The World of W - A weekend in Boston

Our postponed Valentine's day celebration happened first weekend of March, we used our Starwood points for a free night at the W hotel in Boston.  In all my years of travel, I've never stayed at a W, but have heard wonderful things about the franchise.  We started our journey at the jewelers building in Downtown Crossing, Boston, at Gartigannis Jewelers, to buy a cross for my soon to be Godson.  Beautiful selection of all kinds of crossings, if you are ever in need, and for my fellow Greeks, they had beautiful byzantine and jeweled crosses at very good prices, best I've seen since being in Greece.  We made a detour to China town, a quick walk from where we were, and I've never eaten there before, believe it or not.  We went to New Golden Gate, shared the seafood Udon noodles...four people could have eaten this dish, it was amazing and lights, and we both got small soups, I had a hot and sour which was perfect for my oncoming cold, and Ted got the wonton soup, the wontons looked like they were freshly made, and they were loaded.  The whole meal with soda and tea, plus tip cost us $16, I couldnt get over the quantity and quality for the price!

Checking into the W, it was very modern and boutique-y, which is what I expected.  Our room was superb...#1427, I would request it upon return, king size bed, surrounded by windows with a city view, european style bathroom and there was a small work desk as well. Sitting on the bed and surrounded by that view, it was hypnotic.  We decided to try out the lounge in the lobby for drinks and a pre-dinner appetizer.  I will warn you, after 6pm, the lounge is "the" place to be and be seen.  I'll get to more of that later.  We had the endamame appetizer, created by the chefs in their award winning restaurant Market, it had chili oil and parmesean cheese, it was delicious and light in keeping (or trying to) with my Weight Watchers diet.  There were wonderful mini selections to choose from, you could literally get full order appetizers and drinks and just enjoying the scene at the lounge.  We took a window seat but they have couches by a fire place which looked very cozy too. 

We made reservations at Vlora Restaurant in the Backbay.  It was really authentic meditteranean cuisine.  We started with the grilled octopus, which can be hard to find in general other than when you are in Greece.  It was definitely frozen, but still they prepared it delicious with lemon and oil.  The Shrimp Saganaki was tasty as well, and the Village Salad was very authentic - i hate Greek places that put carrots in their greek salad...that is not authentic!  They thankfully stuck to the classic ingredients - tomatoe, onion, feta, cucumber, olives, hallelujah!  Ted got the haddock wrapped in filo, I got the classic chicken souvlaki...prepared just like in Greece, small pieces on two long skewers, with string beans and rice - we both enjoyed our meals tremendously.  Skipped dessert, headed back to the W to see if Ted could get a dessert at Market.

Getting back to the hotel, there was a huge crowd and line waiting to get into the hotel lounge...unbelievable!  We managed to get two seats at the bar in Market, Ted had cheesecake, from what I tasted, it was outstanding, fresh, and well worth the calories!

Definitely make a detour to the lounge at the W next time your travels take you to Boston, great atmosphere, and if you are fortunate enough to spend the night, this is a great place to do so!