1st Time Boston - Hotel Suggestions
 

!st trip for my husband and I. Red Sox game on 5/6 and then 3 days of adventure. Considering the following hotels:
Back Bay Hotel
Nine Zero
Millenium Bostonian
Taj Boston

Need wi-fi (Millenium charges for it) and coffee maker in room. Please help me decide between the above hotels or make additional suggestions. We just want a quiet, comfortable place to retire to at night. Thanks!

The Millenium is a nice place, and is in a great location, too. It's right across the street from Faneuil Hall, and near a T stop if you want to travel about the city that way. Haven't stayed in any of the others, though, sorry.

BC

Do you have tickets for the Sox game already? Also, a heads up that the Yankees are coming in on 5/7 so bars will be packed as a result and a little rowdier. More fun for me but you need to be aware of this.

I do have tix already. First thing I did. I did know about the Yankees but didn't realize it might be a bit rowdier. Thanks for the heads up tchoiniere. We'll make the best of it. Might be more exciting anyway! Maybe better people watching sitting outside the bars while people get tossed for rivalry fights? Or we can always go sit in the cemetary waiting for ghost sightings...............

They're all nice and well-located so you really can't go wrong. I might give a slight edge to the Taj because it's next to the Common and a T stop and it's so central that you could really walk anywhere in town. But you'll be fine at any one of them.

I'm not sure I agree with tchoiniere about bars being packed though. Around Fenway Park, sure, but it's not like a city wide shutdown or anything.

<i>Back Bay Hotel
Nine Zero
Millenium Bostonian
Taj Boston</i>

They are all nice hotels.

Back Bay Hotel & Taj are closer to Public Gardens/Backy Bay area (more shopping and restaurants).

Millennium & Nine Zero are closer to the "old" part of Boston, ie Freedom Trail.

Both locations are just fine - I don't know if all these hotels have coffee maker, and I assume most charge extra for wi-fi. If those 2 things are deal-breakers, you may want to call the hotel and double-check and based your choice on that.

If all things being equal, I'd just go with the hotel with the largest sq ft for the room.

Wyatt, I have seen it both ways. The reason that I figured that the bars would be busier was due to the games plus colleges still being in. Even around Quincy Market I have seen large crowds for games. I'd rather expect larger crowds than the other way around.

If you stay at the Commonwealth Hotel, you can walk to Fenway park. it is right on top of the Kenmore Square T station. Lots of great pre-game and post game activities in the immediate vicinity, and a wonderful hotel!

I know we had wi-fi the last times we were there, but not sure if it was included or extra. Same on the coffeemaker, as I don't drink coffee. They do bring really good cookies for turn down, and have several nice restaurants in the hotel.

We just used Priceline to bid for Boston and got the Hyatt Regency Boston for $81 when the hotel website price was $179. It sounds like the particular hotel is important to you, but just wanted to let you know how much money you can save with Priceline.

My husband recently stayed at The Taj (also won on Priceline, but for a much higher price due to it being a convention week) and he really liked it.

Thanks everyone. I ended up booking at the Back Bay. They do have free wi-fi and in room coffee maker in the deluxe king. I will try Priceline to see if I can get a better deal though. The trip and game were my husbands V Day gift and he was speechless. Now, does anyone have a Portuguese restaurant they can suggest? Also, Redbones BBQ in Somerville.....is it really that good?

http://www.atasca.com/
Atasca in Cambridge is very good. Cambridge has a large Portuguese population. There are a few places in Inman SQ. Cambridge. Between Kendall and Central Square is Atasca, which has outdoor seating.

One thing about priceline, if you are traveling with someone, you could end up with a very small room in Boston.

Atasca is not bad, but recent reviews are sort of meh. My sis-in-law who lives in Cambridge, prefers Casa Portugal in Inman Sq.

RedBones is one of those longstanding venues... it's fine but I wouldn't make an effort to go to Davis Sq just for that. There are plenty of great restaurants in town.

yk. where would you eat the kind of food they have at Redbones in town? It is a haul out to Davis Square, and I would prefer to avoid it.