Impressions so far:
The room: nice and spacious, comfortable bed, enough pillows to make John Scalzi paranoid, shower works, big flat panel TV on which I am currently watching the Monday Night Football game.
The staff: friendly and attentive.
Meeting rooms: lots of them, way more than SMOFcon will use, so I can’t comment on the exact facilities. All meetings rooms are on the 2nd floor.
Food: Starbucks is good for breakfast, but is only open in the morning. There are two restaurants. Both have the same starters. The “pub” has sandwich-type meals (and crappy beer), the restaurant has more typical main meal fare. There are a few fast food places in the airport, but for anything else you need to go into Boston.
Transport links: the hotel is an easy walk from all terminals, though you do have to navigate the habitrails. For the terminals you can catch the Silver Line (the bus that thinks it is a subway) into South Station (about 15 minutes) where it connects with the Red Line and the rest of the T. Charlie’s prices have gone up recently, but he’s still pretty reliable.
Gym: looks good. Nice selection of machines, a small pool, and a reasonable-sized hot tub.
Overall: nice hotel, but Logan is a desert as far as good food (and shopping) is concerned. Boston beckons. Who wanted to attend the con anyway?
If I could offer a small addition, there are a few restaurants above food court level available in the pre-security areas at Logan Airport. The one I’m familiar with is the Legal Seafoods in Terminal C. According to the Logan directory, there are several others. Dine Boston Bar and Grill in Terminal E claims to feature “a menu inspired by some of Boston’s top restaurants and chefs celebrating the wonderful tastes of New England”. Terminal B has Ozone-Bos, by Todd English. “A contemporary cocktail lounge and restaurant with a “retro-futuristic” decor and inventive menu.” There’s also a Samuel Adams Boston Brewhouse in Terminal C. So there are a few nearby restaurants.
Thanks Leslie!
The Legal Seafood in Terminal C is a good idea. I use that terminal a lot and Legal is always marked down as “too expensive for an in-transit meal”. They may not have the full menu, but they do have good stuff. I’ve eaten in the brewhouse a couple of times. There’s nothing to recommend it ahead of the pub in the hotel.
I have to go back through Boston next week. I’ll take a closer look at Terminals B & E while I am there.