Jurys out
Owner pays homage to luxury hotels' locations in rebranding effort
What's in a name change? For Jurys Boston Hotel, which officially becomes The Back Bay Hotel today, it's about highlighting its swanky location.
The hotel's parent company, Dublin-based Doyle Collection, formerly known as the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, has launched a rebranding campaign for its 11 luxury hotels in England, Ireland, and the United States, remodeling many of them and changing their names to reflect their geographical location. At The Back Bay Hotel, which opened in 2004 in the former Boston police headquarters, improvements included $1 million for new flat-screen TVs, armoires, and coffee makers in the rooms, among other improvements.
The changes won't affect the hotel's room rates, which range from $215 to $375 a night, according to general manager Stephen Johnston. And even though Boston hotel occupancy rates have fallen - 50.9 percent from January to April this year, down from 59.1 percent over the same period in 2008, according to the Massachusetts Lodging Association - Johnston said the hotel is weathering the storm: "We have a very loyal following here."
Lodging association president Paul Sacco said the name change is brilliant. "It signifies it as being dead-smack in one of the hottest areas of the city," he said.
And the fact that some people will undoubtedly enter the term "Back Bay hotel" when searching on the Internet was definitely a consideration, said Doyle Collection chief executive Bill Walshe.
"It's kind of amazing," Johnston said, "that the name hasn't been used before."
Katie K. Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com. 
