Here's a look at new Boston hotels, conference centers, restaurants, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this summer. The new and renovated Boston venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
Located in the former Boston Police Headquarters, the Loews Boston Hotel has renovated its six private meeting spaces. The redone space, which covers more than 5,000 square feet, reopened in April and provides new lighting, audiovisual equipment, and marble countertops. Among the spaces is the Harrison Room, named after Boston’s first African-American female detective who outwitted an armed man on her second day on the job. The 1,000-square-foot room can hold a reception-style event for 80 people or a theater-style meeting for 90.
Previously a sleek spot tucked below chef Ken Oringer’s Clio restaurant, the revamped Uni now extends throughout the entire 1,405-square-foot space in the Eliot Hotel. The critically acclaimed izakaya, which reopened in February, has three bars (drinks, sashimi, sushi) and a clean and modern style, with dark wood and colorful tattoo-inspired art. It seats 80 guests or holds 110 for reception-style events. The menu includes sashimi, Nigiri, and Maki, as well as a variety of street-food inspired plates.
Located at the Ink Block in the South End, Bar Mezzana is a coastal Italian restaurant owned by several alumni of Barbara Lynch Gruppo restaurants. Opened June 1, the eatery has a 200-square-foot private dining room for 14 seated guests or 20 for a reception. Enclosed by a wall of glass, it maintains a sense of privacy while still embracing the restaurant’s energy. It has a full audiovisual setup, along with temperature controls and a window that opens. There also is an 800-square-foot semi-private dining room for 45 seated guests, a 350-square-foot dining patio for 28 guests, and a 150-square-foot bar patio for 15 guests. The entire 4,589-square-foot restaurant can also be booked for seated dinners of as many as 130 guests.
The Cleveland Circle hotspot Jade Monkey opened in mid-March, bringing a taste of retro Asian style to the Brighton neighborhood. The 1,900-square-foot restaurant serves Asian-inspired foods like bahn mi and scallion pancake Benedict alongside creative libations with names like the “Seoul Mate.” The venue, which is available for full buyout, can seat 49 guests and offers Wi-Fi.
The team at Coppersmith opened a “third-space project”—the 1,200-square-foot Coppersmith Café to complement its restaurant, bar, and rooftop—in the former Dahlquist Manufacturing Company building. Adjacent to the restaurant’s main dining room, the café features 38 communal-style seats where guests can enjoy house-made pastries, soups, salads, and sandwiches alongside a variety of coffees and teas. Audiovisual amenities include a dedicated projection screen and several mounted flat-screen televisions, as well as free Wi-Fi. With lower ceilings than the main dining room, the café has a cozier, close-knit feeling. It opened in February.
The former Wesley Hotel in Martha’s Vineyard is entirely revamped as the Summercamp Hotel. The colorful venue evokes the free-spirited fun of childhood while also providing luxurious amenities. The 95-room hotel reopened in May and offers a “rec room” for private events from corporate meetings to ping-pong parties. The 500-square-foot room holds 40.
The 3,100-square-foot Skin Spa New York opened its first Boston location in March on the city’s most famous shopping boulevard, Newbury Street. Located on the third floor of a Back Bay brownstone, the spa can hold private events for as many as 60 guests. It offers a lobby as well as 14 treatment rooms where services include facials, microdermabrasion, sunless tanning, and massages.
The classic North End restaurant Trattoria Il Panino was revamped for its 30th birthday in April, and expanded by taking over the Cafe Pompeii space next door. Overall the restaurant now seats about 250 guests. The space includes three private dining rooms that each seat 60, as well as a 30-seat bar, lounge seating for 20, a six-seat pizza bar, and a patio that seats 50 on the Parmenter Street side.Â
Bear in Boots Gastropub, the beloved Cape Cod bar and restaurant, underwent renovations in February and now boasts several improvements including a revamped balcony overlooking the dining area, iron railings, and cork for better sound absorption. The 1,500-square-foot space can seat 75 guests and is available for private events.
Named for the steep incline on Worcester’s Stafford Street, Deadhorse Hill is an 1,800-square-foot restaurant and café that serves upscale American cuisine in a comfortable environment. (Think Southern fried chicken thighs with honey and hot sauce, and a rib eye to share.) The café serves coffees, teas, and snacks. The entire venue, which is available for full buyouts, seats 120 guests and has full audio hookup. It opened in early May.
