- The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel
-
The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel 
Front of the hotel, St. James Avenue on the south side of Copley Square Location 138 Saint James Ave., Boston, Massachusetts, USA Opening date 1912 Architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh Management Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Owner FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. Rooms 383 Website www.fairmont.com/copleyplaza The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel is a Forbes three-star, AAA four-diamond hotel[1][2] in downtown Boston, Massachusetts owned by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It stands on Copley Square, by the John Hancock Tower.[3]
Contents
Construction and opening
The hotel in 1920
The Copley Plaza was built on the original site of the Museum of Fine Arts[4] and named in honor of John Singleton Copley, an American painter. The total cost was $5.5 million.
The hotel's architect was Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, who also designed other hotels, including the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. and the Plaza Hotel in New York City, the Copley Plaza's sister hotel.[4][5] The seven floor hotel is constructed of limestone and buff brick in the Beaux-Arts style. The E-shaped building is supported by pilings driven to a depth of 70 feet (21 m) below the street level.
It opened in 1912, and the Mayor of Boston, John F. Fitzgerald, presided over a reception of over 1,000 guests. Rooms had been booked as early as 16 months in advance.
Ownership
The hotel was bought by Sheraton Hotels in the early 1950s and operated as the Sheraton-Plaza Hotel until Sheraton sold it to John Hancock Insurance in 1973, when it regained its former name. John Hancock sold the hotel in 1989 to a subsidiary of Harvard University. In the mid-1990s, Harvard brought in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to manage the Copley Plaza and it became The Wyndham Copley Plaza. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts then bought the hotel from Harvard in September 1996 and it was renamed The Fairmont Copley Plaza[6]. Fairmont sold the hotel to FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. in 2010 as part of a movement away from direct real estate ownership, but continues to manage it.
Features
The entrance hallway has been called Peacock Alley since the 1920s. The 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) lobby has a 21-foot (6.4 m) high gilded coffered ceiling with matching Empire style crystal chandeliers and Italian marble columns. Much of the classical architecture and decor have been preserved, including the back-to-back "P" monogram.
The hotel is known for these industry firsts: the first hotel completely air-conditioned in Boston, the first hotel with an international reservations system, and the first to accept credit cards.
Events
On March 29, 1979, a disgruntled former employee set multiple fires in both the Copley Plaza and the nearby Sheraton Boston hotels. The fire at the Copley Plaza, which was occupied by 430 people at the time, injured 30 people and killed 1. Among those injured was media mogul Sumner Redstone, who survived by hanging from a third-story window. His hand was partially paralyzed from the fire. Film director Rob Cohen was also caught in and rescued from the fire.[7]
Frederick Kerry (born Fritz Kohn), the paternal grandfather of John Kerry, committed suicide with a gunshot to the head in the restroom of this hotel in 1921.
Guests
The Dartmouth Street entrance to the Fairmont Copley PlazaThe Copley Plaza Hotel has been host to many famous people. Every U.S. President since William Howard Taft, and royalty from Greece, Thailand, Abyssinia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Belgium, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have visited the hotel. Celebrities including Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Dorothy Lewis, Frank Sinatra, and Luciano Pavarotti have also been guests, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton chose the Copley Plaza for their second honeymoon.
References
- ^ http://www.forbestravelguide.com/fairmont-copley-plaza-boston-ma-hotel.htm
- ^ http://www.aaa.biz/approved/Diamond_Awards/2010/2010_4D_Lodgings.pdf
- ^ Teresa M. Hanafin (1988-10-30). "QUALITY INN OWNER IN SERIOUS TALKS TO BUY 'GRANDE DAME' COPLEY PLAZA". Boston Globe.
- ^ a b Mary Melvin Petronella and Edward W. Gordon (2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. pp. 70. ISBN 1555536050.
- ^ Marie Morris (2005). Frommer's Boston 2006. Frommer's Series. 112. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 79. ISBN 0764588907.
- ^ Julie Hatfield (1997-02-25). "RENOVATORS CHECK IN AT COPLEY PLAZA NEW OWNERS VOW TO RESTORE OLD LUSTER". Boston Globe.
- ^ Boston's Fire Trail: A Walk Through the City's Fire and Firefighting History By Boston Fire Historical Society, Paul A. Christian, p. 61-62.
External links
- Fairmont Copley Plaza on Historic Hotels of America
- Wulff, June (15 August 2005). "Catie Copley: For the Fairmont Copley Plaza's canine ambassador, every day is a walk in the park". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/08/15/catie_copley/. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- Associated Press (3 December 1987). "Hotel maids told: do floors by hand". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/03/us/hotel-maids-told-do-floors-by-hand.html. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
Coordinates: 42°20′57″N 71°04′35″W / 42.349295°N 71.076286°W
Categories:- Copley Square
- Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
- Hotels in Boston, Massachusetts
- Hotels established in 1912
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