“The hub of the universe.” That’s what William Filene once called the intersection of Washington Street, Winter Street and Summer Street. We’re thrilled to say our hotel is then located right in “the hub of the universe” then!
While that may be a fun exaggeration, we certainly think the location in Boston’s Downtown Crossing is perfect for our future hotel guests and locals. The area is bustling with activity throughout the day – including people headed to work, lunch or shop right in the heart of Boston.
Right on Summer Street, Winter Street and Washington Streets, you’ll find plenty of shops ranging from convenience stores to jewelry to books to music, along with street vendors and ample restaurants to check out.
The area also offers ample public transportation for our future guests, including the subway and bus lines near our hotel.
There’s also an entrance into Macy’s, which proudly hangs the American flags as well. There’s no shortage of American pride and history in Boston.
Macy’s
We’ll continue to keep you posted on our area and the updates at our hotel.
Boston is entrenched in history. From the Freedom Trail to the Bunker Hill Monument, it’s hard to go a block without reveling in one of the hundreds of historical monuments. And while The Godfrey Boston is mere blocks away from some of these main landmarks, you don’t have to leave our hotel to experience the city’s rich past.
As previously mentioned, our hotel is a complete restoration of the Amory and Blake buildings, which were once the center of Boston’s shopping district. Working together with Spillane, we’re bringing the Amory and Blake back to life and restoring their original beauty, which we shared a sneak peak of earlier this week. In fact, the three main areas we’re working to restore -the facade, the elevator lobby and the interior-facing light wells – are historically protected by the National Register of Historic Places.
The original facade of the Amory and Blake buildingsIntricate details being restored on the facade of the hotel
Upon entering The Godfrey, you’ll see the building’s past married with its future. The walkway leading up to the front desk will start out as a matte, textured marble that displays the brick and other original materials used. The floor will then gradually transition to highly polished dark marble that signifies the decidedly modern design of The Godfrey and the future of these two historic buildings.
As you head up to your guest room, you’ll notice another nod to the past. The elevator vestibule boasts the original marble walls and ornate ceilings of the Blake. We’ll update this area to be mainly monochromatic white while maintaining and paying homage to the intricate detail.
The ornate molding work above the elevatorsThe gorgeous ceiling being restored
If you’re staying in an interior-facing guest room, you’ll have the privilege to overlook our historically-preserved courtyard. It might not look like much at this point in the restoration, but it’s set to be a gorgeous respite from the bustling streets outside.
The interior light well being restoredHistorically preserved light well
There are still a lot of changes in progress, but the restoration is coming along quickly. Stay tuned for more updates on our historically protected areas in future posts.
To us, every detail counts as we continue to build our hotel. We are paying close attention to areas we feel are the most important to our future guests, along with other details that just make for a pleasant, smooth experience. Some may even go unnoticed to the leisure traveler as well – simply just elevating our hotel with luxurious touches.
The outside facade of our buildings are being restored and maintaining some of the original detail is important. As previously mentioned in this post, our hotel will be a complete renovation and build of the historic Amory and Blake buildings. We are restoring the outside of the buildings, including great attention to the architecture renovation.
We are working with Spillane, which has strong roots and history in building restoration throughout Massachusetts. Spillane has been restoring architecture for decades including other projects for Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, YWCA and more.
In the following photo, you can see the ornate detail that Spillane is restoring.
Outside Architecture RestorationA full view of the hotel’s restoration in progress, including the unique detail off the second floor, which is being conducted by Spillane.
More detail coming soon on our restoration and the main areas we’re focused on. Stay tuned!
Frequent travelers see great importance in the bathroom amenities and products, and we couldn’t agree more. When staying at a hotel, you want to feel as comfortable as you are at home. Through our branding and focus groups before development, we asked travelers what they value in a hotel bathroom and we heard the following:
– Luxurious and high-quality bathroom products
– Large shower with a shower door
– Spacious countertop to place toiletries, blowdryer and more.
We heard these requests loud and clear and we hope our bathrooms will deliver just that. For the bathroom products, we’ve selected a luxurious line called Heeley for our shampoo, conditioner and shower gel.
Our bathroom amenities and products will be personalized for The Godfrey Hotel Boston.
Below is a photo of our shower installation in one of the guest rooms. You can see how clean (pun intended) and spacious the design is, along with the high-end Kohler features to be added soon as well.
Spacious – Sleek – Clean. A sneak peek into one of our showers.
We’ll continue to keep you posted on our hotel developments.
Many people have asked what our name means and we’re proud to share the background on it. “Godfrey” means peace and welcome and that’s exactly what we want our guests to feel when they enter our lobby.
The hotel lobby is a critical experience for guests and it must accomplish a lot – it has to make guests feel welcome, while also offering assistance with their stay at the same time. The lobby must evoke a consistent feel that the guest will experience throughout the hotel, including in the guest rooms and other common areas of a hotel.
Our lobby is designed to be spacious and luxurious, complimented with intimate seating for socializing or relaxing. The interior design will include oak paneling, polished porcelain flooring and contemporary furniture. There will also be a Chef-driven restaurant adjacent to our lobby (stay tuned for details!).
Following is a look inside our lobby and the progress underway, followed by what it will actually look like upon completion – the lobby rendering.
Lobby – Where the front desk will be.
Larry Cassillo, our General Manager, provided a tour of our hotel and is pictured below in front of where the front desk will soon be.
Larry Cassillo, our GM, provides a tour of The Godfrey Boston – and is pictured where the lobby front desk will be.
Last – a beautiful rendering of what our lobby will look like! After much work, we’re certain the lobby will welcome our future guests.
Building The Godfrey 