10 New Venues in Boston for Summer Entertaining and Events

The Revere Hotel Boston Common’s seventh-floor rooftop opened for 2017 in May with significant improvements ranging from a new full-service bar and deck to a new drink lineup and the addition of direct access from the hotel. The 7,066-square-foot Rooftop at Revere accommodates events for as many as 400 guests overlooking the Boston skyline. There's also a fully renovated separate 2,144-square-foot private event space that accommodates 100 guests for cocktails. In addition to the rooftop, the entire Revere Hotel unveiled its renovation in May, with 356 spacious guest rooms and 42,000 square feet of adaptable meeting and event space.

Tucked on a Beverly oceanfront stretch that resembles a postcard, the Wylie completed a multimillion-dollar renovation in April that included a head-to-toe revamp of its 17,500-square-foot conference center. The International Association of Conference Centers-certified facility includes 26 meeting rooms with state-of-the-art technology and contemporary design, along with a nod to the history of the college that encompasses it. Highlights include the Beverly Auditorium, a 1,711-square-foot space featuring a video wall of six 55-inch screens with seating for 115 theater-style, as well as the Oceanfront function room, which accommodates up to 200 people.

Brand new as of April, the 121-room Freepoint Hotel is a modern and eclectic venue in tech-forward Cambridge's Fresh Pond neighborhood. A 700-square-foot “secret garden” (so-called as it’s hidden behind the back lobby) located just off the bar and lounge is a unique outdoor event venue with fire pits, lush greenery, and birch trees. The open-air atrium has a nature-inspired interior design aesthetic and accommodates as many as 30 guests for cocktail-style events. The semiprivate back lobby, which accommodates small events for 43 seated guests or 60 for cocktails, can be conjoined with the secret garden for as many as 90 standing guests. 

Located in the only surviving structure from Cambridge’s earliest subway system, the Conductor’s Building, Les Sablons is a metropolitan restaurant in diverse Harvard Square. Serving up dishes like monkfish and rye spaghetti, Les Sablons opened in mid-April. The 5400-square-foot restaurant, which seats a total of 150 guests, also features a 450-square-foot semiprivate dining room with space for 38 seated guests.

In March, the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel welcomed its new lobby brandy bar, serving more than 100 varieties of brandy, along with additional cocktails, beverages, and food. The 684-square-foot space—adorned with plugin-ready communal tables and ample seating that's wrapped around an alabaster-colored glowing fireplace—seats as many as 40 seated guests or holds 50 guests reception-style. A cozy bar seats four guests. 

Featuring live music from the neighboring Berklee College of Music and a Southern-inspired menu, B3 is a 2,850-square-foot restaurant and event space that opened in March. Its private dining room, known as the "Back Stage," is a 336-square-foot, audiovisual-equipped space filled with lush velvet and leather that seats 30 guests or holds 35 for cocktail-style events. The main dining room and the Back Stage also can be rented out for events together, seating 94 guests or accommodating 120 for reception-style events.

Set to open in early June in Burlington, Massachusetts, is the latest edition of Temazcal. An 8,300-square-foot upscale Mexican eatery with a tequila collection consisting of over 250 varieties, Temazcal accommodates a total of 201 guests: 186 seated inside, with another 24 on the patio. Guests can enjoy lobster guacamole, tacos, and signature house dishes in the newly renovated, two-story venue. An 800-square-foot private dining room on the second floor seats 50 guests or holds as many as 80 for receptions.

With a historic location in Boston's North End, North Square Oyster is seafood-focused restaurant that opened in mid-May.  The second floor features a cozy upstairs dining room with a romantic, colonial New England aesthetic that is available to host private evenings. Seating 60 guests, including four at the bar, the 700-square-foot space has dark wood accents and leather banquettes. Guests can enjoy a variety of raw bar options, hot and cold small plates, large-format entrées, sandwiches, and desserts. 

For a quick getaway from Boston, luxury resort Gurney's opened over Memorial Day weekend on 10 acres of Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island. The venue spans 27,000 square feet and includes two new ballrooms, as well as 50,000 square feet of outdoor entertaining space. The 4,018-square-foot Rose Ballroom seats 280 guests banquet-style or 216 classroom-style, or it holds as many as 400 guests for a theater-style or cocktail-style event. It also can be broken into two smaller rooms. 

In May, Martha's Vineyard restaurant Garde East expanded with its new Marina Deck, which overlooks the Vineyard Haven Marina. The 1,250-square-foot deck seats 30 guests for private events, or it can be joined with the entire 3,000-square-foot restaurant for events of as many as 80 seated guests. Garde East serves French-inspired seafood, such as olive-oil-poached halibut and monkfish with escargot.