The Docent’s Collection Celebrates Another Year of Award-Winning Hospitality

The Docent’s Collection is celebrating another successful year of welcoming guests, highlighted by brand growth and award recognition.

In 2025, The Docent’s Collection was honored with a handful of features in leading, national publications – including Cosmopolitan, People, Boston.com, Forbes, and Travel + Leisure. These placements highlighted the brand’s boutique hospitality story with travelers across the nation. Visit The Docent’s Collection’s press page for a full round-up.

The inaugural property of The Docent’s Collection, the Thompson Block, was recognized with two preservation awards: a Greater Portland Landmarks Award and a 2025 Build Maine Award from the Associated General Contractors (AGC). The Thompson Block, located at 121 Middle Street, was designed by architect George M. Harding and built during the Old Port’s resurgence after the Great Fire of 1866. The building was revitalized by East Brown Cow from 2019-2024, through a meticulous, multi-year renovation. Today, the Thompson Block is home to private lofts on its upper floors – and welcomed a new shop to its ground floor this year as well. Twenty-three years after opening their first women’s boutique on Exchange Street, Angela and John Foddrill announced that Bliss Boutique would expand to a larger space on the ground floor of the Thompson Block. Bliss officially opened at the Thompson Block in the summer of 2025.

Alongside the growth of local partners, The Docent’s Collection underwent another expansion. In November, The Docent’s Collection welcomed project partners, local officials, team members, community collaborators, and nearby tenants into 178 and 184 Middle Street. Situated within Old Port Square, these two architecturally significant, 19th-century buildings underwent extensive historic rehabilitation to become what they are today. Known as the Boyd Block and the William Widgery Thomas Block, they now feature modern, design-forward private lofts on their upper floors and prime retail space on the ground level. Learn more here.

The brand also grew its hospitality offerings with the addition of the Docent’s Dossier. Designed as an exclusive hospitality package, the Docent’s Dossier provides guests with a curated, rotating itinerary of Portland’s newest and most beloved dining, activities, and cultural attractions. From waterfront sails along Casco Bay to gallery showings in the Old Port, each Dossier is carefully curated to offer an insider’s perspective on Portland’s top and trending spots.

Finally, this year brought The Docent’s Collection award-winning recognition from its guests, including a Condé Nast Traveler 2025 Readers’ Choice Award, which named The Docent’s Collection the #5 best hotel in the Northeast. Other accolades included ranking as the #1 Hotel in Portland by Tripadvisor travelers and being in the running for Travel + Leisure’s 2026 World’s Best Awards, which closes voting on February 23rd, 2026.

In the year ahead, the brand looks to continue its momentum with additional hospitality offerings and local partnerships throughout Portland’s Old Port.