Hotel description

Our Tablet Spy program offers the chance to get early looks at the most promising new hotels. If you’re willing to take the risks associated with staying in a hotel that’s not officially open yet — unfinished spaces, noisy construction, inexperienced service — then you’ll be rewarded with the chance to help decide whether the finished hotel will earn a place on Tablet Hotels.

When it comes to hotels Boston is a bit of a puzzle. For whatever reason, there just aren’t as many stylish and innovative options as there ought to be — compare New York, where you’re absolutely spoiled for choice. Here to add one more to the scant supply of well-designed boutique hotels is the Morgans group, who’ve taken over a historic building in downtown Boston proper and installed the Ames.

The exterior is historic as ever, this landmark building showing every one of its hundred-plus years, its stately brickwork contrasting sharply with the new glass towers of the surrounding district. Once inside, though, it’s a different story, a dark and moody look that’s not just a departure for Boston but for Morgans as well. While their new Mondrian in Miami boasts a design by the outrageous Marcel Wanders, the Ames exhibits a fashionable sobriety in the person of David Rockwell, whose buildings and interiors tend to be more swanky than splashy.

The restaurant, Woodward, is named after the Ames family’s old pub, and should, in typical Morgans style, contribute to a bit of a re-alignment of the local nightlife scene. We’re only surprised something like this didn’t happen in Boston sooner.