New Newbury hotel seeks liquor license

02/02/10The representative of an upscale boutique hotel planned on Newbury Street made the case for an alcohol license last night before members of the area's neighborhood association.

Attorney Arthur Goldberg told members of the Licensing and Building Use Committee of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay that Mantra Suites at 254 Newbury St. would like to open in March with an alcohol license in order to serve the guests at what he called "an affordable, luxury boutique of choice."

"You don't need another dark light on Newbury Street," Goldberg said, referring to the number of businesses that have recently closed on the street due to financial difficulties.

After Goldberg and the hotel's owner, operations manager and architect spoke, the committee voted on its recommendation in private. The committee, which doesn't have the authority to grant such licenses but makes its recommendations to the City of Boston Licensing Board, decided to "not oppose" the application subject to certain conditions.

Goldberg (center in the attached photo) said that the hotel team was seeking an Innholder Malt and Wine License for the establishment, the same license held by the previous owner.

Committee chairman Jim Hill said that the committee is proposing the conditions of a midnight closing for the restaurant and a 10 p.m. patio closing. It also wants alcohol service only in conjunction with meals and patio staffing at all times during hours of operation. The same standards were practiced by the previous owner.

The committee also proposed a ban on amplified patio music to meet the concerns of some of its members.

The hotel will have six suites, an outdoor patio, a "living room" available for afternoon tea and Mumbai Chopstix, a restaurant featuring Indo-Chinese cuisine.

The hotel team is also addressing issues ranging from trash pickup to pest control get the establishment ready to open, Goldberg said.

Goldberg stressed that the hotel team is more than willing to work with the neighborhood association and local businesses in preparing to open.

"We want to have a place that everyone is proud of," he said.

Hill noted that 254 Newbury St. has had a "colorful past."

The address used to be home to the The Jewel of Newbury hotel and restaurant. Last September, the Boston Herald reported that the owner, Mouldi Sayeh, defaulted on a $2.6 million mortgage in 2008 and failed to pay over $300,000 in real estate and meals taxes. The paper said that Sayeh filed for bankruptcy in late 2008.

Sayeh had blamed the Herald for hurting his business after the paper published an article a week after Sept. 11, 2001, the paper said, claiming he had connections to the bin Laden family and was under FBI investigation.

Hill said that Sayeh made architectural modifications to the exterior of the building without approval and later did not remedy the problem. There were also complaints about how the restaurant was run and that the outdoor patio that was at times overcrowded, he said.

The property was sold at a bankruptcy sale, Hill said, and has now come under the new management of Surinder Singh.

"It's a new operator, a new owner. It's a new day," he said.

An alcohol license is a coveted item in the city, Hill said, and there are a fixed number that the licensing board will give out.

"People want these things because it's like a license to make money," he said.

Currently, the hotel team has signed a lease to rent the Newbury Street property and Goldberg said they plan to exercise their right to purchase it.