Boston · West of Downtown

Kenmore

Kenmore Square’s Citgo sign, Boston University’s gateway, and the bar-and-restaurant runway between Fenway and Back Bay.

Kenmore Square sits at the corner where Fenway, Back Bay, and the Boston University campus converge — the Citgo sign overhead is the city's most-photographed neon, and the streets fanning out from the square (Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street, Brookline Avenue) carry the post-game and post-class crowds in equal measure. The Hotel Commonwealth defines the upscale lodging here; the bars and restaurants on the surrounding blocks lean younger and louder than Back Bay proper. For visiting adults 21+, Kenmore is a useful base for the Fenway-Park-and-museum days: short walk to the ballpark, T-stop at the square for everywhere else in the city, and licensed cannabis retail within easy reach in Fenway and on the Mass Ave corridor. The evening leans casual here: dinner at one of the spots on Beacon Street, a slow walk back, and the next morning starts at one of the cafes off Commonwealth.