Special Events turns 30 this year, but we have to take a back seat to Boston's venerable Fairmont Copley Plaza, which celebrates the big 1-0-0 this year. The landmark hotel is giving itself a present: a $20 million renovation, “so that we're shining even more brightly than when we opened in 1912,” explains regional director of public relations Suzanne Wenz.
The palatial hotel was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, architect of the Copley Plaza's sister hotel, the Plaza, as well as the Dakota apartment building, both in New York. “People really enjoy the architecture and ambience of our space,” Wenz says. “So many people have their own personal history with the building, whether it's where they had their first drink, met their husband or attended a formal or prom. Generations of families have hosted weddings here.”
Movie buffs might recall that in 1975, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton spent their second honeymoon at the Copley Plaza, and as part of its year-long celebration, management is inviting couples who honeymooned at the hotel to come back and celebrate their anniversaries with one night at their original room rate. In 1947, for example, newlyweds would have paid about $7 a night. Just remember to bring your original folio! Visit www.fairmont.com/copleyplaza.
