The Envoy Hotel, Autograph Collection ★★★★

A glass hotel on Fort Point Channel

The Envoy stands on Sleeper Street where Fort Point Channel opens into Boston Harbor, its all-glass facade a deliberate contrast with the brick warehouses of old Fort Point next door. A member of Marriott's Autograph Collection, the hotel holds 136 guest rooms and suites in a building designed to face the water on one side and the Financial District towers on the other. Inside, the furnishings were custom made in a mid-century modern spirit, and a curated collection of contemporary art runs through the public spaces, a link to the Fort Point Arts Community for which the hotel sees itself as a gateway. The property carries the AAA Four Diamond rating.

Rooms built around the window

Floor-to-ceiling glazing is the defining feature of the rooms, so the harbor and the skyline are present from the moment you wake up. The Water-View Corner Suites make the most of it from their corner position, while the Classic Guest Rooms keep the same clean lines, with bright bathrooms, walk-in showers and plush robes. The hotel welcomes up to two pets per room, and the fitness center is open around the clock.

The rooftop Boston keeps coming back to

Seven levels above the harbor, the Rooftop at The Envoy has become one of the Seaport's signature meeting places, with several Best Rooftop nods from Boston Magazine to its name. The Skyline View Bar pours craft cocktails and local microbrews, fire pits warm the terrace on cooler evenings, and the Harbor Lounge extends the space since a major enlargement. In winter the terrace does not close: heated igloos seating up to ten, each with an adjustable heater and fleece blankets, turn the roof into one of the city's more unusual places to watch the lights come on across the water.

Para Maria, Chef Tatiana Rosana's kitchen

The hotel restaurant is run by Tatiana Rosana, a Cuban-American chef and two-time champion of Food Network's Chopped, who describes her cooking as progressive American with global influences. Para Maria serves comfort food with a twist, from ahi tuna salad and Korean chicken wings to lobster mac and cheese, across a bar and lounge, the main dining room and a patio.

Fort Point and the Seaport on foot

Boston Children's Museum is next door, the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum sits on the Congress Street bridge a few minutes away, and the Harborwalk runs past the front door toward the Institute of Contemporary Art, roughly fifteen minutes along the water. Cross the bridges in the other direction and you reach the Financial District in about ten minutes, with Faneuil Hall and the start of the Freedom Trail a little beyond. South Station, for Amtrak and the T, is within a ten-minute walk, and Logan Airport is under three miles away. Check-in is at 3 pm and check-out at noon.

Why we selected it

Our brief for Boston asks for waterfront design hotels, and The Envoy is the clearest example the Seaport offers: a glass building that looks at the harbor, rooms that make the view the point, a rooftop with a reputation and a chef-led restaurant downstairs. It suits couples and design-minded travelers first, but the neighboring museums and the pet policy make it an easy choice for families and dog owners too.