Indow Windows Case Study: Quiet Luxury For A Boutique Hotel

Travelers go to 21 Broad in Nantucket to unwind. The boutique hotel’s 1872 Victorian architecture beckons in a friendly way on an island of Federal-style buildings. And inside, it’s just about everything a person would want in a getaway. Not only does it have a spare elegance, but the muted colors make you want to exhale in an interior designed by Rachel Reider of Boston. There isn’t a door, molding or floor that wasn’t polished back into its original glory with a massive recent renovation and expansion. Luxury amenities in this Lark Hotel include a steam and massage room and shower heads infused with Vitamin C to soothe the skin.

 It’s safe to say management is attuned to what guests want.

But it’s located in downtown Nantucket next to a pub and some noise. The 27-room hotel fielded a handful of complaints from guests about sound generated from HVAC units in an adjacent alleyway as well as garbage trucks and service vehicles. Weary travelers want quiet. Since the building is a historic landmark, all the windows are the original wavy, leaded glass, which are gorgeous but no match for the noise of modern everyday living.

21 Broad doesn’t mess around. It quickly decided to install Acoustic Grade Indow inserts in the front bedrooms and called Stu Grant Windows. The difference Stu Grant was able to provide with window inserts was immediate: much needed quiet. The day the inserts were installed was a perfect day for testing. The hotel was having construction work done on the exterior that involved saws and jackhammers.

“It was such a drastic difference,” said general manager Dan Matter. “It was night and day. We’re 100 percent confident it will handle all the noise complaints generated from the street.”

The inserts also blocked drafts to make the rooms even more comfortable than they were. And they’re nearly invisible, so much so that when Dan had to do some maintenance work on a window, he completely forgot the inserts were there. But most of the time h