It replaced the John B. Hynes Memorial Auditorium, also a convention center, built in 1963 during the Massachusetts Turnpike expansion from Route 128 to the Central Artery, which was regarded as "ungainly".

The 1988 design "attempted to relate in scale and materials to its Back Bay setting, adopting granite and setbacks.

It features 91,000 square feet (8,450 m2) of meeting space with 38 permanent rooms and a 24,544-square-foot (2,280 m2) grand ballroom.

The convention center is connected by aerial passageways to a nearby hotel complex and can be reached by public transportation via the Hynes Convention Center station on the MBTA Green Line and, using the passageways, via the Back Bay station on the Orange Line, Commuter Rail, and Amtrak.

On September 16, 2019, Governor Charlie Baker announced his plans to close and sell the Hynes to finance an expansion at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.