The Atlas Hotel is in full hardhat-required construction mode. The 246-room hotel won’t be open for several months, so it takes a fair amount of imagination to envision the current cavernous concrete lobby transformed into the planned living room-like space where hotel guests can linger and lounge.
The same is true for the hotel’s under-construction ground-level restaurant, Ama, which will be run by the team behind Dorchester’s Comfort Kitchen. The restaurant will be a large, colorful space with outdoor seating that looks onto an adjacent greenway.
The Atlas is scheduled to open in winter 2026.
But the one part of the hotel that doesn’t require imagination is the view it offers of the Charles River and the Boston skyline. On a tour earlier this week, I took the elevator up to the 16th floor, which will house the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant, and tried to picture the scene here on a warm summer night. Yes, in its current state, the Atlas requires a lot of imagination. Earplugs would also be helpful to drown out the construction noise.
When it’s open, the rooftop restaurant (which will also be operated by the team behind Comfort Kitchen) will be like nothing else in Allston, but that could be said for much of the Atlas Hotel. Operated by Highgate management, the same company that runs posh properties such as the Newbury, the Ace Hotel in New York, and the Marker resort in Key West, the Atlas will be Allston’s first luxury hotel. Room rates will start at $325 based on season and availability.
Furniture for guest rooms and suites was custom-made for the hotel. Even the color of the hotel’s doors and room numbers, an electric shade of orange called piñata, is unique.
The hotel is part of Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus. When complete, the 14-acre campus will operate like a self-contained village. It’s a mixed-use urban hub with laboratories, offices, residences, and conference spaces.
The periscope-shaped hotel is the tallest and most prominent structure on the site. The front of the hotel facing Western Avenue is mirrored, while the sides of the building facing into the Enterprise Research Campus are covered in scalloped metal panels. The building was designed by Arkansas-based Marlon Blackwell Architects.
“I just have a gut feeling about it,” said Marlon Blackwell. “I could be wrong, but I have a feeling it’s going to be successful. It’s going to be a gathering place for the community. You don’t have to be in the labs. You don’t have to be at a conference. You can just be a citizen to be part of the community.”
The Atlas could already be facing competition from another hotel with its sights set on Allston. City Realty is proposing a seven-story, 96-room hotel for 393 Cambridge St., the current site of an automotive parts store. The application is currently under review by the city.
“The hotel’s guests will contribute to the economic vitality of local restaurants, retail establishments, and service businesses, creating a multiplier effect that supports the broader commercial ecosystem in Allston,” City Realty said in its filing to the city.
The proposal did not clarify whether the hotel would be luxury, utilitarian, or somewhere in between.
Christopher Muther can be reached at christopher.muther@globe.com. Follow him @Chris_Muther and Instagram @chris_muther.
