General impression
If you are thinking of visiting the Boston area, and you don’t mind staying at a hotel that is not located specifically in the downtown area of Boston, then the Encore Boston Harbor is a good choice. The Encore is a spacious, luxurious hotel, located just on the outside of most of Boston’s attractions, about a 15-to-20-minute drive if you are stuck in traffic, but potentially less. During our stay, we did not mind giving up the central location for a roomier, more luxurious, comfortable stay. This hotel is a five-star hotel in terms of what it has to offer.
Health and Safety Standards
During our stay, we observed a top-notch staff that took care if the smallest details. The hotel lobby was shining bright, the restroom facilities were constantly being cleaned, and the restaurants and stores did not have a spec of dust in them. Our rooms were no different. They were cleaned with the utmost care every time. I noticed that if there was a tiny stain on a mirror, it was gone by the time we came back. The room smelled clean and felt luxurious every single day.
Bottom line on cleanliness: Cleanliness standards are clearly high in this hotel.
Responsiveness
Here is where I would say the hotel lacked in terms of what we as a team needed to accomplish to be able to give you a thorough in-depth coverage of what a family of a person with disabilities or a person with disabilities would need to know in terms of staying at this hotel. We emailed the hotels press room many times, prior to our arrival and once we arrived, we informed the check-in desk we were bloggers in need of guidance. We were told that we would hear from them shortly, but never did. This is not a sponsored or affiliate post, and everything that we were able to see was on our own.
Bottom line on responsiveness: We would have liked the hotel management to be able to explain possible accommodations and adaptations that they could provide to our community, and hope that this article helps provide them with an understanding of how important this is for all of us.
Hotel Restaurants
We did not have the opportunity to visit every restaurant in the hotel, but of special mention here are Cheese Meet Wine and Rare Steakhouse. The service was absolutely excellent, as they accommodated our dietary needs, and they also had accommodations for those individuals that may need to use a wheelchair for access. These two restaurants are located outside of the casino and are shielded from the noise and the overstimulation of the colorful casino environment. Both Cheese Meet Wine and Rare Steakhouse provide for a more soothing ambiance, and a rest from the noise. Special mention to Rare Steakhouse: I am a vegetarian and they provided me with the most delicious vegetarian meals and wine pairings.
Bottom line on restaurants: Stick to the restaurants outside of the casino for a more comfortable, quieter scene.
Accommodations
Luxury is the key word here. You cannot describe the Encore without describing the spacious rooms, comfortable beds, spacious bathrooms, and great amenities in each room. However, in terms of accessibility, and during our stay, we were not given an accessible room. To be specific, we are describing accessibility here as the ability of a wheelchair to access a toilet seat, and the ability of a wheelchair user to access the height of the bed as well as other amenities in the room. The room did have accessible features such as an iPad to access television controls, request help, or order room service.
We did not book an accessible room because we believe in leaving those rooms for people who really need them. But we did contact the hotel, weeks in advance, as we mentioned earlier, and reminded them as time drew near, of our impending visit. We wanted to be guided through the accessible accommodations to give them a fair review on our blog and be as informative as possible. We also reminded them on our arrival that we were here to blog and write about this space and wanted to talk to someone that could provide with guidance. They took our information at the desk, but we were never contacted regarding this.
For those visitors with sensory issues, the rooms offered pale colors and a variety of adjustments that could make your life easier. I found that the room colors were quite comforting to the eye, the noise level was music to my ears, and the ability to adjust lighting, television orientation, and places to sit in comfort enhanced my visit and made it very easy to adjust to the hustle and bustle of the Boston area.
Bottom line on accommodations: We can only write a review based on our room, which was not specified as accessible. It did have some accessible features. For example, it was very spacious, had a comfortable couch to sit and a forward -facing television that could change orientation as it was bracketed to the wall. The room controls were operated by an iPad, so one did not have to move from wherever we were in order to change any setting in the room. Once could order in-room dining as well as control the television settings right from this iPad.
Outdoors
Again, you could not accuse the Encore Boston Harbor of not being luxurious. The exquisite, manicured garden, the sculptures, and the attention to detail are just one of a kind. The outdoor space also has wheelchair accessible ramps that allowed wheelchair users to access the lush gardens outdoors. A note for those guests with sensory issues: Although the sculptures and flowers may be pleasing to many guests, they may overwhelm children or even adults who are easily overwhelmed by sensory stimuli.
Bottom line on outdoor garden: Proceed cautiously if easily overwhelmed but do venture out if you can and absorb the scenery.
Bottom line on the Encore Boston Harbor: We had a wonderful, luxurious, comfortable stay. We wished we could have had a much better view of the accessibility of the place, but we hope that next time we visit we are able to connect with the management ahead of time. We also noticed the physical accommodations present at the hotel, in general, but also noticed how difficult it would be for someone with sensory issues (for example, someone with ASD), to navigate the highly stimulating environment.
Stay tuned for more on our visit to Boston, Massachusetts!
