Tremont House (Boston)

Tremont House, sometimes called the Tremont Hotel, was a highly influential hotel designed in 1829 by Isaiah Rogers in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont is always pronounced "trem-mont" in Boston, nor "tree-mont".

The Tremont House was a four-story, granite-faced, neoclassical building, located the corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets, with its main entrance on Tremont. It incorporated many hotel "firsts":

* Indoor plumbing
* Indoor toilets and baths
* Reception area
* Locked rooms for the guest
* Free soap
* Bellboys

Despite this long list of innovations, it is probably best known as the first hotel with indoor plumbing and running water. The hotel's water was raised by steam-powered pump to a storage tank on its roof, where it fed by gravity to the taps. Eight water closets (toilets) were provided on the ground floor. Bathrooms for bathing were located in the basement, and served by cold running water. Bathtubs were copper or tin, with local gas heating for the tub's water. Running water was also provided to the kitchen and laundry. A simple system removed the waste water to the sewage system.

The Tremont House set the standard for luxury accommodations and was the model for many hotels built in major cities at this time. One of the most notable, also designed by Isaiah Rogers, was the Astor House (1836) in New York City.