The Whitney Hotel
Red-brick revival
Beaming Beacon
The Whitney Hotel Boston might be a youngling by Beacon Hill’s standards, but it captures the city’s spirit with its red-brick top coat and townhouse-esque interiors. A stone's throw from the river on historic Charles Street, the hotel is in the part of the city that calls to mind the Founding Fathers: iron gas lamps and Federal-style homes line the cobbled streets, and the words ‘oldest’ and ‘first’ crop up a lot. In the lounge, the high ceilings, open fire and French-oak floors mimic the neighbouring townhouses – but in the rooms, the design has a more modern lean. Restaurant Peregrine evokes the city’s Italian connections with a menu that tours Sicily and Sardinia, pandering to the Bostonian appetite for pesce e pasta.
Facilities
Rooms
65, including four suites.
Checkout
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
More Details
Rates don’t include the à la carte breakfast. Dishes start at US$9 and include Sicilian-style eggs, Spanish tortillas and all-American staples like buckwheat pancakes slathered in maple syrup.
Also
Every floor has a pantry with ice and mixers, saving you from making late-night trips to the bar.
Fitness Center
Free Internet Access
Pet Friendly
On-Site Restaurant
At the Hotel
Free bicycles, gym, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, tea and coffee kit, free bottled water and organic Grown Alchemist bath products.
Our Favourite Rooms
The rooms are largely the same in style, so choosing one comes down to how much legroom you think you’ll need and what sort of vantage point you’re hoping for. Some have better views of Beacon Hill, others look across the Charles River.
Packing Tips
Bring a book on New England history, which will make your strolls around Beacon Hall all the more enlightening.
Also
All of the public areas are accessible for wheelchair users, and the hotel has three types of specially adapted rooms.
Children
All ages are welcome, but the hotel isn’t particularly geared towards children. There are three Premium King Suites that can connect to a Classic King room.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Request a seat next to the windows that look into the garden.
Dress Code
Informal elegance.
Hotel Restaurant
Peregrine whisks diners to sun-bleached Sicily and Sardinia, both favourite hunting grounds of the namesake falcons. The influence of Corsica and Catalonia is also apparent, with breakfast having a particularly Spanish lean. Of course, the ocean-crossing menu also tells a story about Boston, which has more than its fair share of delis, trattorias and brasseries, many of them family-owned and in business for several generations. Start with a spread of antipasti – try the pickled Gulf shrimp, serrano ham and herb and garlic baked oysters. For main, go for the hake or the wild mussels and local clams, served with tomato, olive oil and mint.
Hotel Bar
The bar is part of Peregrine. Ask for something from the owner’s personal wine selection, chosen to complement the food. In summer, take your drinks onto the terrace, where you’ll be able to bask in the evening sun.
Last Orders
Breakfast is available from 6.30am to 10am; lunch from 11am to 2pm; and dinner from 5.30pm to 9.30pm.
Room Service
The full menu is available to order up while the restaurant is open.
Planes
The best place to touch down is Boston Logan International Airport, which can be reached directly from London Heathrow and most large US airports. The airport is just three miles away, so the drive should only take around 20 minutes, depending on traffic. The hotel can arrange private transfers.
Trains
Technically, Boston’s subway system is called the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway, but you’re much more likely to hear locals referring to the ‘T’. The closest station to the hotel is Charles/MGH (on the Red Line), which is a minute’s walk from the hotel. Amtrak trains from New York City, Washington DC and Philadelphia pull in at Boston’s South Station, which is also on the Red Line.
Automobiles
You won’t need your own car in the city, which has a solid public-transport network and plentiful taxis. If you do want to hire a car, the hotel has valet parking for US$56 a day.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
With Beacon Hill’s leafy, lamp-lined streets on the doorstep, you’ll likely be using the hotel as a base for forays into Boston’s cultural heart. That said, the Whitney has a garden to rival the finest Federal-style townhouses – a hedge-ringed hideaway with a sun-trapping terrace, manicured trees and borders overflowing with leafy greens and colourful blooms. In summer, there’s nowhere better to settle with a book or your sundowner (the red-brick walls take on a fiery glow at last light). If the mercury has slid to prohibitive levels, sink into one of the armchairs by the fireplace instead, nursing an Italian red or rye whiskey.
When you do head out, your first port of call should be the front desk, where you can get a full list of local boutiques and restaurants that offer discounts for for Whitney guests. As you roam Beacon Hill, keep an eye out for ‘lavenders’ – old windowpanes that have turned violet in the sun. The flaw was caused by an excess of manganese in batches of glass sent from Europe, but some of the royal-purple panes remain in place as a sign of age and authenticity. If the hotel’s fragrant garden has put you in the mood for more green, make your way down Charles Street to the Public Garden, the first public botanic garden in the US. When it was planted in the 1800s, some of the city’s more strait-laced ramblers found the mixture of plants a little avant-garde for their tastes, but today’s Bostonians embrace the colour with open arms. As you pass the pond, keep an eye out for Romeo and Juliet, the park’s resident swans. Next, glide through the doors of Brattle, one of the oldest bookshops in the country. Founded in 1835 and in the same family since 1949, this old-Boston institution stocks more than a quarter of a million books, maps, prints and postcards. The most valuable treasures – including first editions and ancient leather-bound tomes – are kept in a dedicated rare-book room. If you have time, you can follow the flow of knowledge across the Charles River and into the well-heeled town of Cambridge, home to Harvard University.
Spread between four historic buildings, Faneuil Hall is a mall with a story to tell. Opened in 1743, the hall originally had a large marketplace on the ground floor and an assembly room above, where Samuel Adams once made a speech in support of American independence.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
