Tag: Boston

The Customer is Always Right, Right? A Look at How Yelp Has Taken Hold of the Boston Restaurant Industry

By: Rachel DeSimone Photography: Kristen Tieg Formal restaurant reviews made their debut back in 1941 when Duncan Hines, known today for his boxed-cake mix, put out his first restaurant guidebook, Adventures in Good Eating. The intention was, “to guide travelers and protect them from eating poisonous food from unsanitary places,” according to his biography by […]

Boston, the Booth Brothers, and the Parker House

By: Susan Wilson April 14, 2015 was the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. This is the story of how that fateful day was linked to Boston, the Booth Brothers, and the Parker House. Hotel personnel have always collected wondrous tales about the visiting celebrities they’ve observed over decades of service. Few […]

I Dream of Doughnuts: One Family’s Sweet Saga of the American Dream

By: Rachel DeSimone At the historic intersection of Cambridge Street and Brighton Avenue in Allston, Mass., you might find yourself wondering if you’ve been blasted back in time, say, to the ’50s. Before you stands a small retro-diner style building with a shiny silver overhang and an enormous sign towering over the roof that reads, […]

Boston Market Hotel Review

By Andrea Foster PKF Consulting USA (PKFC) and PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR) are respected sources for sound decision-making in the hospitality and real estate industries. We apply our skills to discover the unique aspects of an opportunity for our clients, and to develop practical solutions that can be initiated efficiently, successfully, and profitably. Core areas […]

The Current State of the New England Lodging Market: New England Falls Short of the Nation in RevPAR Growth in 2013

By Rachel Roginsky and Matthew Arrants Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the New England region grew 5.2 percent compared to growth of 5.4 percent for the country as a whole. However, there is still plenty of good news: The region was only slightly behind in terms of RevPAR, exceeding the national growth rate for […]

The Front Desks of Boston

By Michael Oshins The role of front desks has not changed significantly since the Parker House, the longest continually operating hotel in the United States, opened in 1855. The activities of welcoming guests upon arrival, assisting guests during their stay, and settling accounts upon departure are still the mainstay of the front desk. Although the […]

From Boston to the Balkans: Olmsted’s Emerald Legacy

By Christina Luke South of the Charles River winds the Emerald Necklace, a series of parks that connects several neighborhoods in the Boston area. The genius behind the system was journalist turned landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted, who was propelled to the national stage in 1858, after partnering with Calvert Vaux for the design of […]