Review: the Raffles Boston hotel, the first in North America

This is our review of the Raffles hotel in Boston.

Boston might not be the first city you think of when you think of the Raffles brand, with its flagship hotel in Singapore, but since 2023 the city is home to the only outpost in North America.

Having never stayed at a Raffles before, I thought it was a good opportunity to see what it has to offer. Raffles is arguably the most premium brand in the Accor portfolio and of course now includes Raffles London at The Old War Office where rooms start at £1,000 per night.

As a reminder, Raffles is part of Accor Live Limitless which kindly arranged my stay for review purposes.

The hotel website is here.

Where is the Raffles Boston hotel?

On my last trip to Boston, I stayed at the Canopy by Hilton Boston (review here), adjacent to some of the city’s most popular attractions. This time I thought I’d check out a different area and settled on Raffles Boston which is located in Back Bay.

‘Back Bay’ makes it sound like the backwaters of Boston. It’s not. Set back from the city’s main peninsula, and flanked by the Charles river on its North Side, Back Bay turns out to be a surprisingly pleasant neighbourhood of historic attractions (Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, the historic Fairmont Copley Plaza – also an Accor hotel), office blocks and residential neighbourhoods featuring beautiful brick townhouses.

If you’re into shopping, there’s plenty of that around here too including the Copley Place mall which is home to luxury bands and Newbury Street with its mix of boutiques and restaurants. I have to admit I like this location a lot more than the neighbourhood around City Hall, which does not seem to be particularly residential.

From the airport, it’s about 15-20 minutes by Uber if traffic is light, but you can also take public transit which takes at least twice as long.

Inside Raffles Boston

Raffles Boston occupies a 35-storey new build tower. The lower 17 floors contain 147 guest rooms whilst the upper floors are dedicated to private residences.

Check-in is carried out at the 17th-floor sky lobby where staff will direct you to a lounge area and offer you a drink. The process was very slick, with the porter on the ground floor taking my name so that reception knew who I was as I emerged from the lift.

The hotel never felt busy during my stay. It only took a few moments for the check-in process to be completed before my personal butler escorted me to the room.

Butler service is a brand standard at Raffles hotels which have offered it for 130+ years. They offer services such as pressing clothes, laundry, bringing fresh coffee to your room etc. I’m normally an easy-going guest but I did appreciate the help in checking museum and attraction opening times as well as delivering some toothpaste as I had forgotten my own – all via a quick Whatsapp text.

(Note that, although there is a sky lobby, the architects have cleverly installed a second bank of lifts for guests so that you don’t need to go up to go down – as you do in some hotels – where you need to switch lifts at sky lobby level.)

Rooms at the Raffles Boston hotel

Rooms range in size from 37 square meters to 46 square meters. I was given a Grand King Room, the highest of the three non-suite room categories.

Upon entering my room, my Butler asked if I wanted to enjoy a welcome ‘Boston Sling’ cocktail from the bar. This was introduced as a local take on the now iconic Singapore Sling, made famous by the original Raffles. It comprises gin with various botanicals including pomegranate liqueur, cranberry syrup, Amaro nonino and drambuie for a delicious, slightly tart taste.

Let’s take a closer look at my room. There’s a built-in wardrobe with smoked glass doors where you’ll find robes, hangars and a luggage rack.

Opposite is the bathroom, all of which are clad in white marble with black counter tops. In my case this featured double wash basins, although most of the rooms only have one (suites, I assume, have double as well.)

There’s a nod to the heritage of the brand with this Asian-inspired mural by the free-standing bath tub:

The shower and toilet are in separate cubicles and you’ll be pleased to know the toilet is wrapped in frosted glass!

Toiletries are Eau Imperiale by Guerlain, which also administers the spa. This is a relatively exclusive partnership – the only time I think I’ve had Guerlain toiletries previously was at the Waldorf Astoria in Berlin.

After the bathroom you have the room itself, with a large king bed with feature night stands on either side:

Two mains sockets were available on each side, as was a USB-C port, so a big thumbs up from me!

Next to the bed is a chaise longue and armchair with leg rest:

Opposite the bed was a large 65″ TV with sound bar:

My favourite feature in the room was the glass minibar which felt a bit like a modern take on an old-school apothecary thanks to the wood drawers and golden mirror lighting.

Curtains and blinds are electrically controlled. My view was not particularly spectacular; West facing towards the Prudential Centre and North Eastern, but I did get a glimpse of the top of Old South Church spire.

Light switches and air conditioning were very intuitive to use, although I would note the latter could be quite noisy when turned on.

The pool and spa at Raffles Boston

Head to the fourth floor and you find the hotel pool, Guerlain spa and gym. I was impressed by the 20m long pool, which also featured a separate jacuzzi:

The spa, meanwhile, featured gender-separated steam rooms, saunas and experiential showers. The steam room was fantastic – one of the best in a hotel, hot and very steamy. The same was not true of the sauna, which didn’t really get to a suitable temperature and probably needs re-tuning.

Breakfast and dining

Raffles Boston has several restaurants and bars, the majority of which are on the 17th and 18th floors. Breakfast is served in the Long Bar & Terrace, a spectacular East-facing double height space that is flooded with sunshine in the mornings – it’s a really beautiful setting.

Breakfast is fully a la carte – no buffets here – with a choice of dishes. Prices ranged from $18 for seasonal fruit to $58 for a bavette steak. Pretty standard for a luxury hotel in the United States these days ….

I can recommend the smoked salmon bagel, one of the best bagels I’ve ever had and filled with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, dill pickles, red onion and capers. It was also very big!

Amar is one of the restaurants that opens for dinner, also on the 17th floor but on the Westerly side. This is a Portuguese-inspired restaurant with a seafood-heavy menu. Highlights included the ‘Warm Crab Meat and Sweet Corn’, not a combination I would normally try but it was superb:

…. and the grilled duck breast with rice:

Conclusion

Raffles is an impressive addition to Boston’s hotel scene. It is by far the best hotel I have stayed at in the United States (not a particularly high bar, I admit ….) with service levels comparable to those I have experienced in Asia.

Rates start from around $580 (plus tax, plus tip etc). You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

You may be better off booking via Emyr Thomas, our hotel partner who runs Bon Vivant, a London-based luxury travel agency.

He works with Raffles (amongst others) as a Preferred Partner and is able to guarantee a range of additional benefits when you book with him including breakfast, credits and upgrades. The following benefits currently apply at Raffles Boston:

• Upgrade subject to availability 
• Complimentary breakfast for two daily
• $100 of hotel credit (not valid against room rate) 
• Early check-in / late check-out, subject to availability 

There is currently a third night free offer exclusively available via Emyr and similar luxury travel agents.

There are no booking fees and you pay at check-out as usual. You can contact Emyr via our online form here.

Earning and spending Accor Live Limitless points

Our partnership with Emyr has been going for many years now and you will regularly see readers praising his service in our comments, so it is well worth booking with him. 

In terms of booking with points, remember that Accor Live Limitless is a revenue based loyalty scheme. You can’t redeem a fixed number of points for a free night as you would with most other chains.

Instead, your points are worth a flat 2 Eurocents each as a cash discount, so the amount needed varies from night to night. If you are staying for cash, remember that you can double dip and earn Avios AND Accor Live Limitless points due to Accor’s partnership with Qatar Airways Privilege Club – see here for details.

Our full overview of Accor Live Limitless is here.

You can find out more about Raffles Boston, and book, on the hotel website here.

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Accor Live Limitless update – April 2025:

Earn bonus Accor points: Accor is not currently running a global promotion

New to Accor Live Limitless?  Read our review of Accor Live Limitless here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our analysis of what Accor Live Limitless points are worth is here.

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