Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Quite frankly, you don’t come to Boston’s Back Bay to immerse yourself in some kind of avant-garde counterculture. And you don’t stay at a Four Seasons to have your ideas about hospitality turned upside-down. But not everything that’s valuable in the world is new — when it’s classic luxury hospitality you’re after, it’s hard to do much better than the Four Seasons Hotel Boston.

It was built in the Eighties, though it’s to its great credit that it feels substantially older than that — and the views of the Public Garden lend a certain timelessness. At the same time, a thorough 2017 renovation has left the interiors looking as sharp as can be, and there’s a refreshing absence of Old New England stylistic gestures. The rooms and suites are looking particularly fresh, and they’re pleasing to the other senses as well; the Four Seasons signature bed is phenomenally comfortable, and the marble-clad bathroom is practically a private spa.

The Bristol, the hotel’s restaurant, is in fine form as well, serving a variety of award-winning American fare (including fresh New England seafood) to the Boston upper crust. And the hotel’s location could scarcely be more central — Back Bay, Boston Common, Beacon Hill, and Downtown Crossing are all within easy reach.