the tourist hotel massachusetts

How Wilco’s Bassist and His Friends Turned a Berkshires Motel Into Tourists, a Dream Summer Getaway

What once was a one-star hotel in north adams, massachusetts, is now an eco-friendly lodge with a james beard award–winning chef where everyone is welcome..

• Copy Link copied

Tourists opened on July 30, 2018, in the Berkshires.

Photo by Nick Simonite

Between Mass MoCA and Tanglewood—the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—North Adams, Massachusetts, has become an epicenter of art and music in New England and a popular weekend getaway for people living on the East Coast. But the small town’s history as a summer destination goes back to when the Mohawk Trail, the first U.S. scenic byway, opened in 1914, drawing a generation of newly mobile travelers through the Berkshires.

Now, one of the midcentury motor lodges located on that historic road has reopened as Tourists , a brand-new, 48-room resort from John Stirratt, the bassist from Wilco, Ben Svenson, from the design-led development company Broder, as well as a diverse group that includes Brooklyn Magazine’ s founder, the former chef of San Francisco’s Bar Tartine, and a local brewer from North Adams.

Airport Rooms and Tourist Home, 861 State Road, North Adams, MA. Operated by Virginia Stevens for 50 Years between 1944 and 1994, the 1813 Farmhouse undoubtedly had a long history of hospitality even before those years, in a place that has always attracted visitors. The simple sign TOURISTS, placed by Virginia and others on the Mohawk Trail beckoned motorists to stop and stay a while. #berkshires #mohawktrail A post shared by TOURISTS (@touristswelcome) on Jan 21, 2018 at 5:45am PST

The group was inspired to name the hotel Tourists after finding a vintage sign on the property while they were renovating it.

“It was a word that spoke to the history of this region in particular,” Svenson told AFAR. “A lot of what we’re trying to do is to tap into an economy that really moved the needle in North Adams not so long ago. There has been a huge tourism legacy here and we wanted to tie into that past and remind people all it has to offer.”

Using the foundation from a midcentury motor lodge, the 48 rooms at TOURISTS have been rebuilt from the ground up.

Even though the midcentury Redwoods Motel was still operational when they bought it, the one-star motel was in such a state of disrepair, the team decided to keep the foundation but rebuild the rest from scratch to create an eco-friendly hotel with a minimalist vibe that Stirratt describes as an “austere luxurious experience.” Designed by architect Hank Scollard, a protege of MASS MoCA architect Simeon Bruner, the rooms have built-in king beds, high-vaulted ceilings, and picture windows looking over the forest behind the hotel. To further bring the outdoors inside, the LEED platinum eligible-hotel also has an advanced air circulation system that brings fresh air into each room every hour. Some rooms come with bunk beds for families, and all of them include outdoor space via semi-private patios or private decks with outdoor showers.

A new hotel is about to blow minds. Follow @touristswelcome to see how. Opens July 30. Thanks @stirratt2 for having me. #morethanahotel #experience #theberkshires #summernights #getaway A post shared by John Dolan (@johndolanphotog) on Jul 1, 2018 at 5:05pm PDT

While Stirratt had been coming to North Adams for years to play at Tanglewood, he and the rest of the team had to convince chef Cortney Burns, formerly of San Francisco’s Bar Tartine and Duna , to move out east to head up the food program at TOURISTS. For now, Burns cooks the lighter fare that is served at the lodge and deck bar, but in early 2019 she’ll open the hotel’s restaurant, LOOM, in a church-like structure on the property that used to be the home of a Welsh temperance society.

In addition to the restaurant and the hotel, two other structures on the property have been repurposed into centralized spaces for guests. A 1962 ranch house now serves as the hotel’s lodge, where guests can drink coffee in front of the fireplace in the morning, enjoy a snack in the evening, or spend time outdoors on the patio that overlooks the pool. The 1813 farmhouse, just a short walk away, has been transformed into a cocktail lounge and live music venue.

Stirratt also convinced his friends from New Orleans Airlift , an artist collective famous for building pieces of playable architecture, to come out last summer and build the Chime Chapel , which he describes as a “little nest stage out in the woods” behind the property where he plans to host shows throughout the summer.

In addition to organized shows at the Chime Chapel, Stirratt says he plans on luring friends in bands out to Tourists while they’re touring the Northeast.

“We like this idea of off-hand musical performances,” Stirratt said. “The real magic has happened with these accidental musical combinations that you just can’t plan. We’re looking for more magic like that.”

Tourists opened on July 30, 2018. R ates average $195 per night.

>> Next: The Sweetest Small Towns to Visit in the U.S. This Summer

915 State Road, North Adams, MA 01247, United States of America – Great location - show map

Cleanliness

Value for money

This is a carousel with rotating slides. It displays featured reviews of the property. Use the Next and Previous buttons to navigate.

beautifully designed - big rooms w/ comfy bed and pillows - quiet and relaxing

My husband and I were lucky enough to get a night this week for a short vacation. What a wonderful, understated gem of a hotel/motor inn. The decor and architecture are serene and so comfortable both inside and out. The room was so clean, the bed wonderfully comfortable and the view to the woods beautiful. The grounds are awesome and we used the beatufiul pool area and the terrace extensively. They had a wonderful BBQ for the guests. Everyone was extremely friendly and efficient. I can't say enough. We will definitely be back

I loved the facilities! This is a superb hotel! It has everything you need to disconnect and relax!

Everyone is super friendly and love what they do there

we loved everything about this place. it is stylish and comfortable. The food and drinks were terrific. the grounds are gorgeous. We will head back in the summer for the pool!

All the staff there are super friendly. Because I checked-in late (6PM), they also offered me a complementary 12 PM check-out the next day (1 hr later than the normal 11 AM checkout). The property is clean and well-maintained. The common area gives me a cozy feeling. We had some great chatter sitting near the fireplace with a couple of drinks. The room we booked (Ramble) has a daybed and a window you can look out too. I believe in spring or summer the view will be much greener (we visited in early Feb). The bedding is super comfy. The mattress is not too soft to make you feel you are sinking into it, which I really like.

The large and cosy room and lobby. The breakfast and coffee were delicious. The terrace and outside shower are great. The design of the hotel is great. This place really has a unique soul.

Tourists Reserve now

Lock in a great price for Tourists – rated 9.1 by recent guests!

Enter dates to get started.

Located in North Adams, 17 miles from Bennington Battle Monument, Tourists has accommodations with a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, free private parking, a garden and a shared lounge. Among the facilities of this property are a restaurant, room service and a 24-hour front desk, along with free WiFi throughout the property. Guests can use a bar. The rooms at the hotel have air conditioning and a desk. Tourists has a terrace. Guests at the accommodation will be able to enjoy activities in and around North Adams, like hiking. Tanglewood is 31 miles from Tourists, while Cranwell Spa & Golf Club is 31 miles from the property. The nearest airport is Albany International Airport, 39 miles from the hotel.

Couples in particular like the location – they rated it 8.8 for a two-person trip.

Distance in property description is calculated using © OpenStreetMap

• Outdoor swimming pool
• Non-smoking rooms
• Facilities for disabled guests
• Room service
• Free parking
• Family rooms

Property highlights

Top Location: Highly rated by recent guests (8.8)

Free private parking available at the hotel

Saved to 101 lists

Availability

Select dates to see this property's availability and prices

Categories:

See what guests loved the most:.

Hotel area info

Restaurants 1 restaurant on site.

• Dietary options Kosher • Vegetarian • Vegan • Gluten-free • Dairy-free

Amenities of Tourists Great facilities! Review score, 9.3

• Outdoor fireplace
• Picnic area
• Outdoor furniture
• Walking tours
• Coffee house on site
• Fruit Additional charge
• Wine/Champagne Additional charge
• Kids' meals Additional charge
• Breakfast in the room
• Electric vehicle charging station
• Shared lounge/TV area
• Baggage storage
• 24-hour front desk
• Fire extinguishers
• Smoke alarms
• Air conditioning
• Smoke-free property
• Hypoallergenic room available
• Lowered sink
• Toilet with grab rails
• Wheelchair accessible
• Heated pool
• Saltwater pool
• Shallow end
• Pool/Beach towels
• Beach chairs/Loungers
• Fenced pool
• Yoga classes

Property practice

See availability house rules.

From 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM

Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card at check-in

Until 11:00 AM

Cancellation/ prepayment

Cancellation and prepayment policies vary according to accommodations type. Please enter the dates of your stay and check what conditions apply to your preferred room.

Children & Beds

Child policies

Children of all ages are welcome.

Children 16 and above will be charged as adults at this property.

To see correct prices and occupancy info, add the number and ages of children in your group to your search.

Crib and extra bed policies

Cribs and extra beds aren't available at this property.

Age restriction

The minimum age for check-in is 21

Pets are allowed. Charges may apply.

Cards accepted at this hotel

Tourists accepts these cards and reserves the right to temporarily hold an amount prior to arrival.

The fine print Must-know information for guests at this property

Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card upon check-in. Please note that all Special Requests are subject to availability and additional charges may apply.

Please inform Tourists of your expected arrival time in advance. You can use the Special Requests box when booking, or contact the property directly using the contact details in your confirmation.

FAQs about Tourists

What is there to do at tourists.

• Swimming pool

What type of room can I book at Tourists?

Does tourists have a pool.

Yes, this hotel has a pool. See details about the pool and other facilities on this page.

How much does it cost to stay at Tourists?

The prices at Tourists may vary depending on your stay (e.g. dates, hotel's policy etc.). To see prices, enter your dates.

What are the check-in and check-out times at Tourists?

Check-in at Tourists is from 3:00 PM, and check-out is until 11:00 AM.

How far is Tourists from the center of North Adams?

Tourists is 3 miles from the center of North Adams. All distances are measured in straight lines. Actual travel distances may vary.

Does Tourists have a restaurant on site?

• The Airport Rooms

The Best of North Adams

Attractions.

• Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort

Institutions

• Southern Vermont College
• The Clark Art Institute

Stay in the know

Error: Please enter a valid email address.

Error: Oops! An error has occurred.

Thanks! We've sent you an email so you can confirm your subscription

Personalized recommendations

We provide personalized recommendations based on your activity on our platform. If you prefer, you can opt out of this option. Opting-out only affects your current device. Adjust this setting to your preference on other devices as well.

Verified reviews from real guests.

We have more than 70 million property reviews, all from real, verified guests .

How does it work?

It starts with a booking.

The only way to leave a review is to first make a booking. That's how we know our reviews come from real guests who have stayed at the property.

Followed by a trip

When guests stay at the property, they check out how quiet the room is, how friendly the staff is, and more.

And finally, a review

After their trip, guests tell us about their stay. We check for naughty words and verify the authenticity of all guest reviews before adding them to our site.

If you booked through us and want to leave a review, please sign in first.

Check-in date

Check-out date

Save big in North Adams

Get exclusive Booker deals by email

For a limited time only

Awesome! You're now subscribed

915 State Road , North Adams , Massachusetts 01247

TOURISTS is a hotel and riverside retreat inspired by the classic American roadside motor lodge, set on the banks of the Hoosic River in the Berkshires city of North Adams. Designed for the 21st century traveler, the 48-room property is a union of design and nature, home to woodland trails, riverbank vistas, sculptural installations and more. Using common, organic materials, your room is both haven and trailhead, connecting you with your vacation self and serving as a basecamp for exploration and adventure.

© berkshires.com 2022

TOURISTS Hotel Embraces Nature With Design in Western Massachusetts

This riverside retreat gives the American Motor Lodge a long-awaited and well deserved redesign

Ellen Eberhardt

Photographer

Peter Crosby, Nicole Franzen, R'el Dade and Marcus Lloyd

Tourists , a riverside retreat in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts is giving the American Motor Lodge what it’s always deserved—a little TLC. The 48-bed property centers design and the outdoors (sounds familiar), all inspired by its bucolic location on the banks of the Hoosic River.

Led by a team of four partners, the hotel’s location lends itself to easy exploration of both nature and art . The Mohawk and Appalachian trail s converge on-site, while Mount Greylock, Massachusets’ tallest mountain, is a hike away.

Both MASS MoCA and the Clark Institue are within a short drive, amoung other lesser-known attractions like the Hancock Shaker Village and more. While the retreat has limited group-gatherings in and outdoors due to COVID, in safer times they plan to continue hosting open-air concerts and private events.

"Adventure" is a key part of the Tourist’s experience, with an extensive catalog of various walks, hikes, and outdoor activities organized by an in-house Art and Adventure coordinator.

Guests can book morning or sunset hikes, wildflower and outdoor sculpture tours, group yoga, meditation by a waterfall, or a “ Craft and Sip ” session, where you can create room sprays with essential oils, leather keychains, beeswax candles, herbal bath salts, and more. Safe to say they know their customer.

The rooms themselves feature minimalist, modest design, accented by custom wooden furniture and various nature-inspired products and art. Each has a private deck where guests can enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee and alcohol—ordered via text. A saltwater pool sits at the center of the grounds, with access limited due to social distancing.

With strict COVID protocols seemingly in place, for our readers itching to get back out there or in need of a much-deserved break in reality—this may be the place to start.

From December 2020 through April 2021, the hotel is operating on a Thursday-Sunday schedule with a minimum stay of two nights, to ensure rooms the property remains as safe as posisble. Rooms start around $221 a night .

For more Berkshire stays check out 11 Best Cabins to Rent in Western Massachusetts

Published 04-01-2021

Minimal, inviting, with ocean vistas aplenty—a first hand look at the new York Beach property with rooms built into a coastal shore

Escape NYC to one of these high-design, outdoorsy retreats in the Catskill mountains, featuring hot tubs, cozy taverns, pickle ball courts, and more

From the minds of AutoCamp, the new basecamp near Arches & Canyonlands National Park offers guided tours, gear rentals, and Vanlife parking

Find your desert basecamp at one of these elevated roadside motels, boutique hotels, and hacienda-style getaways

Near Porto, Portugal, is the Arouca Rustic Complex: a 2-bedroom reimagined granary house that marries traditional vernacular with modern design

Five minutes from the central plaza and strong year-round surf, NICO relies on contextual design to secure its status as a traveler’s destination

Gallery Mode

Tourists Welcome: A Rustic Oasis in the Berkshires

“We thought that it would be kind of funny to call a spade a spade,” says Ben Svenson, lead partner and visionary behind Tourists , a new hotel in North Adams, Massachusetts. “We like the challenging nature of taking a word that has a negative connotation and being forced to reconsider it.”

It seems like everyone is reconsidering North Adams lately, from visitors to the increasingly popular Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) to the buyers behind the rise in single-family home sales. Tourists, which opened in July, puts the city and its surrounding areas firmly back on the map.

The five partners behind Tourists—Svenson; brewery owner Eric Kerns; chef Cortney Burns; John Stirratt, a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning band Wilco; and founder of Brooklyn Magazine and Northside Media Group Scott Stedman— describe the 48-room property as a post-Airbnb hospitality experience with modern design elements contrasting artfully with the woodland trails, riverbank vistas, and sculptural installations that surround the hotel. A 1962 ranch house that stood there previously has been repurposed into the hotel’s central lodge, which Stedman calls the “community living room, a place to congregate casually and share time with friends or meet new people.”

“We celebrate the idea of leisure travel as a tourist, embracing the most remarkable aspects of a region,” he continues. “North Adams is such a spectacular and unusual convergence of art and nature, and we felt that being a tourist here is a really remarkable experience. We wanted to create a brand that exemplifies that.”

915 STATE ROAD

NORTH ADAMS, MA

Tourists Welcome

Big Things Are Happening in the Berkshires

North Adams, Massachusetts was an industrial town. Then it became a museum town. With the recent opening of Tourists, it can now call itself a cutting-edge boutique hotel town.

The first thing we wanted to ask Ben Svenson is why he named his hotel after the dirtiest word in travel. Tourists. Mutter it under your breath and you evoke the image of a destructive cultural viking, rolling through town as part of an unconscious horde, erasing what feels special about the place. In an ideal world, we would never be rampaging tourists, and always enlightened visitors . Interested travelers . Or, as the mayor of one overrun Italian city requested, “temporary cultural inhabitants.”

The founders of Tourists , an exciting new hotel in the Berkshires, have no use for such euphemisms.

Here in North Adams, Massachusetts, they’ve reclaimed the word. On the site of what was once the ’60s-era Redwood Motel, a group of partners came together with the goal of creating a self-contained 18-room clubhouse. But the project grew, and mutated, and drew in surrounding properties, and by the time it opened in 2018, this former motel on the banks of the Hoosic River featured all the ecological wonder of the Berkshires, coupled with high-end amenities and a visual sensibility inspired by the celebrated design oasis of Sea Ranch, California.

20 years ago, this would not have been the hotel you’d expect to find here. North Adams is a city that was long synonymous with the decline of American manufacturing. These days, it’s better known for hosting the largest contemporary art museum in North America. Svenson’s answer to the question — why Tourists ? — spans both of these realities.

But first, the literal answer. The history of tourism in the northern Berkshires goes back at least a hundred years, with the construction of the scenic Mohawk Trail in 1914. During the trend’s heyday in the 1940s and ’50s, road signs sought to lure tourists from their scenic drives to restaurants and lodging. As he got to know the space that would become Tourists, Ben Svenson, part of an impressive group of founding partners, found one such old, faded wooden sign.

It displayed a single word, and you can guess which one. “That was a convention from the Mohawk Trail,” Svenson explains, “to have this word Tourists with an arrow.” And considering all the connotations of the word today — vikings, selfie sticks, etc. — “it just felt so radical.”

They named their hotel Tourists (well, technically they named it Tourists Welcome), but the sign isn’t the only reason why. North Adams is a city that’s by all accounts still in the process of revival. In 1985, Sprague Electric — a massive complex of buildings that headquartered the city’s major employer — closed, devastating a city where it employed, in some cases, multiple members of the same family. Just a year later, the community saw a path forward. The project, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), would take up residence in the abandoned buildings of Sprague Electric and, hopefully, provide a big enough draw to revive the city. After a grueling march through fundraising struggles and political courtship, MASS MoCA finally opened in 1999.

And while the museum wasn’t, as some had hoped, a “silver bullet” to economic revival, it has, over time, made a significant difference. As Joseph Thompson, founding director of MASS MoCA, put it in an interview last August, “The last five years, there’s a new vibe in town, and you can see it and feel it. Younger people are moving to town. There are new restaurants opening up all the time. There’s been probably twenty-five million dollars just in hotel investment.”

As we put it when we first added Tourists to Tablet shortly after their opening: “The Berkshires are undergoing the sort of revival that travel trend pieces are made of.” The pandemic has only illuminated the importance and the capability of cultural institutions to power an economy. Annual attendance numbers at MASS MoCA have reached 300,000 in the past, with gawkers and enthusiasts drawn by the biggest names in contemporary art, and the artists drawn perhaps by nothing so simple as the sheer quantity of space. In Building 5, home to one large gallery exhibit at a time, artists build giant, awe-inspiring pieces from scratch. See one of these pieces and you get a sense of the scale of this museum, and how it might anchor an economy.

“The art and the way that we make it here in collaboration with artists is more akin to filmmaking — in which there are artistic directors and lighting and sound and there’s obviously a creative director, the artist,” said Thompson in the documentary about his institution, Museum Town . “There’s a whole slew of people who are coming together to make a very complicated work of art.”

In short, an art-powered economic engine. Undoubtedly, it’s an engine that brings tourists, and brought Tourists, too. “Tourists does not exist without MASS MoCA,” affirms Svenson. Nearly every founding member of the hotel group came to know North Adams through the museum. In the case of John Stirratt, bassist-turned-hotelier, the connection is the Solid Sound Festival, a massive event at the museum every other summer headlined and curated by his band, Wilco.

North Adams has become more and more of a museum town since the arrival of MASS MoCA, a community of artists and temporary cultural inhabitants both. Still, there’s a divide between the museum visitors and those who’ve lived here for decades. “This is a funny place to have a very high-end hotel,” admits Svenson. And here we have another reason for the name. “Just to call a spade a spade felt interesting.”

It’s a self-awareness that grows from a desire to close the distance between the disparate elements of North Adams. “We had a growing conviction that people were coming here and not sleeping here, because they didn’t have a place that spoke to them,” says Svenson. “If you could connect those dots of getting the visitors of MASS MoCA to actually sleep here, you could not only create a business that was dynamite, but employ a bunch of people whose prospects were not so great for employment in the area.”

The visitors of MASS MoCA definitely sleep here. Why wouldn’t they? We love to feature restored motels on Tablet. This one’s different. “If you do what I do for a living,” says Svenson, a developer, “the first thing you do is introduce yourself to your neighbors.” On his rounds, he found that most of them wanted to sell, a sign of where North Adams was at the time. Before long, 30 parcels of land united to create 55 acres (now over 80) of what one reviewer aptly described as “something of an adult summer camp compound.” Walking trails pepper the campus (aided by a wooden suspension bridge built over the Hoosic River).

Peppered across the compound: a saltwater pool, various sculptural installations, a lodge for dining, and a cozy space called the Airport Rooms. Svenson and partners stumbled upon this last structure, created from a ’40s-era rooming house, in a state of mid-century suspended animation. “John said when he saw the Airport Rooms, he said, ‘oh my God, it’s like a Hollywood prop house,’” remembers Svenson. “It was like, Brillo Pads from 1952 still in their packaging.” Today, it provides a purposely intimate, too-small venue for live music and cocktails. It’s among the features most missed in this age of open air and six-foot distances.

The broken-down Redwood Motel, meanwhile, was replaced by another warm, stylish, and hip little hideout. Svenson wanted the experience of the rooms to feel like you had direct contact with the outside world. Keeping the features of the motel they enjoyed — namely, your own door and that comforting sense of repetition — they added their favorite creature comforts. Back decks, outdoor showers, and “bay windows the size of a full mattress.”

Then there’s that striking white oak siding. This is where Svenson really lights up. “That’s completely taken from Sea Ranch’s design principles of finding a locally sourced, natural material that does not require treatment and will last a long time,” he explains, a little giddy. “Sea Ranch was all about creating buildings that were basically so integrated into their setting that they could visually disappear — and increasingly so over time, as the buildings become aged in a way that’s almost part of the woods. Tourists was an attempt to do that.”

“They had redwood. For us, we found white oak.”

After COVID forced the closing of the hotel and the museum, both are currently reopened with the appropriate adjustments. Thanks to its ample outdoor space and private entrances, Tourists has found itself better positioned than many hotels to offer a comfortable escape. An art and adventure program they began in 2019 was a particular godsend for guests as some of the usual attractions around the city were shuttered. If you were there now, you’d find seasonal activities — fire-building classes and snowshoeing — along with some they’ll keep year-round. Take a guided hike into the woods, an art walk around North Adams, go stargazing and eat s’mores, or visit the outdoor exhibits at The Clark (the other renowned art museum nearby).

And if you were there right now, you don’t have to think of yourself as a tourist. But really, you are one. And if that feels confrontational to you, Svenson’s sure you can handle it.

“I believe our audience likes to be challenged,” he says. In fact, the name is almost a conceptual art piece in itself. “It’s like if you opened a supermarket and you named it ‘food,’” he says. “There’s something really kinda funny about that.” ▪

  Book Tourists on Tablet Hotels.

Photo credits: Peter Crosby , Nick Simonite , Nicole Franzen , R’el Dade and Marcus Lloyd

Tourists Welcome: Hotel in North Adams

In the Berkshires, Tourists Welcome is an old roadside motel transformed into a dream summer getaway.

Book Tourists Welcome

An essential address

The Tourists Welcome hotel is located on the historic Mohawk Trail in the small town of North Adams, in the far northwest of Massachusetts.

Opened in 2018, the hotel is led by a dynamic team of five partners including Ben Svenson, Eric Kerns, John Stirratt, Scott Stedman, and Cortney Burns. The old Redwoods Motel from the 1950s was demolished and rebuilt in collaboration with architect Hank Scollard, and with Julie Pearson for interior design. The name of the hotel is inspired by an old road sign “Tourists Welcome”. The project was to take the concept and aesthetics of a classic American motel. The old foundation now houses a newly built structure inspired by traditional roadside lodges, with their linear volumes and outward-facing doors. U-shaped in the plan, the main part of the hotel is composed of low-slung bars that surround a central courtyard with native flora. The facades are wrapped in white oak planks.

The hotel consists of 48 minimalist rooms. Rooms are equipped with high ceilings, floors, headboards, and furniture in light wood, and large square windows offer framed views of the bucolic landscape. Bathrooms have concrete floors, spacious showers, cylinder sinks, and Ursa toiletries. Each room has sliding glass doors leading to an outdoor shower and lounge chairs on a wide back deck.

A pathway leads from the central courtyard to the back portion of the property, providing access to the heated saltwater swimming pool, deck overlooking the Hoosic River, the common lounge with a fireplace, and the Airport Rooms cocktail bar, a cozy gathering place. The property feature a 67-meter suspension bridge designed and fabricated by Tree-Mendous Aerial Adventures, which traverses the river, and connects guests to a forested nature preserve.

Tourists Welcome is a destination for adventure, community, and comfort.

We love Tourists Welcome for:

48 rooms Minimalist decoration Common lounge with fireplace Cocktail bar Swimming pool Bucolic environment

Double room from 170 € per night during low season. Breakfast included.

Images Courtesy Tourists Welcome hotel, Peter Crosby, Nicole Franzin

You will love also...

Tourists is a new hotel in the Berkshires, for art and other lovers

Art aficionados slot The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art high on their bucket lists for good reason. A vast art and performance space housed in a former 19 th -century textile mill complex, MASS MoCA specializes in large scale immersive installations. For example, during my recent visit, I was able to admire Liz Glynn’s The Archaeology of Another Possible Future , the five-part exhibition spreading across 30,000 square feet. Visitors begin by wandering among the “analog caves” of reclaimed forklift panels, then through shipping containers which stand as “relics of a global economy in acute transition,” then up scaffolding towers where 3D printers produce usable pieces of hardware, to end in “the post-industrial vacationland” where hospital stretchers, modified into lounge chairs, recline under tanning lamps. Glynn’s project, which invites viewers to ponder “What happens to stuff, and the people who make stuff, in the age of an increasingly virtual, dematerialized economy?” is ambitious both conceptually and physically. And it’s just one of the many works at MASS MoCA that could be displayed in few, if any, other settings.  

Museum goers can easily spend an entire day there, but — even if they planned to visit the nearby Clark Art Institute, valued for its French Impressionists, the next day — they’d have a ways to go to find a hotel that complemented the art experience they’d just enjoyed. T he Southern Berkshires, home to towns like Stockbridge and Great Barrington, has long catered to visitors, but there simply hadn’t been a hotel in the Northern Berkshires that would appeal to the kind of folks, say, who’d happily drive three hours from Manhattan to view Jenny Holzer’s LED light projections. That’s changing.  

Enter Tourists, a hotel and retreat on Route 2 in North Adams, newly renovated and expanded from the slowly dying Redwoods Motel. With 48 rooms, Tourists has the expected luxuries — a pool and deck bar — as well as the unexpected, such as a suspension bridge spanning the Hoosic River, leading to fifty acres of hiking trails.  One trail leads to a yoga/meditation deck. Another leads to “The Chime Chapel,” an outdoor sculpture of playable windchimes, created by the New Orleans art collaborative Airlift. Yet another path links to the Appalachian Trail, so hikes can extend beyond the fifty acres, perhaps even to Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. Greylock’s distinctive silhouette, covered in snow, looked like a great white sperm whale to Herman Melville and inspired Moby Dick .   

The name “Tourists” came from a giant wooden sign the hotel’s creators found in the derelict Redwoods. They kept more than just the sign; the aesthetic at Tourists is moto-lodge chic. A “camp out” feel reigns, from the cedar-clad lobby to the coffee served in retro Stanley thermoses, to the guest rooms’ high-end toiletries redolent of — could it be — Vic’s Vapo Rub?  James Beard Award-winning chef Cortney Burns’ “sweet bite” menu includes the ingredient “spruce” before the more familiar “chocolate chip cookie,” and “sumac” modifies “granola.” Burns’ high-end restaurant, LOOM, currently under construction in an old church on the property, won’t be finished until winter, but one can enjoy her playful “jar food” starting July 30, when the hotel opens.  Remember sitting around a fire at sleepaway camp , grilling hot dogs on sticks, potatoes in tin foil, making apple pie in a tin can? Burns’ jar of fermented butternut squash and sesame dip served with spelt porridge bread was indeed consumed around a fire at Tourists — though that might be the only similarity with my years of Camp Singing Hills cuisine.

Perhaps the uniqueness of Tourists has less to do with details of design and more to do with the spirit of its creators.  The origin story captures this well: Several years back Scott Stedman, founder of Northside Media, was chatting with a friend of a friend at a Chicago party.  When their talk turned to passion projects, they discovered they both harbored the dream of creating a resort. They exchanged ideas on hospitality, discussing how hotels shape travelers’ desire to engage with their locale.  The guy Stedman was talking to? Turns out it was John Stirratt, the bassist for Wilco, who has seen a hotel or two in his time. “You gotta meet my cousin Ben, a real estate developer,” Stedman told Stirratt. So cousin Ben got on board; and Ben’s brother, Eric; and Eric’s brother-in-law, Dana, and so on. Eventually there would be eight partners, which they’d need to pull off the buying of twenty-two different parcels in North Adams, an area Stirrat had first fallen in love with when performing at the Solid Sound music festival in 2010.  

How does this spirit of serendipity and creative collaboration play out on the ground?  Consider that the Tourists team used the hotel’s soft opening not as an opportunity to reward investors or charm travel industry insiders, but to bring poets together.  Good-time guru Stedman (who does NOT seem like the head of a successful marketing company, and that’s a compliment) invited five poetic co-hosts — Jeff Gordinier, Dan Chiasson, Sandra Beasley, Jana Prikryl and myself — to invite poets we admire for a poetry-pop up retreat, free of charge. Poets NEVER turn down anything free of charge.  We recited poems about booze standing on picnic tables at cocktail hour, capturing perfectly, says Stedman, “the inebriated joie de vivre of Tourists.” We recited poems, ours and others, at the chime chapel under the stars, around the fire with our jars of food, and while being led by a local forager through the woods. I can’t imagine that treating 35 thirsty poets and partners of poets to a free vacation is sound investment strategy. Which is exactly why Tourists might be on to something. The place has mojo that comes from participating in the gift economy. It’s launching into the world on the turbo jets of love.

So maybe visitors who come to Tourists in order to visit MASS MoCA should consider booking more than one night. Otherwise, they might be so lured by the charms of the hotel that they forget to visit the museum.  

915 State Road

North Adams, MA 01247

(413) 346-4933

touristswelcome.com

Beth Ann Fennelly is Poet Laureate of Mississippi, and most recently the author of Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs (W. W. Norton) .

Get The Wonderlust Newsletter

The world at your feet: New destinations and experiences, and the best travel deals!

• Senior Living
• Wedding Experts
• Private Schools
• Home Design Experts
• Real Estate Agents
• Mortgage Professionals
• Find a Private School
• 50 Best Restaurants
• Be Well Boston
• Find a Dentist
• Find a Doctor
• Guides & Advice
• Best of Boston Weddings
• Find a Wedding Expert
• Real Weddings
• Bubbly Brunch Event
• Properties & News
• Find a Home Design Expert
• Find a Real Estate Agent
• Find a Mortgage Professional
• Real Estate
• Home Design
• Best of Boston Home
• Arts & Entertainment
• Boston magazine Events
• Latest Winners
• Best of Boston Soirée
• NEWSLETTERS

If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. If you're a scraper, please click the link below :-) Note that clicking the link below will block access to this site for 24 hours.

26 of the Best Hotels to Stay at in Boston

From former prisons to luxe penthouses, our guide to the city’s best places to stay and play.

From day trips to weekend getaways, our biweekly Traveler newsletter shows you the best of New England and beyond.

Photo via Omni Hotels & Resorts

Boston boasts no shortage of hotels, from sky-scraper stunners to small gems that feel like a luxe slice of home. Looking for a staycation or a guide to send your out-of-town friends? We’ve rounded up the best of the best—from boutique, luxury, and historic hotels to stays on the waterfront and downtown—for you to check out before you check in.

Boutique Hotels

The Verb Hotel

A verb is an action word—a fitting title for this boutique hotel in the middle of bustling Fenway. Once a Howard Johnson, the Verb leans into its retro past and rock-and-roll vibe with 93 guest rooms centered around the heated pool and decked out with music-themed decor. And have you heard? Vinyl heads rejoice because each room boasts a record player and records to jam out while you wolf down takeout from neighboring Hojoko. Be sure to check out the onsite “mascot,” a 1947 cherry red Flxible 24 bus, too.

1271 Boylston St., Boston, 617-566-4500, theverbhotel.com .

The Liberty Hotel

The interior of this Beacon Hill hotel is so gorgeous it may as well be a crime, which is fitting given the building’s former life as the Charles Street Jail. The stately granite structure might have been completed in 1851, but the enormous interiors and the 298 guestrooms are rooted in the here and now: floor-to-ceiling windows, flat-screens, sleek bathrooms, and more. The six dining options lean into the building’s past, from new American eatery Clink to cocktail lounge Alibi—set in the former jail’s “drunk tank” and featuring brick cell walls and celebrity mugshots, like Jane Fonda’s 1970 fist-raised salute.

215 Charles St., Boston, 617-224-4000, libertyhotel.com .

Photo provided

Staypineapple in Back Bay

You’ll still hear locals call this spot the Chandler Inn, even though the Pacific Northwest-based Staypineapple brand took over back in 2018 and overhauled the 55 rooms, with renovations to the lobby and restaurant taking place earlier this year. In the guestrooms, you’ll find European-style duvets on each bed, fluffy towels and robes, and pops of yellow decor. Plus, you can bring the pooch, as the hotel is as dog-obsessed as you are.

26 Chandler St., Boston, 1-866-866-7977, staypineapple.com/south-end-boston .

Image provided

The Colonnade

This Back Bay beauty boasts Boston’s only rooftop pool, a cabana-studded stunner twelve stories above Copley Square. Open seasonally by reservation only, you can make a splash and then lounge under the umbrellas and savor sips and snacks from the pool bar. When it’s time to towel off, head indoors and relax on one of the pillow-top beds in your sprawling room with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Even furry guests get the luxe treatment with the VIPet program, which includes a pet bed, a bowl with your choice between three types of dog or cat food, and help with sitting, grooming, and walking services.

120 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-424-7000, colonnadehotel.com .

Ready for a one-two punch of luxury and location? Located in the instantly recognizable flatiron building, this boutique hotel is a quick jaunt to the North End and more. An industrial aesthetic infuses the interiors, with an antique map of Boston adorning the lobby ceiling, open-frame wardrobes in the 80 slate-blue guest rooms, and marble bathroom vanities. Another reason to say cheers: The hotel is also the hospitality partner of City Winery Boston, where you can indulge in private tours and events, in non-pandemic times.

107 Merrimac St., Boston, 617-624-0211, theboxerboston.com .

Studio Allston Hotel

For those who need a contemporary counterpoint to Boston’s colonial history, look no further than this visual fantasy right on the Charles River. “Studio” is an apropos name, as the hip Studio Allston tapped the talents of 22 artists to fill the sprawling common spaces and 117 guest rooms—including ten custom suites—with hundreds of works of art, essentially turning the space into a gallery you can lay your head in. Drink in the masterworks, from the funky mod wallcoverings to sculptural pieces, and then drink in some skinny piña coladas at the onsite New Latin restaurant and rum bar Casa Caña.

1234 Soldiers Field Road, Boston, 617-206-1848, hotelstudioallston.com .

Revere Hotel Boston Common

What’s clear about the Revere is that the spot reveres local lore, with an aesthetic inspired by Boston’s history and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” The rooms feature balconies and minuteman-themed artwork, with the presidential suite boasting a king bed, seating area, conference space, bar, and even a library stocked by Brookline Booksmith. A must-see is the giant stylized eye room divider and canon in the hotel’s restaurant, Rebel’s Guild. Revel at the Rooftop@Revere, with over 16,000 square-feet of lounge space, and it’ll feel like you’re taking your own midnight ride as you gaze at the streets at night.

200 Stuart St., Boston, 617-482-1800, reverehotel.com .

Waterfront Hotels

The Envoy Hotel

This sleek Seaport stunner showcases some of the finest waterfront panoramas in all of Boston. The 136 guest rooms with custom furnishings and mammoth floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the Fort Point Channel, Boston Harbor, and the gleaming waterfront buildings—that is, if you can peel your eyes away from the funky, art-filled lobby and the huge chandelier of reclaimed materials. Grab a bite in the seasonal-inspired Outlook Kitchen, while the Lookout Rooftop beckons with small plates and craft cocktails. Even the winter chill won’t kill the vibe of the luxe four-season rooftop lounge, with its heated igloos and mini plexiglass-shrouded lounges.

70 Sleeper St., Boston, 617-338-3030, theenvoyhotel.com .

Battery Wharf Hotel

Looking for luxury with a side of sea views? Jutting out into the Boston Harbor and right on the fringes of the North End, this 150-room retreat is a contemporary sanctuary for some post-cannoli pampering. The granite spa-like bathrooms showcase walk-in rain showers while the pillow-top mattresses promise cushy, well-deserved winks. The hotel’s perch on the Harbor Walk is perfect for exploring the city’s waterfront history, and after hoofing it, you can treat your tired muscles to a full-body massage at the onsite Exhale Spa.

3 Battery Wharf, Boston, 617-994-9000, batterywharfhotelboston.com .

InterContinental Boston

This luxury hotel makes waves right on the waterfront, as a behemoth gleaming building that bucks the trends of its brick and stonework neighbors. Check into one of the 424 guest rooms and then check out the neighboring Fort Point Channel and its waterfront destinations like the Boston Tea Party Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art. The InterContinental’s frills are decidedly continental, too: the indoor pool, the two in-house restaurants, and the deep tubs for an end-of-day soak. Here, you can laze like royalty in a king suite wrapped in water views.

510 Atlantic Ave., Boston, 617-747-1000, icbostonhotel.com .

Boston Harbor Hotel

Perhaps you’re harboring some feelings about what your ideal hotel should house. Say, coastal-inspired rooms, lush finishes, and in-room dining all with waterfront views? Dive into this destination, with its 232 rooms and enormous, iconic archway right on the water. Rooms feature perks like tablets, coffee-makers, and more, and if you’re feeling particularly statesman-like, you can spring for the 4,800 square-foot John Adams Presidential Suite with private terrace, media room, and kitchen. The Rowes Wharf Sea Grille offers old-school elegance and dishes like a traditional lobster dinner and steak au poivre, or get the silver-tray treatment with some room service.

70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, 617-439-7000, bhh.com .

Downtown Hotels

Moxy Boston Downtown

“Moxie” is an old-school term for grit and nerve, as in, “you’ve got moxie, kid.” The Moxy Boston channels a similar sense of daring within its 340 tech-forward guestrooms, with keyless entry and flat-screen TVs, though good luck tearing your eyes away from the city views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. From the outside marquee—a nod to the neighboring Theater District—to the street-art murals and a rooftop lounge called the Mez, the vibe here is playful and buzzy. Plus, say “cheese” at the food truck-inspired photo booth in the lobby, which is just a preview of the endlessly Instagrammable digs.

240 Tremont St., Boston, 617-793-4200, moxy-hotels.marriott.com .

Kimpton Nine Zero

Though it might be a block from Boston Common, what’s uncommon about this boutique hotel is the laser-focus on luxury, like the Eames chairs and leather bedframes in the guestrooms, or the glinting metal finishes and marble floors of the lobby. Each of the 190 guest rooms and suites toy with mid-century design, like the oil painting-like artwork of nobility splashed with bold colors. Plus, you don’t even have to leave your room to bring the indulgence to you, with the hotel’s spa offering in-room massages. Be sure to check out the Better Sorts Social Club cocktail bar and lounge, too.

90 Tremont St., Boston, 617-772-5800, ninezero.com .

The Godfrey Hotel Boston

Smack in the middle of Downtown Crossing, the Godfrey is where you might picture a millennial reincarnation of Jay Gatsby knocking back a cocktail. The apartment-like rooms are impeccably tailored without feeling fussy, with menswear-inspired upholstered headboards, sleek furnishings, Bose Bluetooth sound systems, and phone-to-TV streaming. You don’t have to travel far for great eats, from the Peruvian-Japanese fusion spot Ruka, to an outpost of the famed George Howell Coffee right in the lobby—or slip into your bathrobe and ring up some room service.

505 Washington St., Boston, 617-804-2000, godfreyhotelboston.com .

The energetic W Boston boasts a design spirit inspired by memorable New Englanders: the Edgar Allan Poe artwork, the pillows emblazoned with a red W in homage to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter , the nods to Aerosmith. The recently revamped rooms remix the old and new, with wood paneled headboards and bold, geometric carpeting. Grab a cocktail from W Lounge and head to the mezzanine floor, where all of the artwork in the rotating collection is for sale. Thanks to the hotel’s Reebok partnership, you can get new shoes and socks delivered to your door, so there’s no excuse not to work out in the 24-hour gym.

100 Stuart St., Boston, 617-261-8700, marriott.com .

Sometimes you just need to go glam with your accommodations. Take this boutique hotel as a beacon of luxury, with its stunning Beaux Arts building of brick and iron, original cage elevator in the lobby, and the 63 modern guest rooms. With only seven guest rooms per floor, the getaways feel more like apartments, with sitting areas, canopied beds, and rainforest showers in the bathrooms. When you need to nest, wrap yourself in a cashmere throw and relax by your room’s gas fireplace. Feeling social? Hit up the roof deck, or let one of the hotel’s fleet of Lexus cars whisk you around the city.

15 Beacon St., Boston, 617-670-1500, xvbeacon.com .

Historic Hotels

Omni Parker House

At over 165 years old, this downtown hotel is still looking gorgeous. In fact, since it’s welcomed guests since its 1855 grand opening, the Omni Parker House takes the gold medal as the oldest continuously operating hotel in the nation. Right from that marquee-lit, art-deco entrance to the rich fabrics of the 551 rooms, you’re in for some old-world luxury. Love literature? Lay your head in the hotel where prose pros like Emerson, Longfellow, and Hawthorne held their Saturday Club literary meetings. Come dinnertime, get decked out and visit Parker’s Restaurant, where the famed Boston Cream Pie found its sweet start.

60 School St., Boston, 617-227-8600, omnihotels.com .

Image of Oak Long Bar + Kitchen provided

Fairmont Copley Plaza

Fair to say that the Fairmont Copley Plaza is a gem of Golden-Age glamor in the Back Bay. The stately building houses 383 rooms, including 17 suites, as well as a loft-like rooftop fitness center, a Renaissance-inspired Grand Ballroom that housed galas of yesteryear, and more. Plus, the current Oak Long Bar + Kitchen comes with a liquor-linked past. Now you can feast on bacon-wrapped turkey breast in the same place where revelers toasted the end of Prohibition at the aptly name Merry-Go-Round Bar, which featured an actual merry-go-round. You can still spot the ride’s track in the floor today.

138 St. James Ave., Boston, 617-267-5300, fairmont.com .

The Lenox Hotel

The Lenox lures with romance, from the wood-burning fireplaces in the executive fireplace rooms, to the enormous ceilings, to the red-and-white bricks of the 11-story Beaux Art exterior. Built in 1900, guests staying in the 214 classical-inspired rooms—with ornate wooden headboards and Italian marble bathrooms—are in good company, with celebs like Anne Hathaway and Tony Bennett among the past patrons. In fact, pack up your troubles and just get happy at the Judy Garland Suite, named after the iconic songbird, who lived at the hotel in 1968, with its Old Hollywood-infused aesthetic, apartment-style lounging area, marble bathroom, and Back Bay views.

61 Exeter St. at Boylston Street, Boston, 617-536-5300, lenoxhotel.com .

Copley Square Hotel

From its enviable perch right by the library where it welcomes visitors with that vintage red sign atop the seven-floor brick building, the Copley Square Hotel has seen a lot of history since opening its doors on July 4, 1891. Legendary slugger Babe Ruth spent time here, as well as legends Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. You’ll still find an air of vintage elegance mixed with modern comfort among the 143 guest rooms that—though they lean on the cozy side—offer modern amenities like flat-screens, sleek furnishings, and decorative pops of red.

47 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-536-9000, copleysquarehotel.com .

Image of Mandarin Oriental Spa provided

Luxury Hotels

Mandarin Oriental, Boston

Lodgings don’t get much more luxe than this five-star stunner in Back Bay, with its giant contemporary-chic rooms, signature bathrobes, and legendary spa. Recent renovations tweaked the rooms to make them more residential-like for longer stays, like the addition of kitchenettes to the suites. In case you have a cool $12,000 to drop, opt for the one-bedroom Royal Suite with over 2,500 square-feet, complete with a living and dining room, fireplace, media room and walk-in wardrobe. If that’s not in the (credit) cards, you can still feel like royalty with a jaunt to the spa. Himalayan salt stone massage, anyone?

776 Boylston St., Boston, 617-535-8888, mandarinoriental.com .

Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street, Boston 

Boston’s Four Season’s outpost elevates elegance to an art form. The 61-story skyscraper perched by the Prudential pulls out all the stops, from the black granite floors of the lobby to the 215 rooms. The hotel even has an art curator behind the vast trove of treasures, from brass sculptures in the lobby to collages and paintings on the walls. No surprise that the other amenities are delightfully over-the-top: from the curved pool surrounded by windows, the wellness floor (because a wellness center isn’t enough), to the three onsite eateries, including the lobby bar, Trifecta, where you can dish over high tea on Sundays.

1 Dalton St., Boston, 617-377-4888, fourseasons.com/onedalton .

Photo by Michael Kleinberg

The Ritz-Carlton, Boston 

Ever wanted to go clubbing at the exclusive top level of a hotel? The Ritz-Carlton invites you to the Club Lounge, almost like a mini hotel where guests enjoy concierge services, complimentary food and drinks throughout the day, and spots to work or just hang out over board games. And the rooms are all about the glitz, with handcrafted bed linens, soaking tubs, views of the Common and more. Guests enjoy free access to the swanky Equinox Sports Club, where you can squeeze in a workout or unwind with a massage before you toast the evening with craft cocktails at the Artisan Bistro or the Avery Bar.

10 Avery St., Boston, 617-574-7100, ritzcarlton.com .

Hotel Commonwealth

You can’t strike out with a stay at the official hotel of the Boston Red Sox, right in the shadow of Fenway Park. From the Italian linens to the Fenway Terrace where you can gaze at the Green Monster, this 245-room spot makes for a decidedly Boston experience. Plus, the top-floor Red Sox-themed Fenway Park Suite feels like a new home base, with a private king bedroom and separate living room, oversized bathroom, and a balcony with real seats from the park. With four dining options, globe-trot from the New England fare at Eastern Standard to the steaming Japanese noodles at TsuroTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie.

500 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, 617-933-5000, hotelcommonwealth.com .

Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Why settle for one Four Seasons in Boston when you can splurge on two? Lay your head in this luxe spot, which boasts 196 guest rooms, 77 suites, and 87 residential units, in case you’re in the market to nest in a 16-story Boylston stunner with the Public Garden as your front yard. The amenities are a master class in class: the baby grand piano and private balcony in the royal suite, the indoor pool with views of the Garden and Beacon Hill beyond the enormous windows, the in-room couples’ massages. Break bread at the onsite eatery, Bristol, which slings posh pastas like tagliatelle Bolognese alongside decadent shellfish towers and Maine lobsters, and cheers the evening with a nightcap at the second-floor Aujourd’hui Lounge.

200 Boylston St., Boston, 617-702-2182, fourseasons.com/boston.

The Langham

After closing its doors in April 2019, the Langham Hotel is banking on the fact that you could use some luxury when it reopens this June. Formerly the home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (perhaps fitting, giving the recent reno’s $200 million price tag), the hotel is top-to-bottom luxe, with a new jewel-toned lobby with a fireplace and reimagined guest rooms decked out with marble finishes and New England design nods. High-rollers can head to the loft suites with their two-story windows, or the penthouse chairman’s suite, which features its own eight-person dining room, living room, and even a grand piano. And when it’s time to dig in, the art-deco inspired Fed cocktail lounge invites for sips indoors or on the ample terrace, while Italian eatery Grana cashes in on the grandeur of the former bank hall.

250 Franklin St., Boston, 617-451-1900, langhamhotels.com .

The Yucatán: Beyond the Beaches

A New England Traveler’s Guide to Sun Valley, Idaho

10 Must-Visit Restaurants in Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine

Cover Reveal: The 150 Most Influential Bostonians of 2024 – Boston Magazine

The most anticipated greater boston restaurant openings, 2024, why i left my dream job at wbz morning news, acclaimed uyghur restaurant jahunger expands to cambridge, on the market: a wellesley, mass. home with a custom party barn, in this section.

North America Chevron

United States Chevron

Massachusetts Chevron

Boston Chevron

The 21 Best Hotels in Boston

By Todd Plummer and Shannon McMahon

President Barack Obama once said that Boston is unique in how this city “ opens its heart to the world.” This is a place that routinely welcomes business travelers, academics, students, foodies, and history lovers from all walks of life–for a weekend, a semester, or a lifetime. Much like many other aspects of the city, its best hotels are a delightful, ever-evolving mix of old meets new. From exclusive Back Bay addresses, to converted prisons (trust us on that one), to charming Cambridge boutique hotels, there are so, so many options to explore. And because the city has a cozy feeling you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a city of its size, it will never seem like you're very far from whatever you've come here to see. Here are our picks for the best hotels in Boston.

Read our complete Boston travel guide here .

Every hotel review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind. This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Newbury Boston Arrow

Situated on one of Boston’s most picturesque corners directly across from the Public Garden, the Newbury Boston opened in May 2021 after a two-year renovation. Its 286 rooms include a whopping 90 suites, some with wood-burning fireplaces (birch logs provided) and views of the downtown skyline across the park. In-the-know Bostonians flock to the rooftop restaurant Contessa, which still books up weeks in advance. Meanwhile, stylish art types come here for the curated walls of art featuring works and homages to some of America’s most iconic creators, from a portrait of Ernest Hemingway by Yousuf Karsh beside the lobby bar to paintings from artists such as Elise Ansel throughout the property. Rooms from $600. —Shannon McMahon

Raffles Boston Arrow

Real ones know: just because it’s not flashy like New York or Miami, doesn’t mean there isn’t a luxury scene in Boston. There absolutely is, and the arrival of Raffles debut Americas location right in the heart of Back Bay proves it. This dazzling new build opened in 2023 after numerous pandemic-era delays, and features all the five-star bells and whistles you’d expect from a global luxury brand of Raffles’ caliber: a sleek, sexy design courtesy of Rockwell Group and Stonehill Taylor; a 17th story sky lobby with soaring views; a signature Portuguese fine dining restaurant Amar by acclaimed chef George Mendes; a spa by Guerlain; marble bathrooms; spacious bedrooms; and butler service everywhere you go. Don’t mistake Raffles Boston as being just for jet-setting international types, however–the speakeasy Blind Duck is one of the toughest spots to snag a table on a Saturday night, and word on the street is that nearly all of the multi-million dollar residences were purchased not my foreign investors but, in fact, by locals.

Boston Harbor Hotel Arrow

As the city's original five-star waterfront hotel, this Rowes Wharf grande dame has a big reputation to uphold—though a AAA Five Diamond recognition indicates it's getting the job done. The exterior archway overlooking the harbor is an instantly identifiable icon and a seamless part of Boston's downtown landscape. Rooms have city or water views, large picture windows that allow in natural light throughout the day, marble rainfall showers, and Frette linens. Even entry-level rooms start at a spacious 500 square feet.

The Revolution Hotel Arrow

The Revolution is the result of a to-the-studs renovation of a former historic YWCA and hostel in Boston's South End —so while the developers outfitted the building with utilitarian-chic rooms and art-filled community spaces, it’s clear from the smallest room categories with shared bathrooms that this building had a previous life. Young travelers flock to the property for competitively priced rooms: The Revolution does a great job of delivering serious, stylish value in the heart of a city where hotel rooms can easily cost twice as much as they do here. If you’re flying solo and cringe at the idea of shared bathrooms, there’s an en-suite, entry-level category so you can keep your privacy and stick to your budget; pairs may want to upgrade to the Studio Suites or newly-added Revolution Lofts, which are located next-door to the main hotel building. The Revolution sits at the confluence of Back Bay, the South End, and downtown Boston, in the heart of none of those neighborhoods but a two-minute walk to each of them; the property offers complimentary bike rentals so you can cruise around and explore, too.

The Verb Hotel Arrow

Originally a 1959 motor inn, the Verb is a beautifully restored hotel that pays homage to the building's funky past (as the Howard Johnson where bands like Aerosmith stayed when they played the nearby House of Blues) while maintaining contemporary finishes and comforts. The lobby, where the sense of fun is immediately apparent, feels like a recording studio; the check-in desk is covered with faux sound-absorbing upholstery, the walls are lined with vintage music posters, and a black-and-white floor stands in graphic contrast against cerulean walls and a banana-yellow couch. The ground-floor restaurant Hojoko is a lively Japanese izakaya (from the team behind O-Ya ) that attracts plenty of locals. Pool-view rooms overlook the sundeck out back and in summer, the outdoor, heated saltwater pool is the area's hippest place to lay out with a mai tai while listening to the roar from Fenway across the street. Particularly of note is the “Backstage Trailer” room category–where a lineup of refurbished Airstream trailers let’s you feel like a true rockstar waiting to take center stage.

Mandarin Oriental, Boston Arrow

The Mandarin Oriental offers an elegant, refined respite in the heart of it all:step into the grand marble lobby, and you’ll feel transported from the city's hustle and bustle. Thanks to a meticulous $15 million renovation completed in 2020, the rooms and suites received a welcome facelift. Gone are the corporate and impersonal interiors, and here to stay are delicious, residential-feeling finishes (such as replacing often superfluous entryway closets with mini kitchenettes). The hotel has long been a glamorous spot for business travelers and big spenders, and now it's the Back's Bay's most posh home away from home.

The Envoy Hotel, Autograph Collection Arrow

The Envoy is a perfect microcosm for everything that's great about Boston at the moment. Located just across the water from South Station and the city's top historical sites, the Envoy has a sleek, all-glass exterior that blends in with its neighborhood—the thriving Seaport District —while reflecting the old buildings across the river. Outside the entrance, bronze lettering etched in the sidewalk appropriately spells out "This Way Forward,”and inside and you'll find yourself in a sweeping, art-filled lobby. In a city with so much history, the Envoy is a fresh breath of modernity.

The Langham, Boston Arrow

In the heart of Boston’s Financial District, this Langham offers as much style as it does comfort. The ground-floor cocktail bar and a cavernous Italian restaurant in the former bank’s grand hall, located off picturesque Post Office Square, have had Bostonians eager to get back in the building for cocktails or a brunch reservation since the property closed in 2019 for a two-year facelift. But the real treasures are in the rooms, where creature comforts like velvet-soft robes and a heavenly bed can make you forget the busy world outside. Book a Chairman Suite for top-floor views and a massive white-marble bathroom. Rooms from $425. —Shannon McMahon

Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street, Boston Arrow

With the opening of the 61-story One Dalton, Boston joined New York City, San Francisco, Miami, and Beverly Hills as the fifth U.S. city with two Four Seasons hotels ( the older property is located a stone's throw away on Boylston Street). In addition to 215 hotel rooms and suites, One Dalton also houses 160 private residences, a spa and pool, and two restaurants: One + One for upscale American food with a New England bent, plus Zuma —the 12th location worldwide for the contemporary izakaya chain, and a destination in itself. Newbury and Boylston streets' ample shopping and dining are within a five-minute walk. And some of the city’s largest cultural destinations—the Museum of Fine Arts , Boston Symphony Hall , and the Boston Public Library —are also well within walking distance.

The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston Arrow

Since 1851, the Charles Street Jail was an eyesore nudged between Massachusetts General Hospital, the Charles River, and the charming streets of Beacon Hill. In 2007, when it reopened as The Liberty boutique hotel, it became an overnight sensation. Today, the former jail is a best-case example of the magic that happens when old meets new. The design aesthetic is contemporary American with a gentle nod to the building's history (in the form of details like tally-mark embroidery on throw pillows). Most rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, and many have sweeping views of the river. It's located across from the Charles River Esplanade , making it ideally situated for jogging and walking; you can also arrange boat and kayak rentals at the front desk.

Encore Boston Harbor Arrow

As you drive along I-93, curving your way out of the city, the only way you’d miss Encore Boston Harbor is if you were futzing with CarPlay and not paying attention to the massive building looming in the distance—there’s even an official highway sign trumpeting the casino-resort. As you get a little closer you'll notice Encore is a place where flowers miraculously bloom all year in Massachusetts and no surface is untouched by something gold. This is as much casino as it is hotel (it's a sister to the Wynn Las Vegas after all) and it’s not everybody’s idea of chic, but it’s a lavish urban escape, particularly if you live around Boston and are yearning for a break from the norm—and maybe a break from the kids, too.

The Lenox Hotel Arrow

When it was first built in 1900, The Lenox Hotel was at 11 stories high the tallest building in Boston, and one of the grandest buildings north of the Newport mansions. It has been owned and operated by the Saunders Hotel Group since 1963, who have lovingly maintained the premises and maintained the hotel as a desirable, quintessentially Boston place to stay. First off, the location can’t be beat: it’s right on Boylston Street, steps to all that Back Bay has to offer, and even features its own exclusive guests-only viewing area a few yards away from the Boston Marathon’s finish line. And while location, location, location might be everything, it’s the personal touches that make this historic gem a recurring favorite. P.S., don’t sleep on the gift shop: the “Lenox Mercantile” gift shop is filled with regionally-made goodies like personal care products and sweet treats for the journey home.

The Whitney Hotel Arrow

At first glance, The Whitney looks like Beacon Hill’s coolest new condo building, thanks to large windows, chic signage, and gleaming new architecture. In reality, it offers a personal and intimate hotel experience. Its location near the Charles River Esplanade will let you eschew the obvious tourist sites and take on the expert perspective of a wealthy local. And the staff's tendency to go out of its way to accommodate families—and their dogs—make a stay here comfortable in every imaginable way.

The Eliot Hotel Arrow

Even before you step inside, it's not hard to tell that The Eliot is a deeply elegant hotel—the neo-Georgian building it's housed in was built in 1925. That sense of grandeur continues into the vaulted, marble-filled lobby, which feels like a throwback to another era. The property is opulent without being imposing, and decadent without being impersonal. With only 95 rooms, most of which are suites, the Eliot never feels too busy or commercial. Rooms are tastefully outfitted with Italian marble, beautiful toile fabrics, and stately beds topped with fluffy pillows. The Eliot also houses Uni , one of the best Japanese restaurants (best restaurants period, actually) in the city.

The Dagny Boston Arrow

This centrally-located hotel never drew much attention beyond the business set when it formerly operated as the Hilton Boston Downtown/Faneuil Hall–but after re-opening last year as an independent hotel fresh off a $32 million renovation, The Dagny is attracting a fresh crop of leisure travelers. It’s often said that Boston is one of America’s most walkable cities, and that is certainly the case here: it’s a short stroll away from the North End, the New England Aquarium, historic Beacon Hill, Chinatown, and the Seaport District. Throw in some weekly live jazz music from local Berklee College of Music students, an expanded Fitness Center, and a Clefs d’Or-certified concierge team, and you’ve got a hotel with service and amenities that punch well above their price point, in a city that can be known for its pricey hotels.

Hotel Commonwealth Arrow

Every city hotel exists somewhere on the spectrum of “center of everything tourists want” versus “where locals actually live.” And while those two extremes don’t often intersect, they actually do here at the Hotel Commonwealth. It’s one of those rare hotels that feels part and parcel its neighborhood–and considering this imposing building takes up an enormous city block and contains not one, not two, but three of the neighborhood’s best restaurants, it’s safe to say that Kenmore Square is the Hotel Commonwealth. The hotel is on the larger side, so there’s always a unique mix of comings and goings here, from B.U. parents, to business travelers, to Red Sox fans (the hotel sits a scant five minute walk from Lansdowne Street). The Serta mattresses are comfy, the service is warm, and when you’re here, you feel like you’re really staying in a neighborhood, and not just a “hotel,” if you catch our drift.

Fairmont Copley Plaza Arrow

There are few façades in Boston more iconic than the Fairmont, which has stood next to the Boston Public Library since 1912. Still, the hotel has managed to keep the guest rooms updated. There are the elegant fabrics and marble you'd expect, as well as some custom black-and-white sketches of Boston that add a modern touch. Make sure to ask for a room overlooking Copley Square so you can gaze out upon one of the best views in the city while enjoying one of the incredible breakfast options on the decadent room service menu.

Sonder 907 Main Arrow

It takes a lot to open a boutique hotel during a pandemic but 907 Main has managed to pull it off and make it look easy. From the outside, you see a gorgeously resorted 1867 brick facade. Step inside, however, and the custom furniture and sleek, modern decor captures all the energy that makes Central Square one of Cambridge's most cherished and exciting neighborhoods. Every single room has a king bed with plush Simmons 13-inch pillow tops, so you can feel free to stretch out, toss and turn all night long. Opened in Spring 2021, rooftop Blue Owl is one of the only rooftop bars in this part of town and a guaranteed hot spot.

The Charles Hotel Arrow

The Charles has long been the unofficial stomping grounds for academics, politicians, artists, and celebrities passing through Cambridge. The hotel's library is stocked with biographies that pay tribute to its famous past guests, from David Mamet to Caroline Kennedy, which today's guests can borrow or purchase. With Cambridge's restaurant and nightlife scene on par with Boston proper, The Charles' home in Harvard Square has become a very desirable place to stay, even if you won't be auditing an astrophysics class at Harvard or M.I.T.

XV Beacon Arrow

Located in Beacon Hill just steps from the Massachusetts State House and the bustling financial district, XV Beacon (say “Fifteen Beacon” if you’re talking about it) is a transportive paradise of serenity and relaxation. The vibe is sexy—lots of dark-stained woods, crimson accents, and antique furniture—but the ethos is entirely Boston. With only seven guest rooms per floor, XV Beacon has a distinctly residential feel, and rooms are spacious but still intimate. The fact that each one comes with a personal fireplace speaks to the level of luxury and coziness here. Every detail feels special, from the Frette linens and the one-of-a-kind commissioned artworks to the cashmere throws and the pillow menu. And there’s no better way to unwind after a day of meetings or hiking the Freedom Trail than with a soak in the white-marble tub, a feature of some rooms. Looking for food and drink? Mooo.... (three O’s, four periods) on the first floor takes the best parts of steakhouses (grass-fed beef, a killer dessert list, a solid brunch) and distills them into something that works for a boutique hotel of this scale. Not too keen on getting dressed up for dinner? Don't worry; the entire menu can be delivered directly to your door. And with only 63 rooms, the hotel offers a degree of attention and service you generally don’t find at Boston’s larger hotels. Staff is used to making check-in and check-out seamless and offering personal touches throughout the stay. Every detail of the experience feels tailor-made to this hotel, right down to the custom fragrance that welcomes you the moment you step into the lobby. From $495. —Todd Plummer

The Colonnade Hotel Arrow

Located walking distance from the Prudential Center, the Public Garden , Fenway Park, and the South End , the Colonnade is within reach of Boston's key sights. Owned by the same family since opening in 1971, the hotel has long set the standard for customer service—all while delivering a cheeky sense of fun. A 2020 renovation brought a welcome freshening-up to the rooms. Midcentury modern furniture is a great contrast with those stunning floor-to-ceiling glass windows, which have become a Colonnade trademark. It also features one of the most covetable amenities in all of Boston: a rooftop pool.

Recommended

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

THE 10 CLOSEST Hotels to Boston Sightseeing Tours

Hotels near boston sightseeing tours, property types, distance from, neighborhoods, traveler rating, hotel class.

• Best Value Properties ranked using exclusive Tripadvisor data, including traveler ratings, confirmed availability from our partners, prices, booking popularity and location, as well as personal user preferences and recently viewed hotels.
• Traveler Ranked Highest rated hotels on Tripadvisor, based on traveler reviews.
• Distance from Boston Sightseeing Tours See properties located closest to the place of interest first with confirmed availability for your dates from our partners.

1. The Dagny Boston

2. The Godfrey Hotel Boston

3. Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown

4. courtyard by marriott boston downtown / north station, 5. intercontinental boston, an ihg hotel, 6. the langham, boston, 7. harborside inn, 8. marriott vacation club pulse at custom house, boston, 9. club quarters hotel faneuil hall, boston, 10. hotel indigo boston garden, 11. boston marriott long wharf, 12. hyatt regency boston, 13. boston harbor hotel, 14. the bostonian boston, 15. the boxer boston, 16. seaport hotel, 17. hotel aka boston common, 18. xv beacon hotel, 19. citizenm boston north station hotel, 20. omni parker house, 21. moxy boston downtown, 22. yotel boston, 23. hyatt centric faneuil hall boston, 24. the envoy hotel, autograph collection, 25. onyx boston downtown, 26. battery wharf hotel, boston waterfront, 27. residence inn boston downtown/seaport, 28. w boston, 29. wyndham boston beacon hill, 30. the ritz-carlton - boston, hotels near boston sightseeing tours information.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Life happens. Your reservation may be cancelled up to 3 days before check-in time (7 days for stays after May 24, 2024) and you’re off the hook. Late cancellations or modifications will forfeit the booking deposit (first night's room + tax). Promotional rates are non-refundable and non-transferrable. See rate rules in your confirmation email as other cancellation policies may apply.

GETTING HERE

We recommend having a car in the Berkshires so you can easily access all of the amazing museums, trailheads, and scenic routes in the area. If you'd prefer to train, Amtrak's Albany-Rensselaer stop is a one-hour drive from TOURISTS. The Berkshire Flyer is returning for the season! Enjoy rail service from NYT to Pittsfield on weekends from May 26 – October 9, 2023. Tickets here .

CHECK-IN / CHECK-OUT

Check-in begins at 3pm. Check-out by 11am.

PROPERTY MAP

Here's a map to our property. If you need guidance, stop by our front desk and we'll show you the way.

In addition to on-site parking, we have two electric car chargers.

Dogs are welcome for $40 per night per pet. Limit two well-behaved pups per room. We are unable to accommodate cats and other animals.

EATS & DRINKS

Our kitchen is open 7:30-10:30a and 12-9p. Food & beverage is not included in your nightly room rate. Seasonal hours for The Airport Rooms, our on-site restaurant and cocktail lounge, can be found online .

Available throughout our property on a first-come, first-serve basis and our large, communal fire pit can be lit upon request. Fireside dining is offered seasonally at The Airport Rooms.

Our heated pool is open seasonally between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends to hotel guests. If you're a planner, a private link to reserve pool loungers is in your booking confirmation email. Otherwise, you can throw your towel on the grass and dive in!

HOUSEKEEPING

Stayover service is available daily.

IN-ROOM AMENITIES

If you need a daybed, pack-n-play, or anything specific to be placed in your room, please let us know before you arrive as quantities of certain items are limited. If you’re looking for an extra treat, check out our Souvenir Shop for a curated selection of creature comforts – local beer packages, wine, champagne, charcuterie boards, self-care goodies, the works.

THINGS TO DO

Get the most of your trip to the Berkshires by signing up for an experience with our trained guides and instructors. Have questions? Our Art & Adventure team would be delighted to give you the scoop: [email protected]

ART & ADVENTURE FEE

Starting Dec 1, 2023, an Art & Adventure fee of $15 per night is added to your final bill. 100% of this contribution to our living, breathing campus supports:

• Hiking trail access and upkeep
• Seasonal Art & Adventure experiences
• Gear to borrow for your outdoor activities
• Interactive art installations
• Sing for Your Slumber music performances
• Daily drip coffee in the Lodge
• Free s'mores

Want more adventure? Private experiences, in-room massages, and more can be booked here .