Seaport Hotel, Boston, MA

Imagine a romantic retreat with that someone special. A beautiful hotel suite, with champagne, homemade truffles and fresh flowers greet your arrival.

Seaport Hotel, Boston, at sunset

After an evening on the town in Historic Boston, you enjoy a relaxing (or exciting!) night in your luxurious suite. In the morning, continental breakfast arrives to start the next day perfectly.

Seaport Hotel, Boston, breakfast

This dream will come true for one lucky winner, who will enjoy the Seaport Hotel Romance Package, with the champagne, the truffles, the flowers and the en suite breakfast!

To enter, simply sign up for the UpTake Hotel blog’s RSS feed and you could be that next lucky winner of a romantic one night stay at the Boston Seaport hotel, courtesy of Seaport Hotels.

Here’s how you can win:
1.    Subscribe to the UpTake Hotel Blog. Just click on the RSS button and add us to your RSS reader check the box to receive an email from us. Your email address will not be published or distributed in any way. Only one entry allowed per person.
2.    Tell us you subscribed in a comment to this post (be sure to include your email in the comment field, when asked, don’t worry, it will never be used by us again or anyone else. See UpTake’s Privacy Policy) http://www.uptake.com/privacy_policy.html. We will contact you via email if you win.

3. Winner will be selected by a random drawing on June 1st, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. by the UpTake president.  Winner will be notified via email by June 5th, 2009.

See the official rules here.

Deadline to enter: All subscribers between May 1, 2009 and May 31, 2009 will be entered to win the hotel stay at Boston Seaport Hotel.  You must be registered to receive the UpTake Hotel Blog RSS feed or email to be eligible to win this contest. The winner will be announced in the hotel blog the week of June 5, 2009.

Contest begins on May 1, 2009 and ends May 31st, 2009 11:59PM PST.

Prize Description: Package includes a one night stay in an executive suite, plus champagne, homemade truffles and fresh flowers upon arrival, continental breakfast for two served en suite, and complimentary use of fitness facilities for two. Meals, airfare, transfers, excursions, and/or any incidental charges not included in the package as noted above are the responsibility of the winner. Dates of travel are subject to availability at time of booking and may be restricted. UpTake Networks, Inc.  reserves the right to substitute hotels of like quality or better subject to availability.

Please note: Rest assured your email address will remain confidential and will never be shared with any other company. This service is private and complimentary, and you may unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please call our main phone number at 650 329 9888.  Approximate value of the prize is: $396.

Boston, MA

Boston is a great place to visit, full of history and year-round activities for singles, couples and families.

For the green traveler, it’s also a city that offers many choices of hotels. A terrific public transportation system, the “T”, makes it easy to get around, so you can stay in one part of Boston, or even the suburbs, and still avoid the legendary — or should I say infamous — Boston drivers!

Each of these hotels promotes their “Green Claim to Fame”, putting them on my Top 5 Green Hotels in Boston list:

Seaport Hotel
One Seaport Lane
Boston, MA 02210
Phone: 800.440.3318, Fax: 617.385.4001, Concierge: 617.385.4500, Reservations: 800.262.0680

Green Claim to Fame

The Seaport Boston is all about being green. They make every possible aspect of their organization sustainable and environmentally friendly. Their green practices include:

• Electrolyzed water system for cleaning – avoids the use of toxic chemicals
• Ozone laundry system – reduces the amount of detergent they use
• Recycling goals – the hotel has an annual recycling rate of 44%, and provides in-room recycling bins
• Space age composting – food and prep waste is managed using the BioX Decomposing System that converts organic waste to liquid
• Energy offsets – Seaport purchased enough renewable energy credits to offset all of the electricity used in the guest rooms, lobbies and elevators in 2008.

The Irving House at Harvard
24 Irving Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
phone: 617-547-4600, toll free: 877-547-4600, fax: 617-576-2814

Green Claim to Fame

• Just over the bridge in Cambridge, MA, the Irving House is close to activity-filled Harvard Square, and the Harvard “T” stop, which guests are encouraged to use for transportation.
• The hotel also provides discounted public transit passes to their employees, and has a spot for storing and locking bikes.
• The hotel has a strong “buy local” philosophy, so travelers are supporting the entire community when they stay at the Irving House.
• Their guest amenities, including eco-friendly brands of shampoo, soap and lotions, are in dispensers rather than wasteful individual packaging. They also buy everything possible in bulk to reduce waste.
• Recycling, composting and reusing items is standard operating procedures, and they have energy saving lightbulbs in all of the light fixtures that can accommodate them.
• Guests can opt to reuse sheets and towels, and the laundry detergent is phosphate-free.
• They received the EPA Energy Star label in 2006.

The Lenox Hotel
61 Exeter Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116-2699
Phone: 617.536.5300, Fax: 617.267.1237, Reservations: 800.225.7676, Reservation Fax: 617.236.0351

Green Claim to Fame

The Saunders Hotel Group, which owns the Lenox Hotel, is known as an ecotourism pioneer. The Lenox Hotel is the flagship of their environmentally friendly efforts, and has bragging rights to several environmental firsts including endorsing the Ceres Principles of Sustainability and offering Climate Neutral Rooms.

Environmental programs include:

• Environmentally friendly, healthy cleaning products
• Hybrid car service for hotel guests
• Over 4,800 super efficient lights installed
• Vendor misers on all beverage machines
• ENERGY STAR office equipment
• Natural, essential oil air freshener
• No-VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paints
• Double paned low E windows reduce energy, drafts and noise
• State of the art insulation installed for the 100th anniversary renovation
• Waterless urinals annually save 180,000 gallons of water
• Purchase of renewable, wind energy to offset 100% of the Global Warming impact of the hotel’s electricity use

element Lexington by Westin
727 Marrett Road – B · Lexington, Massachusetts 02421
Phone: (781) 761-1750

Green Claim to Fame

Even though Lexington is a suburb outside of Boston, this Starwood Resort is so green it deserves a spot on the list. The element Lexington also offers good rates and a convenient location for an extended stay in the area.

• Energy efficient – Every appliance is Energy Star rated, and the buildings are constructed to LEED standards
• Recycling practices – floors feature 100% recycled carpeting, art is mounted on a base made from recycled tires, and every room has recycling for paper, plastic and glass
• Low waste – they use silverware and glassware, and they use a dispenser system for bath amenities rather than sample size bottles.
• Environmentally friendly – water-efficient faucets and fixtures and low VOC paints, carpets, and furniture

The Onyx Hotel

155 Portland Street, Boston, MA 02114
Reservations: 866-660-6699, Hotel: 617-557-9955, Fax: 617-557-0005

Green Claim to Fame

Once again a hotel from the Kimpton Group, with their Earthcare Program, makes the list. The Onyx is a model for eco-friendly business practices in Boston. Some notable green programs include:

• “Green Warrior Package” discount for guests arriving in a hybrid vehicle
• Paperless guest check-in/out service and property-wide printing on recycled paper
• Efficient lighting and water fixtures throughout the hotel
• Linen and towel reuse program, which dramatically reduces water and energy use
• Guest and employee dry-cleaning service with Green Earth, which uses eco-friendly methods and products
• Rooms and linens cleaned with eco-certified cleaning supplies
• Donation of unused and partially used amenities to community programs
• Organic coffee and tea, and snacks and beverages in our in-room honor bars, plus ceramic mugs available to minimize use of paper cups, and Styrofoam cups eliminated altogether
• In-room recycling bins make guestroom recycling stylishly convenient and comprehensive recycling program for cups, clothes hangers, batteries, electronics

Even though Boston is filled with history, your hotel can be entirely 21st century, and environmentally friendly!

Photo Credit: B Tal on flickr