Condé Nast Traveler's "Reader's Choice Award" this week put Boston at No. 10, a hard fall after reigning at the top of the list with cities like New York and San Francisco during the 1990s. Now, it comes in behind cities like Charleston, S.C., Santa Fe, and Savannah, Ga.
It's not that tourists aren't coming to Boston. In fact, more come each year, with 18.8 million visiting in 2006, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. But around the country, it seems that some of the luster has worn off.
"Boston's had an image problem," said Linda L. Lowry, an associate professor of tourism and hospitality at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "The Big Dig hasn't helped. . . . Hotel prices have gone up and up."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the city doesn't deserve the bum rap.
"This city is happening," he said. "Things are happening."
City Hall may tout that "It's all right here," but the 60,000 travelers who filled out an "America's Favorite Cities" poll released this month by CNN and Travel + Leisure apparently felt differently.
Of 25 cities, Boston was ranked 24th for weather, a mediocre 12th for nightlife, and a lukewarm 16th in a catch-all "characteristics" category.
Though Boston ranked near the top in antiques shopping, classical music, and as a destination for sports fans, it was near the bottom for affordability. The people surveyed thought Bostonians were intelligent (No. 3) but not particularly friendly (No. 21), attractive (No. 16), and stylish (No. 9).
Tourists interviewed last week didn't necessarily disagree, though several conceded that some things turned out to be different than they had imagined.
"The people here are not as fat as it is said in Europe," said Ralph Lebreton, 24, who was visiting Quincy Market last week from France.
Still, there were some familiar complaints.
"We've got a car, but we're not brave enough to drive here," said Ann Hillard of Toledo, Ohio, who was in town to see her son, a Harvard freshman.
"Trying to find a motel here that's affordable is outrageous," said Ted Alstrom, a 60-year-old leaf peeper from Belfair, Wash., who decided to stop off in the city for a few days. "I can't find anything for under $300."
