New hotels in Downtown Boston

Downtown Boston is small enough to cross on foot in a quarter of an hour and dense enough to contain most of what first-time visitors come for. The Old State House stands at the head of State Street, the Financial District's towers begin a block away, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway runs along the eastern edge where an elevated highway once cut the waterfront off from the rest of the city. Three hotels we track are open inside these boundaries: Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall Boston, Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown and The Dagny Boston. A fourth project, 110 Canal Street, has planning approval and nothing else yet. For the wider city, see the Boston guide.

None of the three is brand new in the strict sense, and that is worth saying at the start. The newest, The Dagny, is a 1928 building under its third identity. What downtown has seen over the past seven years is conversion and replacement rather than green-field construction, which suits a district with almost no empty land.

How downtown Boston is laid out

The streets here predate the grid. State Street, Devonshire Street, Broad Street and Batterymarch Street bend and meet at odd angles, and a map misleads you about distances. Two blocks can take five minutes if the street between them kinks. The practical rule is to navigate by landmarks: the Old State House, the Custom House tower, Faneuil Hall, the park at Post Office Square.

The Financial District occupies the southern half, between State Street and South Station. Its older buildings, such as the Batterymarch Building that now houses The Dagny, stand on narrow lanes, with newer glass towers on the wider avenues. To the north and east the character changes. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market sit between the Government Center area and the waterfront, and beyond them the Greenway marks the edge of the North End. West of the Old State House, Downtown Crossing runs toward Boston Common, where the oldest part of the city meets the department-store streets.

A good deal of downtown is office space that empties on weekends. Friday and Saturday evenings feel quieter in the Financial District than around Faneuil Hall, and anyone booking here for a leisure weekend should expect to walk five to ten minutes to find a crowded restaurant street. For a business traveler the same quiet is part of the appeal.

Getting here and getting around

Four MBTA subway lines meet within a short walk of each other. State Street station connects the Orange and Blue lines directly under the Old State House. Downtown Crossing joins the Orange and Red lines, and Haymarket and Government Center bring in the Green line. South Station, at the southern edge, has the Red line, the Silver Line bus from Logan Airport, Amtrak and the commuter rail lines to the south and west. North Station, at the opposite end, handles trains to the north and sits beside TD Garden.

From Logan, the Silver Line runs to South Station and is free from the airport terminals. The Blue Line requires a short shuttle from the terminal to Airport station, then takes about ten to twelve minutes to State Street. Either way the trip is roughly twenty to thirty minutes in normal traffic, and neither runs through the night.

Most downtown attractions are within a mile of each other, so a car adds cost and little else. Garages are expensive, and the one under Post Office Square holds around 1,400 cars. Anyone arriving by hire car should plan to leave it at the hotel.

What to do in downtown Boston

For a weekend

The Freedom Trail is the obvious thread. It runs about two and a half miles and links sixteen sites from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, and its red line on the pavement passes straight through downtown. The Old State House dates from 1713. The Boston Massacre happened outside its doors on 5 March 1770, and a ring of cobblestones set into the pavement marks the spot. The Declaration of Independence was read from its balcony in July 1776. Inside, the museum is run by Revolutionary Spaces, which also looks after the Old South Meeting House a few minutes west.

From there the trail leads to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, which draw the heaviest crowds in the district. Go early or on a weekday if the idea of a food hall at lunchtime does not appeal. The Greenway beyond is a series of linked parks about a mile and a half long, covering roughly seventeen acres according to the National Park Service. It opened in 2008 on land freed by the Big Dig, which buried the Central Artery, and the Conservancy that runs it has since added fountains, a carousel and a rotating programme of public art. Canopy by Hilton's front door opens onto the stretch near Faneuil Hall.

Post Office Square is the Financial District's answer. It is a 1.7-acre park built on top of an underground garage and opened in the early 1990s, after the surrounding building owners organized in 1983 to replace a deteriorating parking structure. On a weekday lunchtime it fills with office workers eating on the lawn. The Hyatt Centric looks across it.

Boston's harbor is a short walk east. Long Wharf and the New England Aquarium sit at the end of State Street, and ferries leave from there for the harbor islands in the warmer months.

For a longer stay

With more days, downtown becomes a base rather than a destination. Back Bay is about a twenty-minute walk west across the Common and the Public Garden, or a few stops on the Green line, and its shopping streets and brownstones belong in a different register altogether: see the Back Bay guide. Beacon Hill rises behind the State House on the far side of the Common, and the narrow gas-lit streets of Beacon Hill take a morning to cover properly.

Across Fort Point Channel, the Seaport District is reached by a walk from South Station or a Silver Line ride. It is newer, glassier and more spread out than anything downtown, with restaurants and a waterfront that has changed beyond recognition over the past two decades.

The North End, beyond the Greenway, is the closest neighbourhood to Faneuil Hall and can be reached in five minutes on foot from Canopy. Its Italian restaurants and bakeries are the reason most people go, and Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church lie on the Freedom Trail within it.

Where to stay in downtown Boston

Financial District

Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall Boston is at 68 Devonshire Street. It opened in January 2019 as an adaptive reuse of an existing building combined with a new 12-story addition, and it has 163 rooms. Hyatt places it in its upper-upscale lifestyle tier. The location is the selling point: the hotel faces Post Office Square's small park rather than a street, and State Street, the Old State House and Faneuil Hall are all a few minutes away on foot. Rates start around $290 a night.

The Dagny Boston occupies 89 Broad Street, in the Batterymarch Building. The tower went up in 1928 to a design by Harold Field Kellogg and is generally regarded as the city's earliest Art Deco skyscraper. It became a hotel in 1999 and spent roughly 25 years flying the Hilton flag as the Hilton Boston Downtown/Faneuil Hall. In August 2023 it reopened as an independent hotel owned by DiamondRock Hospitality and managed by Aimbridge, after a $32 million renovation designed by HBA Los Angeles. With 403 rooms it is one of the largest hotels in the district, and it is among the larger ones to drop a major chain flag for an independent identity. Prices begin near $220.

Both sit in the older, narrower-streeted core, a few minutes from South Station, the Waterfront and Faneuil Hall. They share a submarket and more or less the same guest: conference attendees, consultants visiting the banks and law firms, and visitors who want to be inside the Freedom Trail circuit rather than a taxi ride from it.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway

Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown is at 99 Blackstone Street, wedged between the Greenway and Faneuil Hall. It opened in March 2022, the first Canopy in Massachusetts, as a purpose-built hotel of 212 rooms designed by JCJ Architecture. Several rooms have balconies facing the Greenway and the North End, which is uncommon in a downtown hotel at this price level. From $230 a night, it is the least expensive of the three.

The street outside is an odd one. Blackstone Street lies on the edge of the old Haymarket area, where pushcart vendors still set up on Fridays and Saturdays, and the Big Dig's removal of the elevated highway left a wide strip of open space beside it. TD Garden, the North End and the Financial District are each a few minutes on foot.

Bulfinch Triangle and North Station

110 Canal Street is the one project in this part of downtown that has not opened. The plan converts a vacant seven-story office building, once the headquarters of the architecture firm CBT, into an 84-room hotel. Boston's planning agency approved the conversion in October 2024. No brand and no construction start date have been announced. The Bulfinch Triangle, a wedge of streets behind North Station, has drawn several hotel conversion proposals as demand for office space has weakened.

Which hotel in downtown Boston for your trip

For a weekday trip built around meetings, the two Financial District hotels are the natural pair. Hyatt Centric has the smaller footprint and the park view, and The Dagny has the larger room count and the more distinctive building, with its stepped Art Deco massing and brick that darkens at the base and lightens as it rises.

Visitors who plan to do the Freedom Trail, eat in the North End and see a Celtics or Bruins game will find the Canopy better placed. The Greenway is on its doorstep, TD Garden is a few minutes away, and it is the cheapest of the three. The balcony rooms are worth requesting at booking.

Travelers who care about a building's history may lean toward The Dagny, a Hilton for decades and independent since 2023. Whether the independent concept holds up is not yet clear from the outside.

For someone who wants to be in Boston but not in the middle of an office district, Back Bay or the Seaport suits better. Downtown after dark is thin outside Faneuil Hall.

Frequently asked questions

What is the newest hotel to open in downtown Boston?

The Dagny Boston, which reopened in August 2023. It is a conversion rather than a new building: the 1928 Batterymarch Building had operated as a Hilton for about 25 years before the owner and Aimbridge relaunched it as an independent hotel after a $32 million renovation. The Canopy by Hilton opened a year earlier in March 2022, and Hyatt Centric in January 2019.

Which downtown hotel has views of the Rose Kennedy Greenway?

Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown, at 99 Blackstone Street. Several of its 212 rooms have balconies facing the Greenway and the North End skyline. Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall and The Dagny are in the Financial District, farther from the park strip.

Is there a hotel near Faneuil Hall?

Yes, three. Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown is the closest, wedged between the Greenway and Faneuil Hall. Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall Boston and The Dagny Boston are each a few minutes' walk away through the Financial District.

What is planned at 110 Canal Street?

An 84-room hotel in a vacant seven-story office building in the Bulfinch Triangle, near North Station. Boston's planning agency approved the conversion in October 2024. There is no confirmed brand, builder or opening date.

How far is downtown Boston from Back Bay?

About a 20-minute walk, crossing Boston Common and the Public Garden. The Green line covers the same distance in a few stops. See the Back Bay guide for hotels there.

Is there a train from Logan Airport to downtown?

Yes, two. The Silver Line bus runs from the airport terminals to South Station and is free from the airport, and the Blue Line reaches State Street after a short shuttle ride to Airport station. Plan on 20 to 30 minutes either way. Neither runs all night.