It stands on Copley Square, part of an architectural ensemble that includes the John Hancock Tower, Henry Hobson Richardson's Trinity Church, and Charles Follen McKim's Boston Public Library.

During this time, the restaurants in the hotel were considered some of the best in the city and featured such chefs as Lydia Shire, Jasper White, and Gordon Hamersley.

John Hancock sold the hotel in 1988 for $56 million to local businessman James A. Daley, in partnership with a subsidiary of Harvard University.

The 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) lobby has a 21-foot (6.4 m) high gilded coffered ceiling with matching Empire style crystal chandeliers and Italian marble columns.

In 1913, Hamilton Fish, Jr., held a "Lenten dance" where "society leaders ... from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Boston greeted the coming of daylight this morning at the Copley Plaza Hotel".

[27] Sargent used one of the hotel's employees, a black elevator operator named Thomas McKeller, as the model for the Greek god Apollo in his decoration of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

[31] In February 1935, civic leaders held a dinner for Babe Ruth at The Copley Plaza to celebrate his return to Boston after 16 years with the New York Yankees.

[32] On August 3, 1940, back-up catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Willard Hershberger, despondent over a series of losses in which he performed poorly, took his own life in the bathroom of his Hotel room at the Copley Plaza.

His father had also committed suicide and he told Reds Manager, Bill McKechnie that he was going to "do it, too ..." On March 29, 1979, a disgruntled former employee set multiple fires in both The Copley Plaza and the nearby Sheraton Boston hotels.

Every US President since William Howard Taft, and royalty from Greece, Thailand, Abyssinia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Belgium, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have visited the hotel.

[citation needed] Celebrities including John Lennon, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and Luciano Pavarotti have also been guests.

Other movies and TV shows filmed at the property include The Equalizer 2, The Firm, Bride Wars, and American Hustle.