Coming Home: Three Generations at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Photo Credit: Four Seasons Boston

We all have a home away from home. While it may sound pretentious, the Four Seasons in Boston is mine. Sure, it has the brand’s signature fluffy beds, ultra-luxe amenities, spa robes, and must-order turkey club for room service. But the Back Bay location is special to me—it’s a generational home for my family.

Our Four Seasons story goes all the way back to the 1980s, when my grandparents were living at the hotel. My grandma and grandpa moved into their residence at the hotel in 1986. The hotel had opened just the year before, and their apartment was new, beautiful, and furnished to perfection. Its sweeping windows overlooked the Boston Commons, and they had access to the hotel’s pool, gym, and beloved Bristol Lounge downstairs. My grandma loved the location; she would walk across the Commons to Beacon Hill, and stroll up and down Newbury street. They knew the doormen personally, and the hotel would even send up my grandma’s favorite bran muffins to the apartment. On the Fourth of July, they had the best view in Boston of the fireworks. My grandpa’s 60th birthday party was held in their apartment, and the Four Seasons catered it. And when my grandparents moved out in 1993 to retire to Florida they would always come back and stay at the Four Seasons, greeted by hugs from the doormen.

Photo Credit: Four Seasons Boston

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In 1995, my parents got married at the hotel. They had met in Boston at a tennis club, dated for about 2 years, and celebrated their union with a Sunday afternoon wedding in one of the stately dining rooms. There was dancing, amazing food, of course, and a year later, my parents were invited back for a complimentary dinner to celebrate their one-year anniversary.

In 1998, I was born in Cambridge, and though I spent my childhood in Chicago, Boston was always my home. Maybe it was because I was born there, maybe it was because I identify as a diehard Celtics supporter, or maybe it was due to our frequent family trips to the city and Cape Cod. We would always stay at the Four Seasons if we could, and my sister and I would be so excited for the stuffed animal wagon at check-in and the silver dollar pancakes dusted with powdered sugar in the mornings.

Photo Credit: Four Seasons Boston

I ended up going to college just outside of Boston in Medford. On the weekends, I would take the train to the Back Bay stop, and I would walk around the Commons and pop into the Four Seasons to say hi to the doorman I had come to know over the years. When I transferred to school in Rhode Island, my dog and I would still make the visit to the hotel—never to stay, on a college budget that was of course not the case—but just for a sense of familiarity. 

With my family back in Chicago, I found comfort in the lobby of the hotel. It reminded me of my grandma and my grandpa, the love between my parents, and times together as a family. And now, it’s become a tradition to go back. While I might live a few hours away in New York City, and am lucky enough to have the Four Seasons mattress in my apartment, nothing quite feels the same as a proper visit to the hotel itself.

So I go back when I can. Even if it’s not for a stay, just seeing the outside of the hotel from the Commons brings a rightness to my heart. It might sound cheesy, it might sound pretentious, but the Four Seasons in Boston will always be my second home.

Photo Credit: Four Seasons Boston

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