Sometimes you have to cross an ocean to connect with folks from your own backyard.
I live in the heart of Boston, and a stay at the Inn at Hastings Park — sitting just up the road from where the Battle of Lexington kicked off the American Revolution — spent years on my to-visit list. Then I landed in Cannes late last year for the International Luxury Travel Market and met Trisha Pérez Kennealy, the inn’s owner and a longtime Lexington resident. Two Bostonians in the south of France is the “Emily in Paris” spinoff you probably didn’t know you needed. It was also the push I needed when Kennealy made clear that my husband and our four-legged child would be every bit as welcome as I was.
Paul Revere rode from Boston to Lexington in 1775 and helped usher in the start of the Revolutionary War. I made roughly the same trek with markedly lower stakes, chasing not conflict but a cure for the winter doldrums of a snowier season than New England had seen in recent memory. The modern version of the ride takes well under an hour, requires no lanterns, and ends at the only Relais & Châteaux property in Greater Boston.
The inn’s 22 guestrooms and suites are spread across three restored historic buildings — the Main House, the Isaac Mulliken House, and the Barn. We landed in a Premier King in the Isaac Mulliken House. The bed was divinely fluffy, the fireplace earned its keep on a raw January evening, and the marble bath came with a walk-in rain shower that was just the ticket to overcoming sub-zero temperatures outside. A Smeg refrigerator, a Nespresso machine, and a spread of local snacks rounded things out.
Pimm, our dog, received his own bed and amenity package, including offers of grilling chicken breast for a little added treat. The thoughtfulness extended well past the amenity list, too: While Kennealy and I were out at lunch and touring Lexington, the staff checked in on my husband, who was holed up working in the room, to see whether he wanted anything sent up (the burger was divine, he tells me).
The inn rewards guests who treat it as a base as much as a destination. Lexington Common is a short stroll away, and the surrounding town gets more compelling once you understand how deeply its innkeeper is woven into it. Kennealy moved to Lexington from Puerto Rico with her family as a child and came back years later, after stints in New York, Boston, and London, to raise a family of her own with her husband, Mike.
She arrived with an unusual pair of credentials in hand — an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and both a Diplôme de Cuisine and a Diplôme de Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu in London — and the property reflects both. The business instinct shows in how tightly the operation runs, while the culinary training shows on the plate and in the recommendations she hands guests on the way out the door, including Wilson Farm, an excellent specialty market minutes from the inn and the source of several of my new favorite pantry staples.
That leaves guests happily torn between eating in and eating out. Town Meeting Bistro, the inn’s restaurant, turns out elevated New England fare — Maine crab dip, Cape Cod bass, scallop risotto, steaks, and, obviously, a clam chowder — on a menu in a state of constant refinement. I timed my visit well, arriving while a new dessert lineup was under evaluation, and got to watch the Basque cheesecake now on the menu go through its review process. I sampled a few bites along the way — purely in the interest of journalism, of course.
A few practical notes for advisors: This is a small property, so amenities like a spa and gym come through off-site partnerships, though in-room fitness equipment is available. The programming leans into the location and the kitchen, with themed dinners, a supper club, and immersive cooking weekends on the calendar. A “Frozen”-themed afternoon tea during my winter weekend drew a crowd of local children, which says a lot about a hotel that the neighbors treat as their own.
That, ultimately, is what sets the Inn at Hastings Park apart in a semiquincentennial year full of properties claiming a piece of the American story. This one was built by hand and by hometown, the product of an owner who bet on her own community and then poured a whole lot of sweat equity into proving the bet right.
The history out the front door is free. What Kennealy has built behind it is the part worth the drive.
Related Stories
The American Ideas That Reinvented Travel
The Little Nell Launches Nell Hotels Brand, Expands to NYC
Ritz-Carlton Reserve Urban Concept Finds First Home in Shanghai