Located on Boylston Street in Boston’s tony Back Bay area, The Mandarin Oriental, Boston opened its doors in October. The 14-story hotel features 136 guest rooms and 12 suites as well as a 16,000-square-foot spa and fitness center and private condominiums and rental units. The Mandarin’s 10,000 square feet of function space—all located on the second level, with access either by staircase or elevator—can host gatherings of from 12 to 600 attendees. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural light. The 4,200-square-foot Oriental Ballroom, paneled with satinwood and trimmed in mahogany, holds up to 600 guests for a reception or 380 for a seated banquet. Also on site: the 1,280-square-foot Bangkok room, the 670-square-foot Beijing room, and the 525-square-foot Hong Kong boardroom.
Because of a City of Boston housing policy that requires developers to either set aside a certain percentage of housing as affordable units, or pay a per-unit charge to finance housing elsewhere in the city, the Boston Redevelopment Authority will open a lottery in early December that will select tenants to live in the complex’s 10 so-called “affordable apartments.” Several lucky Boston renters will score big with rents ranging from $1,254 to $2,172 a month on units that otherwise go for $6,000 to $13,000 a month.
