Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the grand opening of the Raffles Boston hotel and luxury condominium tower. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Back Bay’s newest luxury hotel delivers European flair while retaining a Boston accent reflected in its interior designs and dining offerings, its developers said at a grand opening ceremony earlier this week.
The Raffles Boston Back Bay Hotel & Residences includes 147 hotel rooms and 147 luxury condominiums in a 33-story glass tower steps from Copley Square.
Mayor Michelle Wu, whose infrequent appearances at developments’ ribbon-cutting ceremonies has contrasted with her predecessor Marty Walsh’s approach, said the project will bring more vitality to Back Bay.
“It reflects the commitment we have to being an international city but still offers that neighborhood connection and putting people first in our communities,” Wu said at the project’s ribbon-cutting on Monday. “We’re always going to strive to be a world-class city where everyone feels at home.”
Wu has known Raffles developer Jordan Warshaw since she was an aide to Mayor Thomas Menino, whose administration started the rezoning of the Stuart Street corridor for tower development in 2011.
Warshaw’s Noannet Group partnered with Boston-based Saunders Hotel Group on the project and recruited Raffles Hotels & Resorts as operator. The brand is part of Accor, Europe’s largest hospitality company. For its first mixed-use project in North America, Raffles customized the design to recall the brownstone architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.
“Every Raffles is incredibly focused on their location,” Warshaw said during a reception on the 17th-floor amenities level. “It’s a collection of small, intimate spaces.”
The amenities level includes the Long Bar Terrace and Cafe, featuring an outdoor deck with views of South End, and the Amar restaurant by chef George Mendes. Boston chef Jody Adams also plans to open a restaurant at the property, Wu noted.
The hotel started accepting reservations Sept. 15 and currently lists rooms starting at $1,150 for this Friday and Saturday.
The 35-story tower at 40 Trinity Place replaced an aging 8-story hotel. It partially cantilevers over the neighboring University Club of Boston’s building, enabling larger floor plates on the upper levels.
Financed before COVID-19, Raffles is benefiting from the lingering constraints on new hotel competition stemming from the pandemic’s disruption of the travel industry.
While room rates and occupancy have rebounded strongly since 2022, developers continue to face high hurdles to completing financing for new projects. The Federal Reserve’s interest rates have prompted lenders to pull back and require more equity from developers.
Back Bay’s future hotel development pipeline includes 39 Stanhope St., where Boston-based H.N. Gorin received approval in July for a 21-story hotel tower.
