Fodor's Expert Review Irving House at Harvard

On a residential street three blocks from Harvard Square, this four-story gray clapboard guest house is a bargain. It has two small porches, hardwood floors, and Oriental carpets, making it homier than a hotel, and there's a real sense of conviviality among guests, mostly Europeans and visiting parents or professors. The inn maintains a giving library, which means you can take home that book you didn't quite finish. The small, superclean rooms are refurbished with bright new paint, flat-screen TVs, and original art. The limited off-street parking is a real coup in car-clogged Cambridge. So is the green and guilt-free solar thermal water-heating system. As a nice added touch, the hotel will mail postcards anywhere free of charge.