Checking into the past: Unique hotel stays in historic properties
Experience Boston's Liberty Hotel, a former jail turned luxury hotel, featuring original architecture and dining options, just 3½ hours from Melville. Credit: Liberty Hotel
Increasingly, travelers are looking for something a little extra in their hotel, and not just the latest luxury amenity. Staying in a hotel that was originally another type of property — like a bank, textile mill or jail — ups the cool factor. If you're interested in sleeping in a place with a bit of history, here are five you don't have to travel far to experience, whether by a quick train ride, flight or road trip.
Pennsylvania: Cork Factory Hotel
480 New Holland Ave., Suite 3000, Lancaster, 717-735-2075, corkfactoryhotel.com
Driving distance from Melville: 3 ½ hours
A look inside the ballroom banquet space at the Cork Factory Hotel. Credit: Lauren Fisher Photography
What once was all about hard work is now all about leisure. The Cork Factory Hotel in Pennsylvania was once home to the historic Armstrong Cork and Kerr Glass Companies.
The property features 19th-century architecture, original exposed brick and high wood ceilings. There are 93 guest rooms and suites and a fitness center, with a minimalist, industrial design.
The hotel opened in 2009 and is a member of the Historic Hotels of America. Its Cork & Cap Restaurant showcases Lancaster County inspired cuisine like the bourbon-glazed pork chop with fried leeks, Pennsylvania Dutch pepper cabbage and roasted potatoes and the Dutch-bound Red Beet Salad. Room rates start at $200 a night.
Massachusetts: Liberty Hotel
215 Charles St., Boston, 617-224-4000, libertyhotel.com
Driving distance from Melville: 3 ½ hours
What do you call a former jail that you turn into lodging? You play up the irony and call it the Liberty Hotel. The hotel was Boston’s Charles Street Jail in 1851. The building was one of the grand dames of the “Boston Granite Style” of the mid-19th century thanks to Gridley James Fox Bryant, one the architectural world’s stars at the time, who worked with Louis Dwight, a Yale-educated penologist and advocate for prison reform to create a unique hotel.
However, in 1973, after a prisoner revolt over living conditions, the jail was declared unfit and in violation of the inmates’ constitutional rights. Despite this, it operated until 1990. A year later, Massachusetts General Hospital bought the property. After a major redesign that preserved much of the original, stunning architecture like the 90-foot central rotunda and jail cell details, in 2007, the former jail reemerged as the Liberty Hotel. It’s a national historic landmark.
The hotel’s restaurants and bars, pay homage to its past, like Catwalk, a bar that floats above the lobby, and the jail’s former exercise yard now called The Yard that is an outdoor courtyard perfect for Happy Hour cocktails. Then there’s Alibi, in the jail’s old “drunk tank” where you can have a cocktail and late-night nibbles. Its original bluestone floors and brick cell walls set the vibe. Some guest rooms and hallways overlook the atrium, that features the original iron catwalks used by prison guards. Look for clues to the past in rooms, like a bedside table styled like a cast-iron safe and framed keys over the bathtub. Room rates start at around $630 a night.
Maine: The Lincoln Hotel
17 Lincoln St., Biddeford, 207-815-3977, lincolnhotelmaine.com
Driving distance from Melville: 5 hours
The Lincoln Hotel in Biddeford, Maine, has been awarded a Michelin Key for the third year in a row. Credit: TRSALHOTELS261115/Shawn O'Connor Photography
Check out Biddeford’s first 5-star boutique hotel, the 33-room, The Lincoln Hotel. It was awarded a MICHELIN Key in 2024, 2025 and 2026.The property was a 19th-century textile mill. You’ll see original exposed brick, beams, and high mill ceilings. The mill closed in 2009 and was purchased in 2015 and redeveloped. It opened as The Lincoln Hotel in 2022.
Rooms feature gas fireplaces, exposed brick and an industrial vibe, with tall windows and high ceilings that show off the original wooden beams. You’ll also get modern luxuries like the rooftop pool and local artists’ work throughout the hotel. Grab a bite on-site at Batson River Brewing & Distilling, whether you go for steak frites, duck confit poutine or roasted Atlantic salmon. Start your day with breakfast at Spinning Jenny’s. Late afternoon and evenings the spot is the lobby bar, that’s more like a living room than watering hole. Room rates start at $525 a night.
Québec: Hôtel Place d’Armes
55 Rue Saint-Jacques, Montréal, 514-842-1887, hotelplacedarmes.com
Flight duration from JFK or LGA: 90 minutes
A look outside at Hôtel Place d’Armes in Montreal, Quebec. Credit: Corner Collection
Hop on a 90-minute flight from Kennedy or LaGuardia and land in the magical city og Montreal. If you want to feel like you’re in a fairytale, go for the 19th-century neoclassical charm of this hotel.
Four iconic buildings make up the hotel, with the oldest dating to 1869. The narrative is different for each — an insurance company headquarters, a home to banks, a savings and fraternal benefit society, or law and other professional offices. The history includes fires — in 1885, 1893 and in the 1970s.In 2000, it reopened as a boutique hotel and five years later was further expanded.
The hotel’s glory days are far from gone. In 2024 and 2025 it was awarded the prestigious MICHELIN Key. It is home to Rainspa, beloved for its traditional hammam room, gym, French bistro, Brasserie 701 and Japanese spot, Kyo Bar Japonais. Even junior suites are elegant and spacious with a living area, big walk-in rain shower and soaker tub. Room rates start at $350 a night.
