Clarendon Square

A merchant's townhouse in the South End

Clarendon Square is a six-storey Victorian townhouse on West Brookline Street, built in the 1860s for a Boston merchant and his family, on one of the quiet one-way streets that make the South End the largest surviving Victorian row-house district in the country. Stephen and Bobby Ciletti, the innkeepers, restored it without adding an elevator so that the curved central staircase could stay exactly as it was, and they furnished the house in a contemporary register of warm colors and vibrant artwork that Conde Nast Traveler singled out when it named the inn among the best big-city bed and breakfasts in America. The New York Times called it a beautiful surprise where every detail is lovely.

Rooms with marble baths and a suite with a tub for two

The inn keeps only a handful of rooms and suites, which is the point: guests have the house almost to themselves. Every room has an ensuite marble bathroom, several have soaking tubs, and the luxury suite adds a tub for two, a marble fireplace and a huge dressing room. Bay windows, sitting areas, desks and in-room coffee and snacks complete the picture. Breakfast follows the house's own rhythm: coffee, tea and morning snacks are set in each room, and the cafes of the South End are a few minutes' walk for a fuller table. An honesty bar and a library are open to guests through the day.

The hot tub on the roof

The roof deck is the reason people talk about Clarendon Square. A hot tub sits on top of the house with a panoramic view over the South End rooftops to the towers of Back Bay, and it is reserved for guests, which means an evening under the skyline with nobody else around. It is the kind of amenity a large hotel cannot offer, and it turns a city break into something closer to a retreat.

The South End on foot

The South End is Boston's neighborhood of Victorian brownstones, small parks and restaurants, and the inn sits in the middle of it, a few minutes from the dining of Tremont Street and the SoWa arts district with its galleries and weekend markets. Copley Square, the Boston Public Library and Newbury Street are about fifteen minutes' walk to the north, Back Bay station a little less, and the Prudential Center is reachable in ten minutes. Check-in runs from 3 pm and check-out is at 11 am.

Why we selected it

Our selection needed a bed and breakfast that meets the standard of the hotels around it, and Clarendon Square is that house: marble bathrooms, a suite with a fireplace, a rooftop hot tub and innkeepers who know their city. We recommend it to couples on a romantic weekend, to culture and food lovers who want to live in the South End for a few days, and to travelers who prefer a private house to a lobby.