Governor Maura Healey’s office stayed at four- and five-star hotels around the world multiple times last fiscal year, amassing thousands on fancy accommodations using taxpayer-funded credit cards, according to data provided to the Herald through a public records request.
The first-term Democrat has regularly flown around the country using public funds during her first two years in office. Procurement card data maintained by the Office of the Comptroller shows that Healey’s office frequently stays in luxury hotels during these trips.
Several expenditures in the 2024 fiscal year confirm that the governor or her staff stayed in four-star accommodations and, in one case, booked rooms in a historic five-star hotel in Quebec City with stunning views of the St. Lawrence River.
Jillian Fennimore, Healey’s communications director, said many of the trips by the governor or her staff have provided opportunities to build political or business contacts with other elected officials or the business community.
In the case of the trip to Canada, Healey’s office charged a procurement card for nearly $2,500 in September 2023 for accommodation at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, a luxury hotel that describes itself as a “historic urban resort” and tops the list of hotels in Quebec City.
“From the European charm of our guest rooms to relaxing treatments in the spa, our pioneering luxury hotel promises an unforgettable stay,” the hotel’s website states.
Fennimore said Healey was travelling to Quebec City for a news conference as part of the 44th annual Conference of Governors of New England and Premiers of Eastern Canada. Healey was the co-chair of the 2023 conference.
It was the first time the conference had been held in person in five years, and Healey stayed at Le Chateau Frontenac with chief of staff Kate Cook and a senior assistant because “that’s where the conference was,” Fennimore said.
“Next month, Governor Healey will host the 45th annual NEG-ECP Conference in Massachusetts. The conference will focus on energy and the transition to clean energy and will provide an opportunity to discuss goals and seek alignment in the offshore wind supply chain and hard-to-decarbonize sectors,” said Fennimore.
Many of the hotels where Healey’s office stayed were also booked by the Massachusetts State Police using separate procurement cards, according to the state. The law enforcement agency provides the governor with a personal security detail that typically accompanies her on trips.
According to the data, state police charged $1,181 to a procurement card for stays at Le Chateau Frontenac in two separate payments. The charges occurred on the same dates as the payments at Healey’s office, records show.
A state police spokesman said members of the governor’s security staff “are dedicated to their mission, which requires long hours, time away from loved ones and a very dynamic work environment with complex demands.”
“While we do not disclose specific details to protect individuals, we can say that the unit places great importance on making its missions economical whenever possible,” the spokesman said in a statement.
This includes “selecting the most affordable available accommodation option that is conducive to the protection mission,” traveling during off-peak hours and reducing overtime costs, the spokesman said.
Not everyone is happy with Healey’s choice of hotel.
Massachusetts Republican Party spokesman Logan Trupiano sharply criticized the money spent on hotel stays, saying local taxpayers were being “exploited to serve Healey” by “funding her opulent lifestyle with their hard-earned money.”
“Imagine trusting someone with your finances and expecting them to make your life better, only to find them indulging in luxurious amenities around the world. That’s exactly what Governor Healey is doing with your tax dollars. Her arrogance and blatant disregard for the people she is supposed to serve is shocking,” Trupiano said in a statement to the Herald.
Executive agencies or departments are advised to use procurement cards only as a “payment of last resort.” However, state officials are permitted to pay for hotel accommodations under the guidelines of the state’s budget authority.
The procurement card data also provides further insight into Healey’s trip to Italy earlier this year.
Healey and her staff stayed at the Marriott Le Meridien Visconti, a four-star hotel its owner describes as a “luxury retreat” in Rome. In May, four separate payments were charged to procurement cards that are among the most expensive for the office in fiscal year 2024, according to government data.
Records show that the governor’s office spent just over $14,000 at the hotel. The total cost of the trip, authorities said, was just over $30,000.
The trip was funded by the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund, a multimillion-dollar account dedicated to promoting tourism in the state and supporting regional tourism councils, Healey’s office said. The money is funded in part by the tax on gross gaming revenues of local casinos.
A spokesman for Healey had previously defended the trip to Italy, during which Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu had an audience with Pope Francis, as a “valuable opportunity” to “showcase the state’s leadership on climate issues on the world stage.”
In three separate procurement card charges, state police spent another $9,750 on stays at the Marriott Le Meridien Visconti, among the agency’s most expensive expenses in fiscal year 2024, according to state data.
In addition to trips to Italy and Quebec City, Healey’s office also spent thousands on four-star hotels in the United States during the last fiscal year, including $1,554 at a Westin in downtown Washington, D.C., and more than $1,120 at a Marriott in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to procurement card data.
State police procurement card records show the agency spent $1,079 at a Marriott in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The single purchase was made a day after Healey’s office booked stays at the same hotel, according to the data.
Purchases made through the procurement card at the Governor’s office exceed travel-related costs.
The most expensive procurement card purchase the governor’s office made in fiscal year 2024 was a single $3,952 payment to The Boston Herald, according to state data.
“This payment is for a 52-week subscription to the Boston Herald to keep our administration informed of your newspaper’s daily coverage,” Fennimore said in a statement.
The governor or staff in her office also spent $1,176 between May and June at Shreve, Crump & Low, a family-owned jeweler on Newbury Street that describes itself as one of the oldest in the United States.
Fennimore said Healey buys “jugs” from the jeweler as gifts for ambassadors and other foreign dignitaries, such as the Latvian president or the Taiwanese ambassador.
The purchases at the jeweler were covered by other public funds from the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund, Fennimore said.
Nancy Lane/Boston Herald
Governor Maura Healey (Herald file)
