For any American history buff, Boston is a fantastic travel destination. Discover 8 key hotels in this city, ranging from brand-new properties to historic 19th-century residences.
LessA brand-new hotel in Beacon Hill sounds almost like a contradiction in terms — this is the old side of Boston, where buildings’ ages are measured out in centuries. But at the foot of the Longfellow Bridge, a brand-new luxury boutique hotel is exactly what you’ll find. The Whitney Hotel fits perfectly into its red-brick surroundings, and inside you’ll find interiors that perfectly thread a stylistic needle.
The rooms and suites are handsome and confidently, subtly stylish; it’s an aesthetic that’s perfectly fitting for Boston, even while it avoids any obvious New England gestures. Some rooms face the garden, a few feature wood-burning fireplaces, and all are classically elegant and impeccably well-equipped, with luxe details that include custom-designed furniture, thoughtful reading lights, in-room espresso machines, and the hotel’s own custom line of Byredo bath products.
Raffles is all about classic elegance, and so is Boston’s Back Bay. The setting is a 35-story tower whose top half is given over to permanent residents; the hotel occupies the bottom half, from the ground floor to the three-story Sky Lobby on the 17th floor. Designers Stonehill Taylor crafted its spaces in tribute to Boston’s classic visual language and to Raffles’ hospitality history; the rooms and suites are handsome and understatedly chic, and functionally they’re among the finest in town.
It takes something special to make a historic impression in Boston, a serious contender for America’s most founder-centric metropolis. Fitting, then, that Langham should make an entrance here via the 1865 Federal Reserve Bank. They’ve shrewdly retained the stolid grandeur of its exteriors for effect while dramatically transforming the interiors to present-day standards of luxury. Here, if nowhere else, the Brits maintain an elegant foothold in the Financial District.
It was built in the Eighties, though it’s to its great credit that it feels substantially older than that — and the views of the Public Garden lend a certain timelessness. At the same time, a thorough 2017 renovation has left the interiors looking as sharp as can be, and there’s a refreshing absence of Old New England stylistic gestures. The rooms and suites are looking particularly fresh, and they’re pleasing to the other senses as well.
It’s not simply that it’s a high-end luxury hotel — this town’s already got a few of those — but it’s the obsessive attention to the finer points of style and design that make this Mandarin something much more than just another expense-account splurge. There’s more than a hint of the Mandarin group’s Far East heritage in the interiors, while the building itself is a modern take on classic New England limestone and brick.
Boston’s second Four Seasons hotel is unusual both for the town and the brand: set in a Henry Cobb skyscraper that was completed in 2019, the Four Seasons One Dalton Street is contemporary to the core. In classic Four Seasons style, however, it’s still eminently palatable — there’s nothing here that would alienate a traditionalist, aside from the unusual bird’s-eye-view of this generally low-rise city. Every luxury is accounted for, including a spa and a spectacular indoor pool.
The Inn is historic, consisting of three buildings — two former private residences and a barn — all dating from the 1800s. The 22 spacious guestrooms and suites are spread across the property. Choose any one of them, and you’ll feel like you’ve gone back in time: the New England designers and artisans who worked on the redesign made sure of it. The handprinted wallpaper feels appropriately rustic, and many of the rooms include a fireplace or a gas stove.