NEW HOTEL OPENING IN THE BACK BAY
IN JUNE 2005

February 2005, Boston, MA

Residents of Back Bay and the South End may have noticed the new look of the YWCA’s historic headquarters as it slowly emerges from the scaffolding this winter and spring. Few may realize that besides undergoing a $30 million overhaul, the multi-use building, located next to the Hancock Tower at 140 Clarendon Street, will be also offering a new 40-room boutique hotel, Hotel 140, when it reopens this June.

“Around the world, travelers know the YWCA offers a welcoming place to stay. In Boston, we have kept our tradition of hospitality to everyone: women, men, singles and families. We’re just taking things a few steps further with comfort and style you might not expect” says Martella Wilson-Taylor, President and CEO of the YWCA which acted as sponsor of the development.

Hotel 140 will offer contemporary designer décor, free high-speed internet, complimentary breakfast, a business center and fitness facilities, all at great location and for a surprisingly affordable price.

“The Hotel, which is offering the introductory rate of $ 129 per night, is going to fill a unique niche in the Back Bay lodging market” – points Susan Donahue, the principal of the Donahue Consultants, “A moderately priced hotel with modern quality services is a rarity in the predominantly “four star and up” market of the Back Bay”.

Very long-term Bostonians may realize this is not the first time the building at 140 Clarendon has served overnight guests. When 140 Clarendon Street first opened in 1929, the upper floors were a hotel for unchaperoned women then flocking to the city for the first time. The building’s mix of residential, educational, recreational and administrative spaces serving women was considered daring and controversial. The hotel was appropriately named “The Pioneer.”

To keep up with building and program needs, a massive renovation project began in 2004, touching nearly every inch of the fourteen stories at 140 Clarendon. Besides Hotel 140, the rebuilt and refreshed facility will offer a unique mix of uses--residential, office and cultural--for generations to come. There will be an on-site Terra Cotta Café opening in June, 2005. The Lyric Stage Theater and Joseph’s Flowershop, both Back Bay institutions, have been operating throughout construction and will remain.

“We have a proud tradition at 140 Clarendon Street,” says Judy Parks, Vice President of Real Estate for the YW, “ but we are also looking toward the future with Hotel 140. A room in Back Bay during June at $129 a night might not be quite as revolutionary as what the original members of the YWCA were doing in 1929. We just hope to be as successful.”

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