In Massachusetts' capital city, the Encore Boston Harbor has officially opened.
The resort has a 210,000-square-foot casino; 15 dining and lounge venues; 671 guestrooms and suites including New England's largest standard hotel rooms; 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space; a spa; and a four-season, six-acre Harborwalk, featuring pedestrian and bike paths, picnic park, gazebo, viewing decks, waterfront dining and green space with floral displays. The resort bridges the harbor between Everett and Boston with a water transportation system.
Totaling $2.6 billion in single phase development, this is reportedly the country's most expensive resort development for 2019.
Designed by Roger Thomas, EVP of Wynn Design, Encore Boston Harbor has structural and design elements reminiscent of the Las Vegas and China properties yet remains Bostonian with the incorporation of known local New England provisions and hospitality names.
The entry drive has Scotch pine trees individually collected from the open fields of Western New York State. The porte cochere has a seven-foot polished convex mirror sculpture named Torus by David Harber centered in a parterre garden, and a custom brick paved floral entry carpet. Inside, there are botanicals and the newest Preston Bailey floral carousel at the center surrounded by four 20-foot, multi-trunk ficus trees. Floral mosaic inlays decorate the perimeter walkways as a curved escalator rises in the back, all leading toward culinary and entertainment.
The 210,000-square-foot gaming area is divided into two levels, with high ceilings and red Murano glass chandeliers transplanted from their original home, the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. The first floor has over 3,100 slot machines, 143 table games and a casino bar located at the heart of the casino beneath a grand staircase. An 88-table Poker Room on the second level is flanked by terraces overlooking the gaming floor. Located off the main casino floor, the gaming area has a total of 53 slot machines, video poker and reel games, as well as two private high-limit gaming rooms.
The resort has 671 guestrooms and suites. At 650 square feet, Encore Boston Harbor's Premier King and Double guestrooms are the largest hotel accommodations in New England. Signature Suites increase to 1,350 square feet; 18 two-bedroom residences are 3,350 square feet; and two villas total 5,800 square feet.
Designed in neutral tones with floor-to-ceiling windows, each room has Encore Dream Beds dressed in 507-thread-count linens. Tech-friendly conveniences include flat-screen 4K ultra-high-definition televisions, Wi-Fi, bedside mobile charging devices, and a wireless iPad for one-touch access to room controls, resort information and guest services. Voice-activation system Alexa controls curtains, lighting, heating and air-conditioning, and privacy settings.
Encore Boston Harbor has 15 dining and lounge concepts. Dining highlights include Sinatra, Rare Steakhouse and Fratelli. Beverage outlets include Waterfront, Center Bar and Garden Lounge.
The Encore Boston Harbor also has a spa, salon and fitness center across a 26,000-square-foot facility. The Spa at Encore Boston Harbor has a grand corridor entrance with floor lanterns, Venetian chandeliers and hand-painted silk walls. The men's and women's locker rooms have lockers covered in cream-colored crocodile leather, and 17 treatment rooms. Also available is a steam room, dry heat sauna, and hot and cold plunge pools.
A salon and barber lie adjacent to The Spa. Just beyond, the fitness center has equipment from Woodway, Cybex, Life Fitness and Peloton.
The Encore Boston Harbor houses contemporary and pop-culture art. One of the more iconic pieces is Popeye by artist Jeff Koons. It stands at six feet five inches tall and weighs over 2,000 pounds. Displayed at the base of the curved escalators in the Garden Lobby is Viola Frey's Amphora IV. Meanwhile, located along Harborwalk, there are three 20-foot-high stainless-steel portraits of women by Jaume Plensa.
There are also other design pieces throughout the property, such as the sculptural chandelier by designer Hervé Van der Straeten suspended above the bar in Sinatra; as well as a pair of polychrome patinated metal Art Deco-style panels hanging in the Garden Lobby near the Tower Suites.
The retail esplanades at Encore Boston Harbor house Wynn Collection, Wynn Beauty and Wynn Men's.
Walkways and biking trails are designed to keep open views and encourage exploration along the six-acre Harborwalk Entry Garden. Located along the southernmost edge of the resort, the Mystic Shoreline garden complements the resort's manicured landscape. Oak Plaza anchors the center of the park-like garden with a 45-foot red oak, surrounded by pines and cherries. Spruce tree masses define the surrounding spaces, with accents of dogwood, magnolia, serviceberry and Japanese maple sprinkled throughout for a diversity of color and seasonal variation.
The South Lawn Garden, designed to emulate a park, can accommodate events, with two additional lawns nearby. Visible only to hotel and spa guests, a 10,000-square-foot visual garden is set atop the podium roof, where over 6,000 seasonal blooms are planted.
For events, the property has more than 50,000 square feet of conference space on the lobby level and 21,000 square feet of seasonal outdoor space overlooking the Boston Harbor and skyline. Event space includes 10 break-out rooms, a promenade and a 37,000-square-foot single span grand ballroom.
Photo credit: Encore Boston Harbor