The historic Ames Boston Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, and Benchmark’s Gemstone Collection have unveiled 1,700 square feet of all-new meeting and event space located on the hotel’s second floor. Designed by New York City-based architecture and design firm Glen and Co. Architecture, the new spaces were reportedly created to honor the heritage of the Ames Boston Hotel while also evoking a modern style.
Ames Boston Hotel’s two new meeting and event spaces, Ames and Oliver & Oakes, can accommodate events for up to 125 people. As a nod to the Ames family’s historical impact on Boston and the country, the name of the Oliver & Oakes celebrates Oliver and Oakes, sons of the family’s patriarch, Oliver Ames, Sr., the founder of the Ames Shovel Works. The rooms were inspired by “American manufacturing, uniformity and ingenuity.”
Chef Mary Dumont will be offering customized catering menus for the new meeting spaces.
With three distinct areas--including Ames, Oliver & Oakes, and a pre-function vestibule--the new spaces can accommodate seating arrangements for banquet, conference, lounge, classroom and theater-style meetings, events and presentations. Ames, the larger of the meeting spaces, is flanked by a small library of vintage upscale cloth books that conceal seating storage. With a high ceiling and arched windows that fill the space with natural light and offer views of historic Downtown Boston and the Old State House, Ames and Oliver & Oakes has painted blue entryways, light oak flooring, and wood veneer wainscoting topped by wood paneling painted in a charcoal hue.
Additional design elements in Oliver & Oakes include a fireplace encased in a white marble surround, contrasting accent wall, wood veneer valance, and sheer drapery imprinted with an historic map of Boston proper.
In Ames, dark wood built-in bookshelves with integrated lighting serve as the backdrop for a retractable presentation screen that disappears when not in use. Custom motorized blackout roller shades printed with antique maps of Boston serve as a barrier for blocking out light from the windows during audio-visual presentations, while giving the effect of a permanent wall adorned with art when extended.
Constructed in 1893, the 114-room boutique hotel, which opened in 2009 and is nearing completion of a multi-million dollar renovation, is situated near Boston’s Financial District, Hynes Convention Center in Back Bay, and the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the Seaport District.