Fort Point Channel, on the southeast side of the peninsula holding the historic center of Boston (map), was once the dividing line between the city's business center and the industrial dock-and-warehouse area now called the Seaport District.

The piers east of the channel in the Seaport District now hold modern hotels, the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Seaport World Trade Center, the cutting-edge Institute of Contemporary Art and other institutions far removed from the warehouse days.

The sturdy 19th-century buildings of brick and stone east of the channel have been converted to office space, high-tech labs, and residential condominiums. The renaissance of the seaport area is not yet finished: you may see construction when you visit.

Facing one another across the main part of the channel, between the Seaport Boulevard bridge to the north and the Congress Street bridge to the south are two places of interest to visitors: the recently-renovated and enlarged Boston Children's Museum on the east side and the InterContinental Hotel Boston on the west in the Financial District.

If you come to an event at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC), you'll doubtless cross Fort Point Channel several times a day on your way to and from South Station Transportation Center, Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, shopping, sightseeing or hotels.

Here are the best hotels in the Seaport District.

—by Tom Brosnahan

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