princeton123211

From a non chain boutique hotel standpoint XV Beacon does a very good job and is located not far from the State House and Beacon Hill-- they have a great steakhouse downstairs. The Eliot also falls into this category but is a little more formal and not my favorite option but worth a look. The Boston Harbor Hotel is also independent and right on the waterfront-- this would be more walking distance to the financial district, water front attractions, and Faneuil Hall area. It's a full service luxury hotel so won't fit your "small" requirement. The Newbury Hotel is the former, locally beloved, Ritz-Carlton (as in old school Ritz Carlton from 1927, not the current Marriott brand) and has been recently thoroughly renovated and updated. Location is incredible right on Boston Public Garden and walkable to most things in the city. My personal favorite hotel alas is part of a chain. The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel oozes old Boston style and has an incredible sense of place in the city. Located on Copley Square you can easily walk to Back Bay shopping or to Boston Common/Public Garden and all the historical sites. None of the options above are inexpensive but you won't be able to mistake any of them for being anywhere but Boston. Boston overall is a great walking city and most things are about 10-15 minutes brisk walk from each other so thats less of an issue when choosing a hotel in the downtown core.

Did they tell you which hotel you'll have access to? I agree with Scott that $189 is fairly obnoxiously high given you can pretty much do anything but swim in their pools for free anyway and food/drink won't be included.

Cederbrook Lodge is my favorite Seatac hotel if I had to stay at the airport-- although there are a ton of options across all major brands.

Download an app called Blacklane-- its a step up from Uber but it's also more expensive. Lets you schedule in advance.

Uber Black is readily available and is very easy and reliable at LAX-- they will pick you up curbside. Don't request the car until you have your luggage as the pickup will be fairly quick. You also have the option of spending a bit more and taking UberLux which will be higher end cars-- usually Mercedes S Class but sometimes an odd Bentley or Rolls Royce. If you want to schedule a pickup another app to download is called BlackLane-- it is a bit more expensive than UberBlack but will also be curbside and pools from some of the top black car providers in the area.

You are on the bookends of what is considered peak whale season-- a lot of sources will say its November to May but really the best whale watching is mid December through mid March. You'll most likely see some in November, especially if you are sailing towards the end of the month, but not in the concentrations you'll see them even a few weeks later. In April you'll see stragglers/sicker/older whales that haven't started the trip back up north yet, again in much lower concentrations.

Not sure where you are getting your info from but rental mopeds in Bermuda are governed for speed and are required to be a much lower 50cc than standard mopeds/scooters used by locals which are more like 150cc. It's almost like a game the locals play going around you tightly on the road.