The Revolution Hotel Is Now Open in the South End

It's inside a midcentury building that was once a YWCA.

By Madeline Bilis· 12/5/2018, 11:05 a.m.

Photo by Anthony Shea for Provenance Hotels

Boston’s newest boutique hotel is now taking reservations.

Perched on the corner of Berkeley and Appleton streets, the Revolution Hotel is the first of its kind in the city. It has compact rooms with common bathrooms, for starters, and rates averaging around $150 per night. Once a YWCA, the midcentury building that houses the Revolution has been transformed into a splashy, ultra-Instagrammable getaway. That’s thanks in part to murals painted by artist Tristan Eaton, which incorporate local figures like Clara Barton and Malcolm X, for example, into psychedelic representations of the city.

The concept is based on the “rebellious attitude and innovative spirit of Boston,” according to developers at Mount Vernon Co., and everywhere you look, Boston innovations and inventions are celebrated. A central staircase has an art installation called the “Innovation Tower,” adorned with objects invented in Massachusetts, like basketballs, lawn ornament flamingos, telephones, Converse sneakers, and more. There are nods to Bostonians like Donna Summer, Jack Kerouac, and Bill Russell, in the murals, too, while rooms feature historical art by Boston artists Fitz Hugh Lane and Washington Allston.

The Revolution’s 163 units will range from studio suites for business travelers; to triple and quad rooms for groups (read: bunk beds); to king-sized accommodations for couples. The common bathrooms are unique in Boston’s hotel landscape. Guests who opt for rooms without private baths receive Steel Canvas shower totes containing a robe and slippers. They can bring the totes into the common washrooms, which feature shelves stocked with extra towels and Lather products. Several doors off of each floor’s common washroom lead to bathrooms with both toilets and showers. (That’s to say there’s nothing dorm-like about ’em.)

The hotel’s pint-sized rooms allow for spacious common areas. On the lower level, a coworking space boasts a meeting room, comfy seats for dashing off emails, a bar made from a century-old Back Bay elm tree, and a shuffle board table, naturally. Off of the lobby, a street-level ice cream window will serve up sundaes or lattes, depending on the season.

Check out the rest of the hotel in the photos below.

The Revolution Hotel, 40 Berkeley St., Boston, therevolutionhotel.com.