What’s New for 2022 in Boston, D.C., and New York City

Cities have suffered many setbacks during the pandemic. But good things are happening, and tourism is slowly rebounding as major U.S. cities continue to take a share of a steady domestic travel market. 

To continue piquing interest in visiting cities, here is a sampling of new hotels on-deck to open this year in Boston, Washington, DC, and New York City, as well as special annual city events that will be celebrated big in 2022 after being shelved last year because of COVID.

Boston

 
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“We are hoping to welcome as many visitors as possible, both domestically and internationally,” says David O'Donnell, Vice President of Strategic Communications Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We anticipate that our hotel occupancy for 2022 in Boston and Cambridge will exceed 65%, still well down from the 82.5% of 2019 but up markedly from 45% of 2021 and 25% of 2020.  For the Greater Boston market, the slower recovery of business travel and international travel will continue to impact our numbers through 2022."  

The Boston Marathon held every spring, is the world’s oldest annual marathon, dating to 1897. But, thanks to Covid, it didn’t run last year. This year’s race will take place on April 18, and the restaurants and hotels are expected to go all out.

The traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston was also canceled last year but is back this year. The parade in Southie dates to 1901; the parade will be held on March 20^th.

Hotels
Last year, especially the latter part of 2021, Boston welcomed several high-profile hotels to its portfolio, including Newbury Boston which opened in December.

Later this year, the highly-anticipated Raffles Boston will debut with 147 guest rooms and 146 residences in a new 33-story building in Boston’s Back Bay. The property will mark the opening of the first Raffles property in North America; the brand is 135 years and based in Singapore. Expect signature Raffles services such as the Raffles Butler, and also a handful of food and beverage venues (including a patisserie and speakeasy), a state of the art Raffles Spa with indoor pool, a rooftop garden terrace and lounge, and the signature Raffles Writer’s Lounge for cocktails and conversation—these lounges are in many Raffles properties as a nod to the writers who have stayed, such as Hemingway.

Washington D.C.