Beyond Fenway Park’s left field wall, better known by its moniker the Green Monster, is a 60-foot-by-60-foot sign emblazoned with the name CITGO, the oil and gas company. By now, the billboard has become as synonymous with Boston as cream pie. To Joe Carter, the former major league baseball player, it was a siren—calling him, tempting him. He didn’t see it as CITGO when he dug into the batter’s box. He saw it as C-IT-GO.
Truth is, the sign is some 1,200 feet from home plate and would take a Ruthian blast to reach. Peeking out a guestroom window of the Hotel Commonwealth, the CITGO sign feels to be within an arm’s length. It makes sense, then, that the Kenmore Square hotel is the official hotel of the Boston Red Rox. Team memorabilia adorn the lobby, an elevator’s panels are autographed by former and current Red Sox players and, naturally, the hotel has a Fenway Suite, complete with a replica Green Monster.
Baseball might be on the mind at Hotel Commonwealth, but the property is far from a baseball hotel. Its skipper—or general manager—is Adam Sperling, who has had a long career in hotel operations, the last 15 with Sage Hospitality, which now manages the hotel, but used to own it, having acquired it from Boston University in 2012. The hotel opened in 2000 and was built by the university to, as Sperling said, serve as the gateway to the campus.
After Sage acquired the hotel (it’s now owned by Ohana Real Estate Partners) it added more rooms to take the key count up to its present-day 245. Today, the hotel operates as a true independent hotel, with no ties to a soft brand or a consortium. After the Great Recession, Sperling and his team toyed with the idea of joining some affiliation, but, in his words, “Nothing felt right.” His recommendation to ownership, instead, was: “Let’s go at it alone and see what happens.”
Independently Accomplished
It’s been a rousing success, one that Sperling attributes to that distinct, independent spirit, which, in the hospitality arena, allows you to move on ideas more quickly and with less resistance since there are less stakeholders involved. Consider the Red Sox autographed elevator, a brainchild of Sperling that began as a cost-saving invention. When the original hotel was expanded, a new service elevator had to be added, making the old one redundant. However, converting the old service elevator to a regular elevator would have cost upwards of $200,000. Instead, Sperling had the idea to basically just cover over the metal paneling and allow players to sign the walls. The whole thing cost no more than $3,000 and is now one of the hotel’s “wow” elements. In fact, on one occasion, Red Sox closer and World Series winner Keith Foulke rode the elevator in his uniform, greeting guests as they boarded—a surprise elevator operator if there ever was one.
On Deck
Sperling’s ascension within the ranks of hospitality started out similarly to those before him and those to come after him: like any young person, he needed to make money to be self-sufficient. In Chicago, a friend introduced him to the general manager of the Ambassador East hotel, a man that Sperling said had a profound impact on him and the trajectory of his career.
“He was so inspirational,” Sperling said of his meeting with David Colella, who happens to now be the general manager of The Colonnade Hotel, also in Boston. During the meeting, “I’ll never forget it,” Sperling said, he placed a call to The Knickerbocker hotel and said, “I can’t hire this guy, but he is meant for our business.” The reason he couldn’t hire him was because Sperling’s girlfriend at the time was working at the Ambassador. The rest is history.
Sperling made his way through the ranks, working a variety of roles within the operating departments—self-taught with a mix of on-the-job training. He ended up making his way to Boston and working at The Colonnade for five years, among other area properties, before settling in at Hotel Commonwealth in 2008.
Sperling has left his imprint in his 15 years with the hotel. Consider one of the hotel’s Signature Suites, the Reading Suite, something any bookworm would write home about. The suite has a collection of titles signed by authors that have stayed at the hotel and even has a reading nook for those to curl up in. Hanging on the wall, at the entrance to the suite, is framed letter signed by the legendary crime writer Raymond Chandler that is part of Sperling’s own personal collection. In the Baseball Suite, a 1934 Babe Ruth card is behind glass and lights up when a guest walks in. The card is owned by Sperling.
To paraphrase Indiana Jones, these pieces belong in a hotel room.
The ability to create and curate without obstructive guardrails is a testament also to the culture Sperling has helped instill at the property. The hospitality industry is uniquely itinerant, especially when working for and within branded hotels. Independent hotels have a different kind of spirit and it’s something Sperling truly values.
“Unlike the brands, where you might be up and out every 24 to 36 months, I always felt like I was going to be here indefinitely,” Sperling said. “I wanted to be sure that I lived with the consequences of any decision I made regarding the employee or guest experience.”
It doesn’t mean the brands don’t impact his job. Boston is getting more crowded with luxury hotels, creating more options for visitors. A recent JLL report described Boston as having a “luxury renaissance.” In 2019, Boston became one of only three U.S. cities to have two Four Seasons hotels within a one-mile distance. In mid-2023, the city became the first in North America to open a Raffles hotel, the ultra-luxury brand under Accor. “This unique expansion of well-established luxury hotel brands is expected to continue and elevate the city’s status as a destination for luxury hospitality,” the report wrote.
Still, opening new hotels in a market like Boston is not easy. Vacant lots are not aplenty and the barriers to entry are very high. “You can’t just snap your fingers and a Marriott appears,” he said.
Sperling, however, sees any influx as a benefit, not a hindrance. “It’s helpful for us. We can draft right off it,” he said, alluding to the $600 to $800 average daily rates many of these luxury hotels command.