boston
 

best choice of hotel for fenway/freedom trail

there are many choices in town along points of the freedom trail - the fenway area also - it would help if you could give us some reasons for your location choices and approximate budget, number of people - are you looking for 1, 2, family with connecting rooms/suites? Only major hotel chain or would you got to a guest house or B & B type accomodation?

otherwise, the list could be endless !

going to Fenway to watch the Sox end of May/first of June - moderate budget with wife and 10 yr old son in hotel chain - want to get in the historical aspects as well as the ballgame - probably 4 nights or so

Hotel Commonwealth.

www.hotelcommonwealth.com

Or the Copley Marriott or Westin in the Back Bay.

excellent choices given.
might add to check prices on Eliot Hotel (suites) - really any good hotel in and around Copley Place, Pru area, Back Bay or even downtown would serve you well. Sometimes even the Fairmont Copley has good deals - or maybe you have a chain you can use points in in this area.

make the plans sooner than later...busy time in Boston.

you might also want to look into the fenway park tour if you are all into baseball - info is on their web site.

also for 10 yr old, duck tours and view from Prudential Skywalk is appealing if you are so inclined.

It would be good to know your price range. Hotels costs for Boston in May, might shock you.

If you get sticker shock checking the places recommended above, and are looking for something more moderate but located right between the attractions you listed,you might try the Radisson Boston. We have had very uneven experiences with this chain in other places, but discovering it to be about the only reasonably reliable choice downtown not so exorbitantly priced as to drive us to the suburbs, we gave it a try on our own Fenway/Freedom Trail visit.

We found it to be a pleasant surprise in a number of ways. The location was extremely convenient for us--a block each from the subway line direct to Fenway, and also from the Garden,the Common, ans a stop for the hop-on-hop-off tour buses (which we found very helpful.) It's only a couple more blocks to the Trail.

The pleasantness and particularly the size of the room (by big city downtown hotel standards for the rate we were paying, about $150)exceeded our expectations. But the big unexpected bonus here is that because the hotel is built on top of a multi-story above-ground parking garage, nearly all rooms have good views. We were amazed to have an absolutely knockout panoramic city view (and an open balcony) which we did not expect at this price range.

The block it's on was pretty charmless, and maybe that's why the rates are more reasonable than some other places mentioned, but it seemed busy and not dangerous, with the interesting areas of downtown starting only about a block away. There's a terrific dessert specialty restaurant, Finale, about that distance away, in the Park Plaza hotel. It was a highlight of our stay.

However, the first three Indians batters hit the Green Monster on the fly for doubles, and the Sox never recovered. Their starting pitcher was back in the minors within 24 hours. David Ortiz struck out three times. Not the hotel's fault, though.

http://www.radisson.com/bostonma/

Just looked up the user reviews here at the Fodor's site for the first time (none of them written by me) and was interested to see the views and balconies here have been a major find for others--also noted the comment "without a doubt the best rooms in the city of Boston for the price" from someone who professes to be a Boston lodging veteran.

Forgot to include the link to the Fodor's reviews I referred to in my post above:
http://tinyurl.com/ycykp9

Hotel Elliot on Mass.Ave by Commonwealth.

Harvard and MIT both graduate the first week in June, so the advice to book early is excellent. Hotels will fill up quickly.

Hotel Chandler.Paul

many great suggestions and they are appreciated - will nail down trip this weekend. As a child, went to Concord and Lexington - how far and is it worth the trouble to find from Boston?

here is one of many tours, if you aren't going to have a car or don't want to do it on your own.
http://www.libertyride.us/libertyride.html
there are other day tours also

If you have a car, it's about 30 minutes drive west of Boston.
Is it worth it? I can't answer that - depends on how much you love history, want to revisit this particular area, etc.. - want to show your son if he's a history buff.... but you could do the freedom trail one day, along with other things and then dirve out there early the next morning and use 1/2 the day or so to do that.

We just got back from the Westin Copley Place with our 2 boys, GREAT location, great room, large, 2 very comfy queens and an amazing view from the 30th floor.

We also paid $159 which I thought was a good deal given the area.

Oh, and our kids don't like to sleep in the same bed so we asked for a rollaway and got the most umbelievable "rollaway" I've ever seen. It was really a twin size bed on a forklift contraption, but oh was it comfy..it was a real heavenly bed! The mattress had to be at least 15 inches thick.

We could have easily fit 5 comfortably in that room.

We were deciding between the Westin and the Elliot, and I'm glad we chose the Westin. On our way out of Boston to Cambridge we drove by the Elliot, and I thought the location was too far out of the way. The surrounding area also wasn't as nice as Copley. I would have been very disappointed had we gone with it.

Just a heads up for anyone considering the Elliot.

nina, sounds great for our trip, but I haven't found it for less than $300.00 a night. Where did you get the good rate?

Rammer, I went right to the Westin Copley website, that was an internet rate, they won't give it to you over the phone.

They probably haven't posted the internet rates yet, it's too soon, they'll do it a month or two before the date.

It's a restricted rate, I think you can't cancel within a few weeks of the stay without losing one nights deposit.

I booked the room 4 days before our stay because I wanted to make sure the weather was going to be good, but I saw the rate on their website for a month prior to our stay.

Rammer, you might also keep checking Travelzoo.com, I saw the Fairmont for $179 (rooms are too small, I've stayed there before), the Lenox for $139 (rooms also too small), and the Omni Parker house for $129.

I think for a family and for location, the Westin is your best bet. My husband has an office in Boston and goes once a month, staying in most of the hotels there and he would agree.

Nina, thanks so much for your help. We have narrowed our search down to the Marriott Copley or the Westin, both seem to have great reviews. The Marriott is a little closer to Fenway which is the main reason for our trip. Thanks again.

I think the Marriott has double beds vs. queens if thats an issue for you. It is for me, I can't stand sleeping 2 people in a double bed! The Westin has queens.