So, nu: West Roxbury could get kosher hotel

1. It was a bad place to have a McDonald's on the outbound side of Route 1 when there is one for inbound (Coffee/McMuffins) right across the street for the morning commute.

2. There is an MWRA water pipe, a big one, running under the northerly side of the parking lot. The MWRA has the permanent right to go in there and repair that pipe. About 7 or 8 years ago they went in and told the owners that they also wanted to store equipment on the site while they rebuilt the pipe as it goes through West Roxbury and Brookline. The MWRA paid well but the owners sued for a bunch nevertheless. Litigation ensued and the store never reopened.

3. A hotel is a better use for this site than retail. This has been a terrible site for retail.

Also, does the Irgun get to blow this one up as well if it suits their needs?

That there has not been any "coming soon" or "for rent" signs in front of it. Nor have I seen any story about it.

The tragedy in New York was devastating to so many people. Please don't use the death of children to mock something you don't understand.

The usual practice is to have an elevator that runs in a continuous cycle, stopping on every floor automatically, without the need for people to press buttons.

I'm going to pretend you're not a troll for a moment and answer your questions.

Regarding hotplates, one of the benefits of staying in a hotel which targets the kosher consumer is that one needn't resort to using hotplates in all the guest rooms to prepare food. Depending on where one stays, some places have a communal dining room affair, and most will provide food to rooms with advanced notice (e.g. travelers who don't want to drag their six kids to a large room to be schmucks at other guests for an hour and a half). But all provide a way for the shomer Shabbat traveller to avoid in-room hacks.

Even in the ultra-orthodox communities, electricity use per se isn't prohibited. It's changing the state of that electricity, completing or breaking circuits, which is the sticking point. One of the big issues is the question of human involvement in the on/off process. Heating and cooling isn't a problem because those systems run automatically, same as a table lamp on a timer. Any individual action by a hotel guest, like opening or closing the front door to go in or out, would be background noise at best when determining if the system cycles on or off.

Most rabbinical authorities approach the idea of "shabbes elevators" with some caution because they're clearly a leniency if one accepts them as legitimate at all. On the other hand, one does see them, especially in high-rises in Manhattan. Maybe not everyone takes them (they're slow, they're inefficient, stairs are a better option if one can climb them), but they do exist. As typically implemented, they stop at every floor and open the door for N seconds, whether anyone pressed the call button or not.

Minibar use would be problematic on Shabbat because the minibar business model is that taking anything out of them is a business transaction. You may not be handling physical currency at the moment, but you're still purchasing something. Most kosher hotels I've stayed in deal with this by always having a small light buffet available for people who want coffee or tea or a nosh during the day. You want a bottle of water? They'll just give it to you in the dining room, without bothering with the minibar.

Pay-per-view isn't allowed. Television doesn't do anything to elevate Shabbat or the chagim. Also, even if you, the patron, are okay with breaking Shabbat that way, the hotel owners can't take the money from the PPV fees.

What else makes a hotel kosher? These days, the biggest item you've never thought of is having keyed locks, instead of electronic card locks. Modern chain hotels, having gone to all electronic locks, mostly put shomer Shabbat patrons in the position of either breaking Shabbat to get in/out of their rooms, or basically not going any further out of the room than line-of-sight so they can prop the door with the garbage pail. Some observant travelers can work with this by taking turns going in/out of the room, but it's a huge pain in the ass when old fashioned mechanical tumbler locks don't create any of the problems.

...but I stayed in a really nice kosher hotel in New York once (even though I'm not observant or kosher) and everything is on timers--elevators, lights, etc. I honestly can't remember how they handled to dining room/food situation, probably because we went out for most meals except breakfast. As for TV in the rooms, well, that's an individual thing and they don't do anything with those. Not everyone who stays there is Jewish, after all.

I really realy could use one right about now.

A 1000-thumbs-down button would be even better, however.

maybe you can't check in on a Saturday

The hotel is going to be set up around the needs of shomer Shabbat patrons, so if you want to call room service for a cheese burger at 0200 on Saturday morning, you're going to be sadly disappointed by the response.

Yes, you can. Anyone can stay there.

It just happens to border Brookline and Newton.

Seriously? They're not going to get away with advertising that very long.

That's *actually* their press briefing/release/reel for the holding company's activities. They're an Israeli company that buys real estate in the Boston area for development (evidently).

And if the midway isn't world class, I don't know what is.

Whomever is writing their copy seems to have confused two different regional purchases they've made. One is for the Dedham location. Another is for a "Hotels & Resort" within a mile of the Mashpee Taunton casino location that's still in the works.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mazzal-hotels--resorts-first-lig...