What's New

The U.S. dollar is weak, and the destination reputed to be the most European of American cities is more tempting than ever to international travelers. With dollars not worth much abroad, Americans are planning domestic trips. Boston, with its new parks, new visibility in multiple movies, new NBA championship trophy (from 2008), and longstanding reputation as a manageable destination, is practically full. Hotel prices and occupancy rates are up, and the sidewalks are packed. "Hot" has no real formula, but you don't have to be a Supreme Court justice to know it when you see it. Boston is hot. Stroll along the emerging Rose Kennedy Greenway or the easily accessible waterfront, and you'll quickly see why.

Boston in Depth -- A change in the state tax code (asleep yet?) has turned Massachusetts into a red-hot center of film production (now I have your attention). As the number of movie sets clogging traffic and enthralling civilians multiplies exponentially, the odds that you'll get a peek behind the scenes improve -- constantly.

Planning Your Trip to Boston

The MBTA (tel. 800/392-6100 or 617/222-3200; www.mbta.com) plans to implement its new fare-collection system on ferries and commuter trains sometime in 2008. Check ahead for details if you plan to rely on public transportation.

International travel to the United States, never simple, is more complicated than ever. Be ready to pose for a photograph, have all 10 fingers printed, and answer a lot of questions.

Accommodations

Luxury and high-end business hotel operators continue to flood the Boston market with plush, pricey accommodations. In 2008, openings included the tech-happy Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, 606 Congress St., in South Boston near the convention center (tel. 800/HOTELS-1; www.marriott.com); and the over-the-top Mandarin Oriental, Boston, on Boylston Street next to the Prudential Center (tel. 866/526-6567; www.mandarinoriental.com).

For information about the luxury property at Battery Wharf on Commercial Street in the North End, a 150-room hotel with high-end dining options and a sprawling spa, visit www.batterywharf.com (management was in search of a new operator for the property at press time).

Properties in all price categories are renovating, redecorating, and boosting their "green" quotient. The Chandler Inn Hotel, 26 Chandler St. (tel. 800/842-3450; www.chandlerinn.com); the Colonnade Hotel Boston, 120 Huntington Ave. (tel. 800/962-3030; www.colonnadehotel.com); the Copley Square Hotel, 47 Huntington Ave. (tel. 800/225-7062; www.copleysquarehotel.com); the MidTown Hotel, 220 Huntington Ave. (800/343-1177; www.midtownhotel.com); the Millennium Bostonian Hotel, 26 North St. (tel. 866/866-8086; www.millenniumhotels.com); and the Omni Parker House (tel. 800/THE-OMNI; www.omniparkerhouse.com) should have emerged from their construction cocoons by the time you visit.

Finally, the Sheraton chain has joined the Westin and Marriott chains in going completely smoke-free, a policy many smaller properties were already following.

Dining

Boston Restaurant Week added a week, bringing the total to 4 per year -- but it's not Restaurant Month: It's 2 weeks in August and 2 in March. I prefer the seasonal raw materials available to chefs in the summer, but the offer ($20.08 or $20.09 for lunch, $10 or so more for dinner) is a great deal at any time. The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau lists participating establishments on its website (www.bostonusa.com).

La Voile, 261 Newbury St. (tel. 617/587-4200; www.lavoileboston.net), may look familiar to travelers who have spent a lot of time in Cannes. The owners of the promising French/Mediterranean newcomer created it by shipping an existing restaurant across the Atlantic, lock, stock, and metal-topped bar.

The beloved L'Espalier (tel. 617/262-3023; www.lespalier.com) closed its Gloucester Street home in 2008. Its clientele of diners celebrating special occasions with astonishingly good New England cuisine followed a bit reluctantly to the new Mandarin Oriental complex on Boylston Street next to the Prudential Center.

In a cats-and-dogs-living-together moment, 82-year-old Pizzeria Regina, 11 1/2 Thacher St. (tel. 617/227-0765) accepted its first credit card in 2008.

Spire, in the Nine Zero Hotel, has closed, and the Milk Street Café no longer runs the kiosk in Post Office Square Park. Two longstanding family restaurants -- Garden of Eden, in Boston, and Cambridge's La Groceria -- closed in 2008.

Nashoba Brook Bakery & Cafe has closed its branch in Boston's South End; the original location, in Concord, continues to thrive. Also in the South End, Bob's Southern Bistro, a landmark for a half-century, closed in 2007.

What to See & Do

You may find the Boston Common Visitor Information Center closed during your visit as it undergoes badly needed renovation. The staff at your hotel and the nearby National Park Service center at 15 State St. can fill in.

Two of the three Harvard Art Museums closed in 2008 for renovations that are expected to take 5 years. Starting in the fall of 2008, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (tel. 617/495-9400; www.artmuseums.harvard.edu) will showcase the highlights of its own collections and those of the Fogg Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum.

Park Street Church, 1 Park St. (tel. 617/523-3383; www.parkstreet200.org), will celebrate its bicentennial in 2009; check ahead for information about special events.

The New England Aquarium, Central Wharf (tel. 617/973-5200; www.newenglandaquarium.org), which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2009, has discontinued its Harbor Discovery Cruises.

The Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum (tel. 617/269-7150; www.bostonteapartyship.com), which closed indefinitely after a fire in 2001, is now scheduled to reopen in 2009.

Shopping

This news is spreading inexplicably slowly: The original Filene's Basement, at Downtown Crossing, is temporarily closed for construction. Bargain shoppers can hit the Back Bay location at 497 Boylston St. (tel. 800/843-8474; www.filenesbasement.com), but it doesn't offer the automatic-markdown policy that makes the century-old original catnip for thrifty fashionistas.

The denim-intensive boutique Jean Therapy spun off a little sibling that carries business attire: Therapy, 152 Brookline Ave. (tel. 617/266-6501).

Another spin-off is WardMaps.com, 12 Bow St., Cambridge (tel. 617/497-0737; www.wardmaps.com) -- it started as a website and evolved into a 3-D store.

The South End Open Market has changed its name to the SoWa Open Market, 540 Harrison Ave. (tel. 617/481-2257; www.southendopenmarket.com); here's hoping it gets around to changing its web address too. In 2008, after a half-century in the North End, Dairy Fresh Candies closed.

Boston After Dark

Boston Ballet (tel. 617/695-6955; www.bostonballet.org) ended its latest lease-renewal negotiations by (almost literally) walking out. The 2008-09 season will be the company's last on its current home stage, the Citi Wang Theatre, before it moves all of its productions, not just The Nutcracker, to the Opera House.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway (tel. 617/566-1401; www.gardnermuseum.org), has followed the lead of the Museum of Fine Arts and started scheduling one evening a month of after-work drinking and music in the galleries.

Boston's nightlife backbone, Lansdowne Street, was in transition at press time and may not have settled down by the time you read this. Avalon and Axis, stalwarts of the lively strip across from Fenway Park, closed in late 2007, roiling the straight and gay club scenes. In an everything-old-is-new-again twist (the original link in the chain was in Cambridge), the House of Blues is expected to replace the popular nightclubs in early 2009. Visit www.hob.com or ask at your hotel before heading out for live music, Southern food, or the famed Sunday gospel brunch.

The space that was once the Big Easy nightclub opened in 2007 as The Estate, 1 Boylston Place (tel. 617/351-7000; www.theestateboston.com). It's still cleverly laid out and acoustically pleasing, with a more stylish crowd.

Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway Theater in Somerville closed permanently in 2008. The owner/comedian/actor/social critic has better things to do -- he says he's running for president.

Side Trips from Boston

Visitors in 2008 will find the Hancock-Clarke House, 36 Hancock St. (tel. 978/862-1703; www.lexingtonhistory.org), one of Lexington's best-known historic attractions, closed for restoration. It reopens in 2009.

The Cape Ann Historical Museum, not so long ago the Cape Ann Historical Association, is now the Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant St. (tel. 978/283-0455; www.capeannmuseum.org).

And Maddie's Sail Loft, a landmark Marblehead tavern, closed in 2008 just shy of its 62nd birthday.