Company Press Release
January 5, 2000
BOSTON, MASS -- The ball has dropped in Times Square and partygoers around the globe have enjoyed the last of their
champagne, but the excitement of 2000 is just beginning in Boston. Greeting the new millennium yesterday was the
opening of the first hotel of the new century, Boston's 61-room Fifteen Beacon. The hotel's refined elegance, devoid
of glitzy opulence combined with state-of-the-art technology, exceeds the sophisticated needs of the new generation
of traveler. Fifteen Beacon officially opened its doors January 3, 2000.
Setting the pace for the new generation of traveler, the $25 million dollar Fifteen Beacon hotel is redefining
the luxury hotel experience for today's business and leisure guest. From in-room high speed direct internet access
and color fax machines to surround sound stereo systems, 300 thread-count sheets and private bars stocked with
the finest vintages, each room offers a private technologically sophisticated oasis for a discriminating clientele.
The privately owned intimate 61-room Fifteen Beacon occupies a handsomely restored 10-story Beaux Arts building
in Beacon Hill, Boston's premier residential neighborhood that is only minutes from the business and cultural center
of the city. But what sets Fifteen Beacon apart from Boston's other highly acclaimed landmark hotels, in addition
to having one of the finest restaurants -- The Federalist -- in the city and an incomparable wine cellar, is an
array of high tech services, luxury amenities and innovative conveniences designed especially for today's movers
and shakers in business and finance.
``Until quite recently, the very finest hotels of the world reflected the tastes and needs of the captains of industry
and commerce who shaped the eras in which they were built,'' said Paul Roiff, the developer of Fifteen Beacon.
``Then, sometime in the last 50 years, elegance and refinement came to be equated with the past; with rare exceptions,
luxury hotels became museums. The simple fact is our guests just aren't interested in giving up their dynamic,
high-tech, sophisticated lives in order to live in luxury, even for a night or two.''
Roiff, co-owner of the hugely popular Mistral restaurant in Boston and an area real estate developer since 1972,
has connected with the new definition of luxury. Every room in Fifteen Beacon is equipped with three telephones,
one of them cordless, a color printer, high speed direct internet access, a bedroom TV and CD player, a four-inch
LCD TV in the bathroom and a bedside keypad activating digital satellite music with a surround-sound stereo system.
Each guest receives his or her own direct telephone and fax lines for the duration of the stay (and always the
same lines for repeat guests), personalized business cards and the capability of having calls to the room transferred
automatically to cell phones. The combination gives new meaning to Fifteen Beacon guests ``being in residence''
while staying at the hotel. General Manager William Sander, previously with the Charles Hotel and the Boston Harbor
Hotel as well former head of the Boston Wine Festival, works with his staff of 130 hotel associates taking care
of every need or wish. This allows Fifteen Beacon to offer a level of service unheard of even at the most expensive
of properties
Sophisticated in-room creature comforts include a private bar stocked with half bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild,
Opus One and Krug champagne and Johnnie Walker Blue, gas fireplaces and sumptuous queen-sized canopy beds with
Italian 300-thread count linens. Guests also become members of the Fiticorp Health Club across the street during
their stay at Fifteen Beacon or may avail themselves of the hotel's exercise room with its free weights, treadmills
and stationary bicycles. Guests can also arrange to work out in their rooms with a personal trainer.
The hotel is graced with artwork from some of hottest names in contemporary art, including Jules Olitski, Theodoros
Stamos, Martha Lloyd, Joe Greene, Tony Evanko and Ben Freeman. The building's original glass cage elevator with
brass fittings has been completely reconditioned to give guests an authentic feel of Old Boston. Mahogany walls
and a cozy fireplace in the lobby extend the traditional feel.
Fifteen Beacon's restaurant, The Federalist, under the direction of Executive Chef Robert Fathman, is well on the
way towards becoming a culinary ``must-do'' in Boston. Featuring an artistic and imaginative menu ranging from
New England favorites to exquisite Continental classics, The Federalist has the ambience of a prestigious private
club. Fathman is best known for his stewardship of the highly praised Grill 23 & Bar in Boston, a restaurant
honored by the Zagat Survey, Le Meridien, The Quarterly Review of Wines and USA Today.
Beneath The Federalist is The Wine Cellar, with a collection of fine and rare wines that has put Roiff in a class
by himself as a restaurateur. Selections include a 1907 Heidsieck Monopole, rescued from a schooner sunk by a German
U-boat, a 1937 Romanee Conti Domaine and classic vintages of Chateau d'Yquem, Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Petrus,
Chateau Margaux and many others. The cellar is an ideal venue for private parties and twenty-four hour in-room
dining is also offered.
Fifteen Beacon's rebirth as a hotel was supervised by creative director Celeste Cooper, of Repertoire, who is noted
for her imaginative use of space, detailing and dramatic lighting. She has received numerous awards, including
the 1986 National Hexter Award for ``Residential Interior of the Year,'' a 1987 American Society of Interior Designers'
National Award for Design Excellence and Illumination Design Awards from the Illuminating and Engineering Society
in 1991 and 1992. Cooper is renowned in Boston for her work on Roiff's Mistral restaurant, the bar at Rialto and
L'Espalier Restaurant. The architect on the Fifteen Beacon project was Patrick Sharkey, of Sharkey Design Company.
While the Fifteen Beacon site dates back to 1722 with the construction of the Bromfield Mansion, the present building
is from the turn of the century, designed by the famous Boston architect William Gibbons Preston in 1903.
Room rates begin at $395.
Fifteen Beacon is located at 15 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-2902. For information, please call 617-670-1500
or visit the website at www.xvbeacon.com. Reservations may be obtained by calling 877-xvbeacon. Fifteen Beacon
is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
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Contact:
Hawkins & Widness, New York
Jennifer Hawkins
212/288-8070
hwpri@aol.com