Hotel Review: The Langham Boston Premier Room

Background & Location

The Langham Boston is quite a unique property as it used to be the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which opened in 1922. It became a hotel in 1981 as the Hotel Meridien Boston and became the Langham in 2003. The hotel closed in 2019, underwent a $200 million renovation, and reopened in June of 2021. This was the first time I’d be staying at a Langham property, so I was excited to give it a try.

In 1865, The Langham London first opened its doors and was deemed Europe’s first “Grand Hotel”, seeking to revolutionize the luxury hotel experience.

The hotel is located in the heart of Downtown Boston’s Financial District, and near the Boston Waterfront. From the hotel, it serves as a solid home base where you can easily walk to explore the nearby historic attractions, such as the Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the Freedom Trail which are all less than a 10-minute walk away.

Takeoff Points

Date of Stay: July 2024
Room Type: Premier King
Pros: Beautiful decor, well-appointed rooms, and a solid Club Lounge.
Cons: AC fan speed is not controllable, pillow menu was out of a majority of the pillows.

Fora Travel Benefits

I work with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays. Fora is part of Virtuoso and the Couture by Langham programs. These partnerships give you special perks when booking with me. The Langham Boston features:

• Room upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Daily Breakfast for up to two guests per bedroom
• USD 100 equivalent Food and Beverage Credit
• Early Check-In / Late Check-Out, subject to availability

If you are interested in getting these perks and want to stay at the Langham Boston, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel and I would be happy to help you plan your trip.

Lobby and First Impressions

I was quickly assisted to check-in, and I noticed a safe next to the reception desk. In sticking with the theme of the Federal Reserve, it’s a cute safe that even has an alarm sound. It stores little toys for families to get at check-in. I thought it was a nice touch, and the hotel is great for families.

On the walk to the meeting spaces and Grana restaurant, there is a cute phone booth and flower display.

Premier Room

Once you arrive at your dark blue door, you are literally in a relaxing state of mind. I loved the entrance and the first thing I noticed was the cute closet with the linen sheets. Once you opened the closet, it felt very elegant with nice blue tones and the dark wood matched my duffle bag pretty well. There were robes, slippers, a luggage rack, a scale, an iron board, and a safe.

Bathroom

To the left was the bathroom. I want to make my bathroom look like this one at home. The bright space had a very California Beach aesthetic with the light blue walls and the white marble throughout. The counter space was quite large enough to put all your toiletry bags there which was nice.

A really fun touch is that there’s an audio function in the bathroom where you can turn it on and you can listen to the TV. It’s kind of cool if you feel like getting ready going in and out of the bathroom to the room, you can still hear what’s going on on the show you’re watching.

The bathroom countertop does have fresh lotion and softening hand wash courtesy of Diptique. Also available were a vanity kit, shower cap, sanitary bag, mouthwash, and cleansing towels. For the shower, there was a rainfall feature as well as a wand. Diptique products in refillable bottles were available with shower gel, conditioner, and shampoo.

The best part of the bathroom is that they have installed fog-proof mirrors, which is great after a warm shower.

Bedroom

Heading into the bedroom area, there is a large chest-like device that contains an espresso machine, and hot water maker. Coffee is provided by Umbria Coffee Roasters in the Nespresso pods. Also, Tea Leaves teabags are provided. For the mini-bar, there is a personal mini-bar delivery that is available from 11 AM to 11 PM where you can order items to fill up your minibar. Cups and glasses were provided as well as a mini fridge for personal use.

Pillow Menu

There’s a pillow menu where you can order pillows such as micro gel down pillows, memory foam, lavender fragrance, pillows, and peppermint fragrance pillows as well, which was pretty cool. Though, I tried to get a Lavender Pillow and/or Body Pillow but they were unavailable as the hotel was sold out for the weekend. They have a little box near the nightstand that you can put jewelry in which I thought was a nice touch. Something I had never seen before is that the Langham respects the religious background of all guests and colleagues so you can request your preferred book of worship during your stay.

On the left nightstand, there is a Bluetooth speaker that has this nice modern elegant look as well as a normal dial clock. The room is modern and has plenty of power ports on each side of the bed going towards the right nightstand. There is the phone a paper pen and a notepad as well as two boxed waters were provided. Additionally, there are reading lights on each side of the bed.

The bed was comfortable, and the linens were to the luxury 5 star level which was nice.

At the window, there is a large sofa-style chair that is comfy as well as a table and two dining-style chairs. My room had a view of the building in front, which wasn’t too bad but I essentially left the shades up most of the time. I think they did a really good job with the linen see-through curtain which provided privacy and also let light in at the same time.

Turndown Service

Nightly turndown service is provided, though I wish they left a sweet treat like chocolate. They put water by the bedside, set up the slippers, and left a nice postcard with the weather forecast for the next day.

The room was very clean, and the only pet peeve I had was that you couldn’t have a constant fan setting in the room. The fan would only turn on if the temperature hit below your setting. But other than that, I really enjoyed my stay in the Premier Room.

The Langham Club

The Langham Club is located on the eighth floor of the hotel and is open daily from 7 AM to 8 PM. Breakfast is served daily from 7 AM to 11 AM and it offers a selection of hot dishes, fresh fruit, and pastries. From 12 PM to 2:30 PM, a light lunch is offered where you can enjoy tea sandwiches, light salads, and snacks. Then from 3 PM to 4:30 PM, there are afternoon treats and in the evening they have a light hors d’oeuvres/supper service from 5 PM to 8 PM. There was a great selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well. Four wines were available, as well as some hard liquor, and it was included and available all day. Beers and canned soft drinks were offered as well.

Additionally, if you’d like other items, the private kitchen or the Fed restaurant has items that are available for purchase.

It’s quite a nice place to relax and catch up on some work.

If you’re staying in a Club room, additional benefits include complimentary pressing of three garments upon arrival, overnight shoe shining, and laundry for one item. And if you don’t book a club room, you may add access to any other room types. This will be $150 per adult per night and $50 per child aged 5 to 17 years old.

Breakfast

I enjoyed visiting during breakfast where they have a made-to-order omelet station. They have oranges, nectarines, and bananas for whole fruit, and a variety of cut fruit too. Hot dishes include scrambled eggs, pork sausage, pork bacon, and a sweet breakfast item that changes (it was a Chocolate casserole one day).

Lunch

I also did visit during lunch. They had a salad station which included mixed greens and toppings as well as a Corn Salad. Three sandwich options were available: Lobster Salad, Cauliflower, and Eggplant Caponata. A soup was available too, which was Tomato Fennel. I loved the lobster salad sandwich.

And the kids (or adults with a youthful spirit) will love the candy section filled with bars of chocolate, gummy bears, and more. Sea salt chips were available as well.

Amenities

There is a 24-hour fitness center, expanding two floors (3rd and 4th). The top floor has cardio and strength equipment as well as Peloton’s. And, on the lower floor, there is a stretching area and Echelon Reflect Touch Smart Fitness Mirror which offers more than 2,000 fitness classes. I had a workout here on the Peloton bikes which was quite nice. I also found out that depending on the room type booked, you can get a Peloton delivered to your room too. Boxed water, towels, and energy bars are provided as well.

On the 3rd floor, is the 40-foot heated swimming pool that also has a whirlpool. It’s open from 7 AM to 9 PM daily, and there are changing rooms plus saunas. I visited the sauna after my workout, and it was quite small (fits 2/3 comfortably), but a nice feature to have.

Dining

The Langham Boston offers two restaurants, Grana and the Fed.

Grana is a beautiful space that is set on the former Federal Reserve Bank’s grand hall. It serves Italian-style dishes and is open for breakfast daily as well as lunch on the weekdays and brunch on the weekends. I had brunch here and loved the setting, and the food was quite tasty.

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The Fed is a British-inspired cocktail bar with elevated pub fare. Current hours of operation are until 11 PM nightly, but opening hours vary from 3 PM Monday to Thursday, 2 PM on Friday, and 1:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday. It was nicely appointed, and they had cool names for the cocktails like Pocket Change, Risk Management, and Rate My Interest.

The Verdict

Overall, the Langham Boston is a great luxury hotel option in the city and left a solid impression on my first Langham stay. I love the decor of the rooms, and the Langham Club is by far one of the best domestic club lounges that I’ve been to. It’s a great spot for families, and certainly fun to stay in a hotel that used to be a Federal Reserve Bank.

Have you stayed at the Langham Boston or a Langham property before? How was your experience? Comment below!

Cheers,

Ty

Have any questions? I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!