Five Valentine’s Day deals in New England

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Nothing says “romance” like a roaring fire on a chilly evening on Valentine’s Day. Through the windows, you can see snow-laden trees and pure white landscapes. From the warmth of your room, you can enjoy the winter wonderland outside, as you settle down for the perfect evening with the perfect person in your life. If this is how you envision your Valentine’s Day this year, turn your thoughts to New England this year. There are plenty of deals at your disposal through the New England Inns and Resorts Association, and a tough travel market is leading many properties to put together some amazing deals. Here are four to get you started.

1. Diamond & All Engagement Package (Kennebunkport, Maine)

Is this Valentine’s Day going to be the first day of the rest of your life together? If you’re planning to pop the question, let The Kennebunkport Inn give you a hand. This unique package includes robes, a four-course chef’s dinner with wine pairing, and an in-room couples massage. Your Mansion room will be adorned with three dozen roses, which you’ll enjoy while sipping champagne by the fire. Oh, and then there’s the one-carat diamond ring, which comes in a customized chocolate box created by the chef. The package starts at $6,500 for two nights … but that’s to be expected.2. Arts for Sweethearts Valentine’s Weekend (Chatham, Massachusetts)
The Chatham Wayside Inn will welcome you with two arrival cocktails (hot toddies or champagne cocktails) and a coupon gift back from local merchants which includes two $25 gift cards to attend the local Arts for Sweethearts art show. You’ll spend two nights in a room decorated with a red rose bouquet. A continental breakfast is served every morning, and you’ll enjoy a candlelit dinner for two at the Goose Tavern. On Sunday, dine on a Valentine’s Day brunch for two. Rates start at $429 a night, but you can add a third for half price.

3. Menage a Trois (Newport, Rhode Island)
Don’t worry, the Ocean Cliff Hotel isn’t as racy as you might think. For $225, you’ll get a night in a deluxe guestroom and enjoy the “Aphrodisiacs Delights Dinner Menu for Two.” The meal comes with a bottle of Folie a Deux Vineyards Menage a Trois wine and chocolate covered strawberries. If one night isn’t enough, you can book another for only $89.

4. Valentine/Presidential Weekend Value (North Conway, New Hampshire)
Spend three nights at the Buttonwood Inn, and you’ll be treated to a full breakfast every day, afternoon tea service and a dinner for two at a local, premier restaurant — including a bottle of champagne or sparkling cider. Top off the meal with handmade local New Hampshire chocolates, and retire to the “Hot Tub Under the Stars.” The package starts at $509, but you can save an additional 10 percent if you book by the end of the month.

5. An Affair to Remember (Boston, Massachusetts)
The Liberty Hotel in Boston wants to make sure you remember this Valentine’s Day. For $295 a night, you’ll frolic in luxury, enjoy champagne at check-in and receive two tickets to the pre-Valentine’s Day party on February 13, 2010 — where you and your sweetheart will each receive psychic reading. A copy of “An Affair to Remember” will be waiting for you in your room, should you choose to enjoy it. Add a bit of decadence to your stay at the Liberty with the “Guilty Pleasures Romance Package. At $435 a night and up, you will sip champagne that’s brought to you in your room, snack on chocolate-dipped assorted fruit and have breakfast at CLINK or in the privacy of your own room. An intimacy kit will be provided … and the details aren’t being disclosed.

Papa Gino’s: a Massachusetts pizza that defies substitution

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Massachusetts can be a strange place. It took forever for the major national chains to work their way into the state. I didn’t see a Target or Wal-Mart in my area until I got out of the army in 1999. Tastes and attitudes tend to be more than a tad provincial, so even the chains are usually local. When I left Boston several years ago, I was able to find replacements for just about everything I enjoyed – and was usually able to upgrade. How could I not? I’d moved to Manhattan, which is famous for having everything … except what it doesn’t: Papa Gino’s.

Papa Gino’s is a New England pizza chain. Most of its restaurants are in Massachusetts, though it has a few outlets in northern Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern New Hampshire. It’s the quintessential local chain – it’s big in the area and virtually unknown everywhere else in the country. So, when I knew someone who was heading up to Massachusetts, I asked him to bring back a few slices, which I ate cold the morning after his return.

To the pizza connoisseur, a slice from Papa Gino’s would probably be a disappointment. It isn’t exotic and lacks the character of its local competitors. Ask a Bostonian if he’d walk to the nearest Papa Gino’s or brave the Callahan Tunnel for a pie at Santarpio’s in East Boston, and he’ll have his car keys in his hand. But, expats view the world through different lenses, and a slice from Papa Gino’s is something we just can’t get – making it all the more valuable.

Eaten cold, a slice from Pap Gino’s is at its finest – unless you’re eating it cold and you have a hangover. It may not be a cure for what ails you, but it’s sure as hell a great diversion.

[Photo by Svadilfari via Flickr]

Hotel Review: Boston’s XV Beacon

by Melanie Nayer on

I’m a sucker for a good party. So when I learned that XV Beacon in Boston’s Back Bay was celebrating its 10th birthday this year, I grabbed my party hat, packed my bags and made my way over to the 60-room boutique hotel in Beacon Hill. (After all, 10 is an important age: you’re finally out of single digits, you’re only three years away from being a teenager and in another 10 years, you’ll be only 10 more years away from 30 and that’s an entirely other party! But, I digress…)

The Boston hotel opened on Dec. 31, 1999, and has witnessed an interesting turn of events over the past decade. Amy Finsilver, general manager of XV Beacon, said that while the clientele has remained the same, their demands have changed.

“The demands are more today because every dollar counts,” said Finsilver. “Everyone is spending a lot of time and money, but we’re not bringing in the same amount of money, so we have to adjust to meet the changing needs of the guests. They want intimacy and privacy, and that’s what they’ll get.”

Turning 10 is a big year for XV Beacon – the rooms will undergo slight renovations, (namely, the addition of cashmere throws and new bath fragrances made from a signature XV Beacon scent), and the hotel’s restaurant, Mooo, will continue to reinvent its menu for locals and travelers who have come to enjoy the ambiance of the steakhouse. In the meantime, I decided to spend a night at the tony Beacon Hill address and check out the views for myself.THE ROOMS

The 10 guest room floors of XV Beacon are designed to resemble an apartment building instead of a hotel. You’ll find the room numbers prominently placed on the side of the door, immediately up from the doorbell (a nice touch for business travelers who spend more time on the road than at home).

The rooms are decorated in champagne and gold tones with black accents, and every room has a gas-powered fireplace, a surround-sound stereo system and fully-stocked mini-bar. The king- or queen-sized beds are set apart from the ‘office space’, which includes a full-sized desk and complimentary WiFi access. Sadly, the WiFi is the one thing that didn’t work in the room. Maybe it’s because the building is so old, or maybe it’s just that the provider isn’t very good, but there was little-to-no signal, which is shame when the WiFi is free. Instead, I plugged into the cable in the wall and found a fast signal, but as a business traveler I would have enjoyed the free WiFi from the comfort of my bed or sofa.

Like many boutique hotels, XV Beacon is striving for a more eco- friendly environment. Each room comes with ‘green cards’, which tell hotel staff whether or not the sheets and towels need to be changed and washed (a bonus in my book).

THE BATHROOM

The bathrooms in XV Beacon are worthy of their own article. Complete with “Fresh” products and a shower built for 10 (also a tub/jacuzzi combo), these bathrooms are about the size of a small apartment and come complete with shoe-shine kits, sewing kits, and a walk-in closet.

Thanks to the sound engineers who clearly had a hand in the design phases, there are built-in speakers in the bathrooms so you can rock out to the radio during tub time, or at least wake up to some soothing sounds before starting your day.

Quite honestly, the XV Beacon could have charged me to stay in the bathroom and I would have been happy.

RESTAURANT/BAR

I was a little hesitant to eat at Mooo simply because the name alone frightens me. However, I’d heard great things about the food and staff so I removed the sounds of cows grazing from my head and entered the steak house.

The place filled up quickly with business elite from nearby Beacon Hill offices. The menu, as you might expect, is steak heavy but also features fresh local seafood specials and an extensive wine list with over 750 selections and 4,000 bottles wine. Truth be told, a part of me wanted to skip dinner and spend the evening in the cellar reliving history among the bottles of Bordeaux.

The prices at Mooo are standard – $5-$8 side dishes; $25-$45 steaks and entrees. If you’re not up for a full meal, you can sit at the bar with a martini and mac-n-cheese and still soak in the atmosphere of the place.

THE STAFF

Since XV Beacon is a small hotel that caters mainly to the business traveler, the staff recognizes most of its regulars and has their favorite amenities (newspapers, dinner reservations, car services) waiting. It’s these essentials that keep the business traveler coming back to XV Beacon, but it’s also this kind of attention that appeals to leisure travelers who have felt a dip in customer service over the past year.

Within a few minutes of entering my room, I received a call to make sure the room was to my liking. It was. However, after 10 minutes of trying to connect with WiFi I finally called for back-up. The hotel sent up a cable wire to plug in and was more than helpful in setting up the Internet service.

One of the benefits of XV Beacon is the hotel car service, which is available to all guests for airport transfers or local rides to business meetings, the theater or dinner reservations. The concierge will ask for your schedule so they can properly prepare any transportation and in the meantime, you can rest assured knowing you’ll end up where you need to be on time.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If there were a “Best in Show” for hotels, XV Beacon would be the top dog in its breed. Business travelers can’t go wrong here, and for those leisure travelers looking for a little more attention or a more intimate getaway, XV Beacon is a good choice.

While XV Beacon offers competitive rates for its class, budget-conscious travelers would do well at a cheaper hotel with less amenities. Standard rates at XV Beacon begin at $250 and go as high as $575. Currently, the hotel is offering a 10% discount to Boston residents who want a mini-vacation without having to leave the city.

Some business travelers benefit from the recession

by Tom Johansmeyer on

A growing number of business travelers is trading the appellation “road warrior” for “day tripper.” Tighter corporate travel budgets are prompting these frequent fliers to complete their roundtrips in one day, rather than assume the expenses of a hotel stay and meals while on the road. Also, it comes with the perk of not being able to entertain, which cuts travel expenses further. These jaunts tend to involve flights of no more than three hours, even though some people are going coast-to-coast and back without bothering to check in to a hotel.

For some, it isn’t just a case of budgetary discipline, though that factor will never disappear in a recessionary environment. Business travelers are also drawn to the notion of being able to get home at night. Even a late-night arrival means plopping your head on your own pillow and having breakfast with the family.

Of course, these one-day runs are grueling. Even for a two-hour flight, you have to get to the airport an hour early, and unless you live right next to the airport, you’re probably looking at another hour to get there. So, to catch a 6 AM flight, you’re leaving the house at 4 AM (with a wakeup of around 3:30 AM at best), and you’re not touching the ground at your destination until 8 AM … assuming there are no delays. Depending on traffic and distance, you get to the office at 9 AM and work the entire day. To catch a 7 PM flight, you leave the office at 5 PM to get there an hour early. After two hours in the air (again, assuming nothing goes wrong), you’ll probably get home by 10 PM. That’s an 18-hour day; it’s tough.While the actual cost savings is being questioned, in my experience, it’s substantial. In 2003 and 2004, I made frequent runs from Boston to New York. With the rate my company had with the Delta Shuttle, coming home at night was a no-brainer. On longer trips, the savings may not be as substantial — as you have a higher fare and likely a less expensive hotel than you’ll find in Manhattan — but you’re still looking at more than $200 a night, assuming a $150 room and meal expenses.

The cost savings, however, may come at the expense of your health. Some experts see this sort of aggressive travel as rough on your body … and I can tell you it’s a bit rough on the spirit, too. But, if you have enough time between one-day runs, it isn’t so bad at all.

And, don’t worry: even though you lose the hotel points, you’ll still pick up the miles.

Missing your pet when you travel? Just borrow one

by Katie Hammel on

I love my two cats and I miss them dearly them when I travel for extended periods of time. Though there are more and more options for traveling with a pet, I’m still not about to bring them with me. It’s just too expensive, too much of a hassle, and too much stress on the pet to fly them with me for a two-week jaunt. So they stay home and I snuggle-attack any furry friends I happen to make along my travels.

For dog lovers, there’s another option available. As Peter Greenberg showcases in a video posted on his site, several hotels around the country are now offering special pet “rental” programs. At select Fairmont hotels, guests can borrow a dog for a day to take it out on a walk around town.

At the Fairmont Tremblant in Quebec, Gracie the canine ambassador is available for walks. At the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Catie the former guide-dog fills the role. Other hotels offer similar programs, like the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek. Greenberg also highlights a program run by a shelter near Aspen. The shelter “rents” out dogs up for adoption for play dates. Many local hotels like the St. Regis and The Little Nell even allow the dogs to stay overnight. Of course, as Greenberg points out, the hope is that the temporary owner will then become a permanent one.

So next time you are traveling and missing your pets at home, you may not be out of luck. Just look for a hotel that offers one of these innovative pet-lover-friendly programs.

[via Peter Greenberg]