We try to avoid overnights in the big house whenever possible, but when the doors open at the Liberty Hotel (215 Charles Street, Boston, 617.224.4000), we'll be lining up for the chance to spend an evening there. The property, the former home of the Charles Street Jail, was, at press time, scheduled for a late-summer opening. Built in 1851 and used as a prison until 1973, the building sat idle (in a prime location with views of the Charles River and the Boston skyline) until now. The four-star luxury hotel features 300 rooms, 10 suites, and 6000 square feet of meeting space, in addition to a casual restaurant, a fine-dining establishment, and a lobby bar with some of the jail's cells intact.
