The Langham, Boston ★★★★★

The bank on Post Office Square

The Langham occupies the former Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, a Renaissance Revival building of 1922 on Franklin Street that served the bank until its conversion into a hotel in 1981. The Boston Landmarks Commission protects the exterior, and the hotel takes pride in the fact that the building looks almost exactly as it did in its banking days. Inside, a collection of 268 works of art runs through the public spaces and the rooms, 126 of them tied to the city's history, including photographs of the bank under construction. The seventh-floor Chairman Suite, with its wood-panelled walls, herringbone floors, Persian rugs, piano and fireplace, is the most direct link to that era.

Rooms in New England blue and plaid

The 312 rooms and suites follow three threads: travel, with an antique trunk-style cellaret in each room, the New England coast, in the blues that recall the harbor, and Boston itself, in plaid accents and artwork curated with the Copley Society. Bathrooms are finished in white Italian marble. On the eighth floor, the Langham Club serves food and drink through the day to guests booked into club rooms and suites, room service runs around the clock, and the hotel welcomes both families and pets.

Grana and The Fed

Grana serves Italian cooking for breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch under the ornate mouldings and chandeliers of the old banking hall, most of its ingredients sourced from New England producers. The Fed, the hotel bar, borrows the codes of a British pub and dresses them in dark wood, hand-tufted rugs and more than ninety pieces of local art. It is known for its cocktails, including a collection of pink drinks and zero-proof options, for its New England lobster roll, for jazz on Friday evenings and for a seasonal Rose Garden Terrace outside.

Pool, saunas and a club floor

A heated indoor pool with a whirlpool and saunas sits alongside a fitness center open twenty-four hours with Technogym equipment and Peloton bikes, and spa treatments can be booked in-room. The hotel holds EarthCheck Platinum certification for its environmental management, and a house car is available for short trips around downtown.

Post Office Square, between the Financial District and the harbor

The hotel faces Norman B. Leventhal Park, the small, immaculate garden at the center of Post Office Square, and the rest of downtown fans out from there. The Old State House and the Freedom Trail are five minutes away on foot, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market a little further, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway leads in ten minutes to the New England Aquarium and the harbor. South Station is within a ten-minute walk and Boston Common about a quarter of an hour. Check-in is at 3 pm and check-out at noon, with valet and private parking available.

Why we selected it

A landmark building, a Michelin Guide Two Key distinction, a real pool and one of the city's best-known hotel bars: The Langham is the address we recommend to travelers who want five-star service in the historic heart of Boston, whether for a business stay in the Financial District or a weekend built around the Freedom Trail and the waterfront.