Starting with its floor-to-ceiling lobby windows and rising to its 4,000-square-foot rooftop bar, the new-build, 136-key Envoy Hotel—part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection—makes a deliberate effort to connect to its picturesque location on Boston Harbor. “We wanted to tie into the outdoors as much as possible so the relatively small footprint of the hotel wouldn’t feel tight,” says Carrie Nielsen of locally based firm Group One Partners. “Everything flowed from that view.”
Some guestrooms are anchored by their beds, which are snuggled into one curving piece that holds small shelves and reading lamps (in some rooms, it also serves as the back of a writing desk). “The design gives a womb-like feeling while the low profile lets you see right over the headboard out into the window,” Nielsen says. A quirky TV stand crafted from a bicycle frame nods to the city’s pedestrian- and bike-friendly nature, she adds, while its lacy interplay of wheel-and-spoke allows guests to peek through for glimpses of the water.
Nielsen and her team also coaxed the water beyond into the rooms via glass-enclosed bathrooms that feature sliding doors layered with images of historic harbor maps. Shower walls covered in wood-patterned porcelain tile echo the beachy vibe of the bedrooms’ bleached wood floors.
Overall, the room offers a sophisticated bachelor pad feel, which shows up in a minimalist palette of gray carpet, textured pearly wallpaper, and coffee-hued leather furniture. Bright yellow accents act “almost like a smiley face,” says Nielsen. That pop threads its way through the piping on the pillowcases and the legs of the white lacquer desk, then turns up again on the metal tables, throw pillows, and wing chairs that dot the lobby lounge.
To reference the hotel’s emerging neighborhood—dubbed the Innovation District, it sits across the harbor from downtown Boston—Nielsen interspersed a handful of conversation pieces that repurpose older technologies throughout the lobby. A sparkling chandelier, for example, drips with old telephone cords, while an Alex Katz-like portrait, “Horizon Reflection,” by artist Maryanna McDonald is fashioned from VHS tapes.
In another mix of old and new, the lounge’s vintage billiards table houses several touchscreens outfitted with games and tourist info, a centerpiece that smoothes the transition between the lobby and restaurant, Outlook Kitchen and Bar. The 153-seat spot was crafted by Scottsdale, Arizona firms CMDA Design Bureau and Testani Design Troupe, who repeat the gray hue of the guestrooms while adding nautical touches like rope walls that wrap around booths and teak wood recycled from old boats. “We were inspired by ideas of contrast and contradiction that we saw in Boston,” says CMDA principal Riccardo Cattapan. Adds Testani Design Troupe founder Judith Testani: “The city offers a great mix of refinement and roughness, and we wanted to reflect that.”
Nearby, a wall painted with block letters reads “On the Way to Everywhere”—one of several such phrases peppered inside and outside the hotel. This messaging, produced in collaboration with local branding agency Korn Design, offers a cohesive series of “small, inspiring moments,” that create an overall sense of discovery, Nielsen says.
Sometimes they’re in your face as in the lobby, and elsewhere they’re more subtle, such as on shower knobs, which read, “Let it Flow.”
