The Liberty is Boston's most memorable hotel and a smart base for the city's museums: the former Charles Street Jail, a granite landmark built in 1851 in the shape of a cross with a towering central rotunda, was transformed into a luxury hotel and now belongs to Marriott's Luxury Collection. The architecture is the show — the ninety-foot atrium lobby with its original catwalks, the cupola windows and the exposed brick and granite — and the hotel leans into the history with wit: the restaurant Clink keeps some of the original cell bars, and the bar Alibi occupies the old drunk tank. Most guest rooms are in a modern tower adjoining the jail building, with views of the Charles River, Beacon Hill or the Cambridge skyline, while rooms in the historic building have higher ceilings and more character. For museum travelers, the location works: the Museum of Science is a short walk across Charles Circle and along the river, Beacon Hill's brick lanes and the Esplanade are on the doorstep, and the Red Line at Charles/MGH station gets you toward the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardner with one change. The honest notes: the lobby bar scene is lively on weekend nights, the immediate area sits beside a major hospital campus, and rates peak in fall foliage and graduation seasons. Fit: history fans, couples and families doing the Museum of Science.
The jail was designed by Gridley James Fox Bryant with input from reformer Reverend Louis Dwight, and its cross-shaped plan was meant to bring light and air to prisoners — a progressive idea at the time. Over its long run it held some famous inmates, and after it closed in the 1990s, a careful restoration kept the rotunda and the facades while adding the hotel tower.
The result is listed as a historic landmark and is one of the best adaptive-reuse projects in New England. The jail held notable prisoners over the years, among them Malcolm X and the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti; it closed in 1990, and the hotel opened in 2007 after a conversion that cost around $150 million.
The stay craft
Request a river-view room in the tower for the sunsets, or a room in the historic jail building for character. Walk to the Museum of Science along the river path in the morning, then spend the afternoon on Beacon Hill's Charles Street shops. Book a table at Clink or a drink at Alibi to enjoy the jail-themed details after dark. The Esplanade's running paths start a block away. For a third dining option without leaving the building, Scampo, the Italian restaurant led by chef Lydia Shire, is known for its lobster pizza.
Practicals
215 Charles Street at Charles Circle, next to the Charles/MGH Red Line station, valet parking at Boston rates, about fifteen to twenty-five minutes from Logan Airport. Fit: history fans, couples and families who want the Museum of Science within walking distance.
Why stay here
- ✓Walk to the Museum of Science
- ✓Historic 1851 jail rotunda
- ✓Clink restaurant in former cells
- ✓Alibi bar
- ✓Charles River views
- ✓Red Line station next door
- ✓Esplanade paths a block away
- ✓Fitness center
Good questions
Was the Liberty Hotel really a jail?+
Yes — it is the former Charles Street Jail, built in 1851, with the original granite rotunda and catwalks preserved in the lobby.
How far is it from the Museum of Science?+
A short walk across Charles Circle and along the river — easy with kids in tow. The Red Line next door also reaches Cambridge in a few stops, for the Harvard Art Museums and the MIT Museum.
Which rooms should I book?+
Tower rooms offer river and skyline views; rooms in the historic jail building have higher ceilings and more period character. The hotel has 298 rooms in all, and many in the tower look over the Charles River toward Cambridge.
