BentoLiving Invites the Locals In

If the walls are closing in during all this time at home, you might be thinking about sneaking away somewhere for a little change in venue, but the thought of traveling and staying in some strange hotel or short-term rental can be a little daunting. So maybe the answer is to stick close to home and play tourist in your own hometown.

I took a recent overnighter to stay at the BentoLiving complex at 321 Hart Street in Chestnut Hill. Bento is a really unique property, aimed primarily at extended-stay guests or groups looking to stay together during an excursion to Music City, but I think it would be a great place for anybody looking to get away for a weekend. And by “everybody,” I’m even including your pup, because the $75 pet fee is cheaper than two nights of boarding at some pet hotels. Plus, the industrial vibe of the place means that the cement floors are less vulnerable to “accidents.”

BentoLiving is designed to maximize amenities within a smaller urban footprint of less than an acre. This starts with the parking option, which is an ingenious stacked deck set up with machinery like the Carvana Vending Machine you see along I-65 to hide away or deliver your vehicle to you quickly and efficiently. While the complex is technically two buildings, everything is connected and compact, including a row of retail shops on the ground floor and the closest thing I’ve seen to a bonafide bodega in town.

The Bento Bodega should be a benefit to the residential community surrounding the hotel, offering staple foods, a decent wine selection, local craft beers and even bathroom supplies that are reasonably priced. Sometimes, I like to buy batteries or deodorant at a hotel sundry store or airport shop just to make them tell me the price with a straight face. That wouldn't happen at Bento Bodega — where you can buy craft beers for $2.25 a can, steaks from local farms and all the fixings for a pasta dinner — because all transactions are self-serve. You scan your own items and pay at a kiosk with a credit card or room charge. Contactless, safe and quick. I like that.

For your staycation, take advantage of the fact that occupancy is pretty low right now, meaning there’s plenty of room for social distancing, and room rates are quite reasonable. Since many of the lodgers are there for weeks or even months at a time, room cleaning only happens weekly with optional refreshes available. They also consciously keep rooms unoccupied for several days between stays to ensure time for complete cleaning and extra safety. Every room features a full kitchen furnished with everything you’d need to make a meal, plus coffee stations, water filters, full-sized fridges and washers and dryers. I could totally see taking my laundry basket with me on a weekend getaway and letting it spin while I walk over to Bastion for a meal!

With all of these amenities, what Bento doesn’t offer in every room is a regular bed. Depending on your room choice, you might have a Murphy bed that folds down from the wall or separate bedrooms with traditional bedding in one-bedroom, two-bedroom or even five-bedroom suite configurations. Many rooms also feature private balconies, but even for those that don’t, there are public verandas on every floor.

BentoLiving features a rooftop space called The Chestnut for happy hours, where you can bring up your own drink and a cheese plate you made from the bodega or take advantage of a portable bar they roll out to purchase cocktails. Unfortunately, the bar is closed for winter, but you can look forward to that in warmer months. Sometime next year, they hope to open a ground floor restaurant named The Hart which will have a Japanese izakaya menu and vibe.

Until The Hart opens, the on-site dining option is B1281, an al fresco hybrid Polynesian cocktail bar and a Hawaiian kitchen. B1281 has a prep kitchen, but all food is prepared and served out of a stationary food truck featuring a fun menu of pupus and yakitori skewers. There are plenty of well-spaced tables with adequate heating to enjoy an evening out as long as it’s not freezing, and apparently the neighborhood regulars have made B1281 a popular gathering spot. Additionally, they offer a tropical Sunday brunch with live music, and some weeknights feature DJs or musicians. I enjoyed a fine meal of a tiki cocktail plus a bento box of three different skewers, hapa rice and roasted broccolini.

Other drinking and dining options abound within a very short walk from BentoLiving, and I had fun creating my own little pub crawl without worrying about how I’d get home. Never Never is a fantastic watering hole just across the railroad tracks (look left, right and left again!) that also boasts a great little private back porch where guests can drink and enjoy a menu of craveable bar snacks in a spread-out environment. Other easily walkable destinations include the aforementioned Bastion, Ernest Bar & Hideaway, Jackalope, Flamingo Cocktail Club and, hopefully sometime next spring, Parson’s.

If “room coffee” isn’t enough to help you recover from your previous evening’s bar crawl, caffeination options are legion in the neighborhood around Bento. Choose from Falcon in the front half of the Flamingo building, Americano Lounge or Humphrey Street Coffee for a good cuppa, or make a slightly longer stroll over to Dozen Bakery for some of the city’s most beloved baked goods.

So check your calendar and pick out a couple of days to get out of the house without having to actually leave town. The businesses in Chestnut Hill and  Wedgewood-Houston could definitely use your support, and BentoLiving makes for a fine base of operations while you explore part of your own town.