Liberty

by Michael Diskin, 01-28-2008

TONIGHT I'M doing the hotel thing. What's the hotel thing, you ask? Back when I was a young, misguided suburbanite, the "hotel thing" was when 14 of my closest underage friends and I would rent a single room at the Motel Casual in Tewksbury and drink illegally obtained cheap, warm beer while taking turns making out in the bathroom. Although the thought of it brings back some oddly fond memories, tonight I'm not doing that hotel thing. Instead, I'm hitting two of the city's hot new hotel party scenes.

The hotel party scene (HPS) is a big thing in other cites. LA has the Standard, New York has the W, and Vegas - hell, Vegas has more places than Roy had tiger bites: that city invented the concept. But Boston has never really had a hotel scene.

Okay, now that I've made it virtually impossible for myself to get a hotel room in this city, let me explain. There are plenty of really cool lounges located in great hotels in Boston, but they don't have a scene. And by scene, I mean letting you get drunk in the lobby.

I'm not really sure why it is, but drinking in a hotel lobby is fun. Maybe it's the wide-open space, or perhaps it's the subconscious knowledge that you're out for a night of fun and surrounded by rentable bedrooms. (I'm not saying it's a great idea to drop several hundred bucks on a room for what will probably be a one-night stand, but when the mood hits, the mood hits.)

Tonight I start my evening in a place I'm usually trying to avoid at the end of my night: jail. This HPS has taken over the repurposed lobby and former drunk-tank of one of Boston's oldest jails, continuing its reputation for providing the city's well-hydrated with a place to hang out. With its mix of interesting people all searching for tonight's conjugal visit, this venue has one of Boston's longest door lines. It seems that the same clout and influence once used to keep some of the city's biggest names out of jail is now being used to help get them in.

My night's second HPS is located in another new hotel that has embraced the concept of lobby imbibing. This all-glass room-renter has a tequila-themed restaurant, a resident Saturday-night DJ, and a French bistro that serves food 24 hours a day. Before this place opened, if you wanted all these amenities, you had to brown-bag the Cuervo and hit the all-night McDonald's for French fries. Might've been a good time, but not something I'd consider a scene.

By now I'm sure you folks in the know have figured out my two stops tonight. Hell, half of you are probably there, too. For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I'm really sorry, but I just can't say. See, a hot new social scene has to be treated like your dad's secret fishing spot: I could tell you where it is, but it would only mean more poles in the water fighting over the same school of fish. So good luck figuring it out. I hope to see you there. If I'm not at the bar when you arrive, just give me a minute and I'll be back: even though I hang out in nicer hotels now, I still occasionally enjoy making out in the bathroom. @

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