Hot Tips

Concierges recommend 15 hidden hot spots

By Gail Friedman

Who better to point the way to imaginative wintertime activities than a concierge, who thrives on showing off the best of Boston ? Three of Boston 's most knowledgeable concierges share their favorite wintertime pastimes.

Nilma Cannard, Boston Park Plaza Hotel

1. The annual snowball fight in Harvard Yard (if you happen to be around for the first big snow)

2. Old Town Trolley's Chocolate Tour, for a decadent perspective on the city

3. A romantic stroll through Beacon Hill — especially when the neighborhood's gas lamps are lit

4. The New England Aquarium, for a tropical contrast to the outdoors

5. Dinner at Beacon Hill 's The Hungry I or No. 9 Park (where you can see the Frog Pond once the leaves have fallen)

Jonathan Pride, Omni Parker House Hotel

1. Ice-skating on Frog Pond

2. The glass flower exhibit at Harvard University 's Museum of Natural History

3. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is “just the right size”

4. Stage productions, particularly at the Lyric Stage or the American Repertory Theatre

5. An Italian dinner at Limoncello in the North End, both for the Italian food and for Maurizio Badolato's story (a longtime restaurant employee, he used a $1 million lottery payoff to open his own place)

Walter Janulewicz, Four Seasons Hotel

1. A horse-and-carriage ride through Boston Common: They supply blankets, you supply a hot drink

2. Soft jazz by the fireplace in the Four Seasons' Bristol Lounge, overlooking the Public Garden

3. A drink at the Top of the Hub, to see the cityscape

4. A visit to the Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline with the kids

5. Cross-country skiing at the Arnold Arboretum