Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers

Boston Park Plaza

Boston Park Plaza (2009)
General information
Location Boston, Massachusetts
Address 50 Park Plaza at Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116-3912
Opening March 10, 1927
Cost $14 million
Owner Sunstone Hotel Investors[1]
Management Sunstone Hotel Investors DBA Highgate Hotels
Height 155 feet
Technical details
Floor count 15
Design and construction
Architect George B. Post[2]
Developer Statler Hotels
Other information
Number of rooms 1,300 guest rooms with private baths (1927)
941 guest rooms & guest suites (2012)
1,053 guest rooms & suites (2013)
1,060 guest rooms & suites (2016)[3]
Number of restaurants 4[4]
Website
bostonparkplaza.com
For the Park Plaza Hotel in Leeds, UK,, see Park Plaza Hotel Leeds.

The Boston Park Plaza is a former Statler Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, opened on March 10, 1927,[3] built by hotelier E.M. Statler. A prototype of the grand American hotel, it was called a "city within a city". It was the first hotel in the world to offer in-room radio in every room.[5]

Boston Park Plaza is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[6]

History

During the hotel's construction, it was discovered that the Statler's planned 155 foot height exceeded the maximum height of 125 feet allowed by the Massachusetts State Building Code. However the building was granted a special exemption by Mayor James Michael Curley, making it the tallest building in the city for a time, with the exception of the Boston Custom House.[3] The building, filling an entire triangular city block, has two uses. The western half houses the hotel, while the eastern half has, since the building's construction, served as offices.[3]

The hotel opened on March 10, 1927 as the Hotel Statler Boston. The Statler chain was sold to Hilton Hotels in 1954 and the hotel was renamed the The Statler Hilton Boston. The hotel was again sold in 1976 to the Irving M. Saunders family and renamed the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers.[3]

In the 1990s Trans World Airlines operated a ticket office in the hotel building.[7] Delta Air Lines also had a ticket office in the building.[8]

In 2010, the hotel's Swan's Cafe was named one of Yankee magazine's Best 5 New England Teahouses.[9] (It has since closed)

Park Plaza Castle

The hotel used to operate the Park Plaza Castle, a banquet facility located in the adjacent former Armory of the First Corps of Cadets building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sunstone-hotel-investors-completes-the-previously-announced-acquisition-of-the-boston-park-plaza-2013-07-02
  2. Breisch, Kenneth A.; Hoagland, Alison K., Building Environments, University of Tennessee Press, 2005. Cf. p.126
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 http://www.bostonparkplaza.com/overview/history
  4. "History: Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers", official website
  5. "Boston Park Plaza, a Historic Hotels of America member". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  6. "Ticket Offices." Trans World Airlines. December 3, 1998. Retrieved on January 24, 2010. "Boston Park Plaza Hotel 52-54 Park Plaza Boston, MA. 02116"
  7. "City Ticket Offices." Delta Air Lines. Retrieved on November 20, 2012. "Park Plaza Ticket Office Park Plaza Hotel - Arlington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02117 "
  8. Munichiello, Katrina, "Best 5 Teahouses: Five favorites in New England", Yankee magazine, March/April 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 42°21′04″N 71°04′13″W / 42.351°N 71.0704°W / 42.351; -71.0704

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.