Mizu salon offers the finest Moroccan Oil products and its futuristic
all-white stations and expert stylists are sure to make your hair look, as good
as you’ll feel.
Each of the 23 Mandarins throughout
the world (and 18 in development) shares a similar sensibility, but is
unique.
The Mandarin Oriental is no
exception. With a knack for combining the progressive eclecticism and intellect
that is Boston along with ancient Asian influences and practices, the Mandarin Oriental
Boston appeals to all senses.
Awaken
yours.
*Please see separate reviews of the
Mandarin Spa, and Asana Restaurant and M Bar and Lounge.
