This summer, New Englanders will discover that the finest new pop-up luxury boutique hotel is in Boston, Newport, Portland, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Portsmouth. A guest will be able to book a favorite room in any one or more of those locations, and it can be exactly the same room the guest occupied during the last stay, no matter where that room happens to be when booked. How is this possible? When the hotel is not affixed to a piece of land, but rather floats on water and is able to move from place to place, many possibilities become real.

With per-key hotel acquisition prices continuing to hover at prohibitive levels, and with development and construction costs for new build properties at historic highs, prospective operators of small boutique hotels in Greater Boston are confronted with a formidable challenge to make their numbers work. Disappointed a few years ago in its bid to acquire a 13-room boutique in Boston, Troca Hotels, the brand company behind The Daniel in Brunswick, Maine and Stonehedge Inn in Tyngsboro, Mass., decided it needed to get creative to overcome the barrier of per-key prices and put a pin in the map in Boston. Thus, was born the idea to change the venue for the sought-after luxury rooms from land to sea.

After many months of research and immersion into the world of luxury super-yachts, Troca Hotels located and acquired the perfect vessel. “Troca One” is a fifteen-year old Viking super-yacht, built in the Viareggio Yard in Italy. She has contemporary European flair in her lines, as if she had been designed by Pininfarina. Her mechanicals were completely refit by the former owner shortly prior to the sale. Following the acquisition, furnishings and soft goods were re-envisioned by the talented Kristen Campetti of Troca Hotels to be lighter, brighter and yet more resistant to wear than those which came along with the boat. Troca Hotels was able to acquire and refurbish the vessel at a steep discount to replacement cost, and at approximately $430,000 per key, Troca One makes the numbers work.

The boat measures 108 feet long, displaces 240 tons, and is powered by twin American-made diesel engines putting out 1,800 horsepower each. She has four luxury staterooms, each with fully fixtured en-suite baths, entertainment systems, and closets. Up to eight guests may be accommodated overnight, and up to twelve people may enjoy a day charter. Hotel amenities include a main salon with a full bar, café table, leather couches, state of the art sound system, and large flat screen TV hidden behind a moving panel. The main salon opens to a lounge deck at the stern with banquette table seating. She has a fully functional galley for preparation of on-board gourmet meals coordinated in advance with the NoLo Bistro at Stonehedge, together with a breakfast area. Her private dining room will seat 8 guests. Up top is a massive fly bridge and lounge deck with a wet bar and two grilling stations. Troca One has a full-time captain and steward, with other crew members added from time to time based upon need.

The boat’s skipper, captain Daniel Clegg grew up on the waters of New Zealand. He started his maritime career at the age of sixteen working on a commercial deep-sea fishing trawler. He remained in that field for six years before joining yachting. He has been yachting for the last ten years and running boats for the last four years. Clegg has experience working on both charter and private yachts in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the Great Lakes and the Mediterranean Sea. He holds a 200-ton offshore master license, AEC Engineering ticket, New Zealand Offshore Watch ticket, Inshore Launch Master and First Aid certificates in the U.S. But by far, his most impressive credentials are his hospitable nature as the boat’s general manager, and his skill at the bar, all presented with a Kiwi accent, as in, “I reckon you could do with a cocktail?” 

Vivienne James, the steward, is mainly responsible for keeping the guests happy. She doubles as first mate, and is as adept at fixing and casting lines as she is folding a decorative blanket into the shape of an anchor. Having spent several years working on very large private vessels, James has developed an uncanny knack of anticipating a guest’s needs just as the guest is formulating the thought.

Not to be outdone by a vastly smaller brand, Ritz Carlton has recently announced that it will be launching three newly built yacht-hotels in May. While these vessels will operate on a much grander scale, with over 100 rooms, they will not offer the uniquely personal experience available aboard Boston’s yacht-hotel.

Troca One’s permanent home is in Miami, Florida, where she is berthed at the Epic Marina. Her business in Florida mainly involves weekly charters to the Bahamas, rather than transient lodging. During the all-too-fleeting New England summer, however, Troca One will be docked at the marina at Long Wharf in Boston, just behind the Marriott and the Chart House, where her primary business will be transient lodging. Troca Hotels envisions from time to time moving the boat on day charters to Portland, Portsmouth, Newport, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

Troca One’s Long Wharf location boasts unparalleled views of the Boston waterfront and skyline, is easily accessible to the Seaport, Boston’s North End, the Financial District, Quincy Market and Haymarket, and has a front row seat at any events occurring in Boston Harbor, such as the Tall Ships, harbor fireworks or musical performances. Despite its location at the virtual “ground zero” of the Boston waterfront, the marina is a quiet oasis at the very tip of all the hustle and bustle of Long Wharf, where guests may escape to enjoy the lapping of waves on the hull, the ringing of the occasional ship’s bell, and the creaking of dockage.

2017 was Troca One’s first summer in Boston. During that time, she became a partner of the Red Sox Rewards program, which is the loyalty program for all season ticket holders, including Red Sox Premium Members. She has played host to a variety of guests seeking a unique luxury experience, from curious Bostonians to foreign travelers, from millennial adventure-seekers to corporate travelers, and from those booking spur of the moment to those celebrating one of life’s special occasions such as an anniversary or birthday. According to Troca Hotels, part of the boat’s mission is to democratize access to super-luxury, and in that she seems to be enjoying some great success.

Ken MacKenzie is partner of Dalton & Finegold, LLP and a member of the International Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

Formerly MacKenzie was the co-leader of the hospitality and recreation group at Goulston & Storrs. MacKenzie represents institutional investors, private equity funds, investment managers, pension funds, university endowments, REITs, major lending institutions and developers in the acquisition, financing and disposition of all classes of real estate assets both nationally and internationally.

MacKenzie specializes in transactions involving hospitality assets and has significant experience in large-scale joint-ventured deals, often involving non-profit institutions such as universities or hospitals. He frequently assists clients in structuring their responses to RFPs for complex mixed-use projects.

MacKenzie received his A.B. from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude. MacKenzie is admitted to practice law in the state of Massachusetts.