Michelle J. Landers
Boston’s hotel market is expanding at an impressive rate. Hotels seem to be springing up in every development from the Seaport to Brighton. Nearly 4,000 rooms are expected to come online by 2018 and the market is on pace to exceed its last big boom, from 2000 through 2009, when Boston gained 25 new hotels and nearly 5,000 rooms.
Boston has a rich hotel history. The Omni Parker House dates back to the late 19th century and is the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States. The Copley Square Hotel opened in 1891. Always a destination for tourists, business travelers and parents of Boston’s numerous college students, the city’s many visitors currently enjoy a range of accommodations from small bed and breakfasts to upscale, 1,000-room, high-rise hotels.
As expected, Boston’s occupancy rate fell after the financial crisis of 2007-08, but currently hovers in the mid-80 percent range, along with San Francisco, New York and Oahu. Boston’s average daily room rate is nearly twice the United States’ average.
Even with expansion at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on hold, Boston is still seeing the opening and construction of several new hotels. In the bustling Seaport District, the Envoy opened last summer. Two others, Aloft and the Element, are set to open in early 2016.
The Verb opened in the Fenway last year, an AC hotel is part of plans for the next phase of Ink Block, and The Godfrey recently opened downtown. Even stalwarts are investing in their properties. The Park Plaza recently renovated both its overnight rooms and meeting space and there are planned renovations at the John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center in the Back Bay.
It should be no surprise that hotel investors are attracted to transit-oriented development (TOD) sites. The AC, a Millennial-targeted hotel, is opening in January at Station Landing at the Orange Line’s Wellington Station in Medford. AC will also be operating the hotel portion of National Development’s Cleveland Circle project on the Green Line. A Courtyard Inn slated for the Merano development near North Station, and New Balance’s Boston Landing project in Brighton will include a boutique hotel.
Micro hotels, like the Yotel under construction in the Seaport and the Moxy by Marriott in the Theater District, also appeal to the Millennial crowd. The Moxy, for example, features concierge apps, free Wi-Fi and smartphones as hotel keys.
Even as more people opt for home-sharing sites like Airbnb, where overnight guests can rent a studio in in Roslindale for $37 or a 2,000-square-foot loft in the South End for $1,000 a night, Boston’s hotel market keeps on growing.
And, as hotel offerings across the city continue to expand, Boston will continue to attract and accommodate a wide range of visitors.
