Come for the popcorn, then sleep over in Southie (yeah, that Southie)

By Diane Bair and Pamela Wright Globe Correspondent, October 29, 2019

OK, let’s get this out of the way first: Southie? Yep, the same neighborhood that the hotel’s general manager, Bernardo Gubert, describes as formerly, “a bit rough,” and made infamous by Whitey Bulger, is now home to the state’s first Cambria hotel, an upscale brand from Choice Hotels International.

Whatever you think about South Boston, the neighborhood is definitely changing. “There’s new construction everywhere. South Boston is being developed with beautiful restaurants, condos, and apartments,” says Gubert, who was most recently with the Courtyard Copley Place hotel. Set in the heart of Southie, at the intersection of West Broadway and Dorchester Avenue. (the sprawling P&G Gillette building is next door), the new 159-room hotel is a 20-minute-or-so walk from Fort Point Channel and the Seaport District, and a short (if not scenic) walk to the South End. On a clear day, you can see as far as Quincy, they say.

And there’s this: the Broadway T stop is across the street, with Park Street station a mere three stops away. The guests we met (all from outside of Boston) were taking full advantage of this, T-hopping all over our fair city. The Freedom Trail and JFK Library were popular destinations on a recent rainy Saturday. To appeal to out-of-towners, the hotel offers the “Explore Everywhere” package, with a $20 food credit for breakfast at the on-site restaurant, Six\West, a map of Boston with landmarks noted, two round-trip tickets for the MBTA, plus water and snacks. (They also offer an “Experience Southie” package for those who want to get to know the immediate neighborhood better.)

A stroll down West Broadway gets you to several inviting restaurants, but Cambria Boston has a trick up its sleeve: Six\West. Set on the hotel’s ground floor, the restaurant — open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all-day light bites — offers fanciful touches like antique typewriters painted in pinks and purples. There’s a literary motif going on here, with a painting of Ralph Waldo Emerson and books by Boston publishers, or featuring Boston subjects, though you’d have to be very bored with your dining companion to start reading book titles. (There are a couple of first editions lurking there.) To get there, you’ll walk past the lobby’s coolest feature, an art installation called Lightweeds, a light-projected moving forest that you’ll wish you could replicate in your kid’s room.

But the most fun aspect of this lounge-y space is the menu. Popcorn ($6) made sticky with duck fat butter, hot sauce, and a sprinkling of aged pecorino is a shareable treat worth fighting over. “Magical Mushrooms” ($17) are equally habit-forming, fried with linguica and truffle powder. We admit we didn’t try the seared foie gras on Cap’n Crunch French toast ($22) with bourbon maple syrup, but we give them props for creativity. Nearly everything is made from scratch and executive chef David Daniels adds a happy twist to dishes such as short rib tacos (adding pimento cheese and roasted shishito peppers, $14) and cavatelli pasta (his mother Juliana’s recipe, $28), topping it with three kinds of cheese and shredded King crab. Whatever you order, someone a “Parks & Recreation” fan?) has gotta spring for the signature cocktail, the Saff-ron Swanson ($14), which comes with a stick-on mustache clipped to the glass. That first whiff is sesame oil, but the blend of vodka, saffron, rosemary, clover honey, lemon, and white balsamic vinegar offers a sweet and savory kick that plays especially nicely with a seared spicy tuna roll ($19).

When springtime comes — or we get a couple of those freakishly warm nights this winter — they’ll open the rooftop bar, a 4,000-square-foot space with a wood canopy with a bar, room for lounging, food service, and views of the city as you look past the traffic on I-93 South. You = lucky. Them = not so much. Cool feature: A 1950s-era “No Vacancy” sign from a long-gone New Hampshire motel.

Guest rooms are inviting in a minimalist way. Instead of art, rooms have charcoal wallpaper printed with an author quote, from, say, Emerson, Thoreau, or Alcott. Colors are — you guessed it — gray, white, and black, with the requisite white glossy tile (walls) and dark slate (flooring.) The effect is spare and restful. No mini bars, hooray, but each room has a small fridge with complimentary Fiji water (suites have microwaves, too), and a clothing steamer (hooray again.) Of course there are flat-screen TVs, robes, and safes. Bathrooms are spa-like, with toiletries from Pure by Gloss. Do not drive; valet parking will set you back $50, and there’s no nearby lot for self-parking.

Yes, this is a chain hotel, but Cambria is a boutique brand of Choice Hotels International, designed to appeal to a guest who likes good food and craft beer and isn’t afraid to hop onto public transportation. Check it out now while rates are still on the low-ish side (as low as $199 on an off night but typically $249). Or just come for the bar snacks.

Cambria Hotel Boston Downtown, 6 West Broadway, South Boston; 617-752-6681; www.cambriaboston.com.

Photo credit Diane Bair and Pamela Wright Globe Correspondent, October 29, 2019