Historic Hotels in Boston

Across Greater Boston, historic hotels occupy buildings that have witnessed more than a century of change. Some were built as grand hotels and have welcomed generations of travelers, while others began their life as a firehouse, government office or even a jail! Many have also been recognized for their architectural and historic significance through the National Register of Historic Places and other landmark preservation programs.

For travelers who want to experience a piece of Boston’s history during their stay, these classic hotels offer a unique connection to New England’s past without leaving behind the comforts and amenities of the present.

The Eliot Hotel

Set along Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay, The Eliot Hotel has been part of the neighborhood since the 1920s. The nine-story building was commissioned by the family of former Harvard University president Charles William Eliot and designed by architect Harold Field Kellogg, opening in 1926.

Originally conceived as a place to accommodate visiting Harvard lecturers and academics, The Eliot has evolved into an intimate boutique hotel while maintaining much of its early 20th-century character. Its Georgian Revival architecture, with French influences woven into the design, feels right at home among the brownstones and tree-lined streets of Back Bay.

In 2024, The Eliot was inducted into Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that recognizes hotels for their commitment to preserving their heritage and original architecture.

Fairmont Copley Plaza

Few Boston hotels make an entrance quite like the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Opened in 1912, this hotel occupies a full city block overlooking Copley Square, on the former site of Boston’s original Museum of Fine Arts.

More than 1,000 guests attended its inauguration, presided over by Boston Mayor John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, grandfather of President John F. Kennedy. In fact, legend has it that rooms were booked over a year in advance!

These days, over a century later, the hotel remains one of the defining buildings of Boston’s Copley Square. Its French and Venetian Renaissance-inspired interiors and grand public spaces recall the golden age of American hotels, while its location puts guests a stone’s throw from some of Back Bay’s best-known landmarks, including Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, Newbury Street, Commonwealth Avenue Mall and the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.

Omni Parker House

If any Boston hotel could fill an entire book with its history, it might be the Omni Parker House.

Harvey D. Parker opened the original Parker House in 1855 at the corner of School and Tremont streets, where the hotel has remained ever since. It holds the distinction of being one of the longest continuously operating hotels in the United States.

Its guest list reads like a tour through history. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are just a few of the notable figures who passed through its doors. Even Charles Dickens stayed at the hotel during his 1867–68 American tour.

The Parker House has also left its mark on Boston’s culinary history. Boston cream pie was first created in the hotel’s kitchen, as were the famous Parker House rolls that still bear its name today!

The Kendall Hotel

Just across the Charles River in Cambridge, The Kendall Hotel offers a slightly different take on historic lodging.

The building began as Engine 7, a firehouse completed in 1895 to serve the rapidly industrializing Kendall Squareneighborhood. Inside it housed stables for horses, coal bunkers, steam-powered firefighting equipment, and sleeping quarters for local firefighters.

Engine 7 remained in service for nearly a century before officially closing in 1993. Rather than lose the historic building, local preservationists Charlotte Forsythe and Gerald Fandetti transformed it into a boutique hotel, which opened in 2002.

Today, the restored firehouse, with its distinctive cupolas and red-brick exterior, offers a glimpse into an earlier era of Kendall Square, long before the neighborhood became a major hub for science, technology and innovation.

XV Beacon

Behind the classic exterior of XV Beacon is another historic Boston building that found new life as a boutique hotel.

Built in 1903 and designed by Boston architect William Gibbons Preston, 15 Beacon Street originally served as a commercial building and later housed the Boston Transit Commission, whose work helped shape the country’s first subway system. The Boston School Committee also occupied the building for decades before it became a hotel in 1999.

Today, XV Beacon retains details of its turn-of-the-century architecture while filling its interiors with all sorts of contemporary art and design. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits in the heart of Beacon Hill, just steps from Boston Common and the Massachusetts State House.

The Liberty Hotel

The name of this hotel is particularly fitting considering what came before it. 

Before becoming The Liberty Hotel, this striking granite building overlooking the Charles River was the historic Charles Street Jail. Completed in 1851, it was designed by prominent Boston architect Gridley James Fox Bryant with a unique layout centered around a massive rotunda and large arched windows.

After nearly 140 years in its original role, the landmark was reimagined as The Liberty Hotel, opening in 2007 following an extensive restoration. Rather than erase the building’s past, the transformation incorporated many of its most distinctive architectural features into the new hotel. 

Its soaring 90-foot central rotunda remains the centerpiece of the property, alongside preserved catwalks, exposed brick, windows and other reminders of the building’s original purpose. Even the hotel’s restaurants and bars embrace the building’s jailbird history, with playful names like “CLINK” and “Alibi” that nod to its past.

Continue Exploring Boston’s History’s History

Staying in a historic hotel is just the beginning of your journey through Boston’s past. Follow the red-brick path of the Freedom Trail, discover the stories of Boston’s historic Black community along the Black Heritage Trail, or venture beyond the city’s best-known landmarks to uncover even more historic sites. 

Start planning your visit and explore our guide to Boston History for more historic attractions and ideas for experiencing the stories that have shaped our city.