This year saw the opening of many significant event and meeting venues in Boston. Here's a look at the best restaurants, party rooms, hotels, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open in 2017. These new and renovated Boston venues suit groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
With a historic location in Boston's North End, North Square Oyster is a 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 entrĂ©es, sandwiches, and desserts.Â
In June, the Ritz-Carlton, Boston, unveiled a $13 million redesign highlighting the 3,500-square-foot ballroom overlooking Boston Common. The space accommodates 300 guests for a reception, 250 guests for dinner, or 70 with conference seating. The 1,200-square-foot Studio, an additional function space adjacent to the ballroom, accommodates 125 guests reception-style, 80 for a seated dinner, or 45 with conference seating. The property offers audiovisual capabilities, in addition to the services of a Technology Butler.
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.
Located in the rapidly developing Jeffries Point neighborhood of East Boston, Cunard Tavern serves elevated pub fare in its 65-seat main dining area, which measures 1,900 square feet, and in the 10-seat bar area that's made from shipping containers and reclaimed wood and iron. The 900-square-foot rooftop has a full-service bar and raw bar, which can accommodate as many as 35 standing guests. The entire restaurant, or just the rooftop itself, is available for buyouts.
A lively neighborhood restaurant serving globally influenced dishes, Publico Street Bistro is a welcome addition to South Boston's food scene. Open in February, the 5,876-square-foot eatery seats 131 guests. An atrium with a full bar, fire pits, and flat-screen TVs seat about 50 guests at tables, low seating, and a 13-person bar, plus there’s a 325-square-foot private dining room.
Located in the booming Seaport neighborhood, Yotel Boston opened in June. The 326-room (or "cabin," as the property calls it) hotel is inspired by luxury air travel. The Sky Lounge and Rooftop Terrace is an indoor/outdoor lounge serving cocktails and small bites with 360-degree views of the city; it can be rented for private events. The lounge's four Sky Cabins are also available for rental, and can accommodate as many as 20 people. The two Studios by Club Lounge on the ground floor, which measure 208 square feet and 520 square feet, respectively, are ideal for executive meetings and breakout sessions, and are equipped with full audiovisual capabilities.
The Revere Hotel Boston Common’s seventh-floor rooftop opened 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.
Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, which opened in July, serves a modern take on traditional Chinese Hunan cuisine in Kendall Square. The 4,458-square-foot restaurant seats 168 guests indoors, as well as 45 guests in the 780-square-foot outdoor space. Sumiao is available for conferences with full audiovisual capabilities for as many as 25 people, as well as private dining for 24 seated guests. The entire restaurant is available for partial and full buyouts, accommodating as many as 252 people.
Oak & Rowan, restaurateur Nancy Batista-Caswell's 5,500-square-foot American restaurant, opened in mid-November in Fort Point. Available for both full or partial buyouts, the restaurant includes a 600-square-foot private dining room equipped with audiovisual capabilities that seats 30 guests. The main dining room seats 95, with an additional 26 seats at the bar. For events with as many as 18 guests, Batista-Caswell will roll out a table-side cocktail cart with customized drinks.
A "free roam" (or non-stationary) virtual-reality game arena that opened in July, Mindtrek VR features 4,000-square-feet of gaming space in Woburn. The entire venue can be rented out for private events and corporate outings of all sizes, where groups of 16 players at a time suit up to hunt zombies or robots through the magic of virtual reality for a 45-minute experience. A 500-square-foot meeting room can accommodate as many as 40 seated guests, and has customizable food options.
