[1] At the time it was one of the finest first-class hotels in the city, and its location was at the edge of the most aristocratic part of Back Bay, making it one of the most desirable places at which to stop.

The hotel (or house as it was called at the time) originally had 300 elegantly furnished rooms, single and en suite, with private parlors and baths.

Before the United States entered World War II, it became the headquarters of the pro-Nazi Boston Christian Front; the office operating out of the hotel was shut down in 1942.

[2] Most recently, in its lower lobby, the former Cafe Budapest, it was host for the filming of scenes in the 1992 comedy movie "HouseSitter" starring Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin.

On November 8, 2019 the hotel was bought by Hawkins Way Capital, a real estate investment firm based in Beverly Hills, California.