Upgrade of a Lifetime: Four Seasons Boston Presidential Suite

I had the surprise of the year (or even decade) when I checked into Four Seasons Boston: an personal guide to my room. In international travel, sure, this happens, but in the US this is only reserved for exceptions and exceptional reasons.

“Sir, Welcome to the Presidential Suite.”

Jaw on the floor. Ok, that is a lie, I almost just fell over. The ten room suite has a balcony over the Boston Common and is absolutely breathtaking. Presidential Suite is a general term for the nicest room in a hotel (I didn’t know this). In this case, the $12k a night shining beacon of all things good is the nicest place I’ve been in the northeast. Talk about nice overload, this was just too much.

Upgrade of a lifetime? You bet.

Time to start enjoying it, as my checkout time was 50 hours away.

I came to Boston for the weekend for an ultimate sports weekend of sorts. Red Sox game Friday and Sunday with a Saturday night Celtics playoff game. It was a perfect break from living in NYC and filled my Boston sports heart. Red Sox! Celtics! Now add in Four Seasons and we have a weekend to remember. Add in 10 rooms in my room, and we have a mix between Brewsters Millions and finding out your long lost cousin owns a castle.

A photo tour for you perhaps? Let’s go:

The bedroom:

The Living Room:

The Balcony View:

I took a breath and relaxed for a few minutes, followed by a frantic pacing around the place. Kitchen is over here. Take a right at the statue for the second bathroom. The fifth couch is the most comfortable. The balcony is relaxing to be on and people look at you like you are a celebrity, because many times they are. What is the wikipedia entry for who has slept here? How good is the espresso?

The attention to detail of Four Seasons as a whole is amazing. They knew about my gluten allergy so they removed all of it from the room.

At this point of my stay I had a) called my family and b) taken the following notes: ‘you now know this exists, idiot’ and thought very hard about jumping on the bed.

Very tempting.

First though, there was a scavenger hunt. No joke the Four Seasons Boston Twitter gave me a few clues to find a Red Sox hat (that, somehow was my perfect size).

Found it. Red Sox game soon. No place in the world speaks to me more directly than Fenway Park. I met a few friends and tried to catch a cab to the game. Not so fast. The staff escorted us to the black car service to the entrance just off of Yawkey Way.

One of my friends Annie Fitzsimmons describes her love of hotels stemming from an ability to recreate yourself with a reservation. You could become a New York socialite or a world traveler for a short period. I didn’t get that at first, but as we being given the VIP treatment I pretend I’m not living out of a bag on a trip not soon forgotten around the world. This weekend, I was a sports fan.

The game went well. I said hi to the ushers I’ve been saying hi to for years and the Red Sox broke their losing streak. One homer came near us (something I don’t think will ever happen, but would be fun). It was fun catching up with friends (two of the three I met from writing) and turned in to a big guy sized bath (wahooo) and a book.

Woke up and had an amazing breakfast at The Bristol Lounge of a Salmon Frittata. They had gluten free toast (which seemed to be house make). Absolutely delicious.

A walk around Boston Common which is perhaps the most romantic place to go for a stroll in the morning on a crisp spring day. A nice long walk with a great friend then off again to really exploring the hotel. Another scavenger hunt was set up for me to find a Celtics Hat for tonights game. I was directed to the pool.

There is a piano in the room. A wonderful baby grand piano. I decided to try to learn Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Almost got it after an hour and a half.

Time for the game tonight. Calls. More calls. More exploring. A treat waiting for me back in the room.

Laura Fitton has a family tradition of watching the Kentucky Derby with her family and fresh lobster. I found this out when we had lunch about three hours before the race. I joked about watching it upstairs (met with a laugh about inviting family to a hotel room) followed by a tour. Her parents are bringing lobster though, so we would have to give room service a cooler of lobsters. I think they can handle this odd request. A quick check with the restaurant manager, no problem.

This is odd. This is magnificent. Hours later Laura’s whole family is over enjoying dinner cooked to perfection and watching the race. Her daughters had a bubble making competition in the bathtub (mohawks!) and departed. It was a really special family time (he parents are awesome to talk to about just about anything).

Off to a Celtics game with a bunch of friends. Not as good as the Red Sox game, lesson learned. A bunch of people came back to the room and we watched as the Miami Heat came back to the hotel (they stay here). So game on, tomorrow morning they might just go in for a workout, I must try to run into one of them. We watch the team bus unload and I beg my friends to not heckle them. Boston sports fans and manners, especially after a loss, are perhaps not the most mixing of liquids, but they behaved and saw the big three walk in from six stories above.

I wake up, go to the gym and have a great workout. The staff at Four Seasons Boston is just amazing every step of the way. Fruit breakfast while reading the NY Times. No Heat players. No worries, was fun to think about. I head to the steam room and relax. Just a few hours left and I have to check out. I zen out and a few others join in… including Dwane Wade.

Well, this could be interesting. In last nights game Wade took a cheap shot and dislocated Rondo’s elbow. His is a steam room pro, if there is one. Three bottles of cold water brought in, two go directly on the thermostat making the steam machine go of full tilt. Time to settle in. I find myself looking, not looking, looking, not looking and subconsciously rubbing my elbow. The Heat were one of the most hated teams in sports at the time and I had my sports loving opportunity of a lifetime here.

I wish something more interesting happened, but I didn’t say anything than the usual causalities and a mention of the love of sport. He was really nice an obviously didn’t want to chat too much. I was feeling the effects of the steam and took a shower.

One final moment on the balcony and then back off to the game.

The perfect sports weekend. Three games and getting to experience a very special hotel.