SullivanSun

We are planning to visit Boston for 4 days this summer plus extra days for Salem, Plymouth area, and Newport. Looking for recommendations for hotels. We stayed in Salem last visit. We will have a car. We're debating whether to stay in Boston or outside Boston. Thanks!

dfrostnh

It might depend on how many is “we”. We have done long weekends in Boston over the years. The last time the four of us preferred staying outside in an air b&b and taking uber into the city. We are older now so rarely do things in the evening. But if you plan on going to the theater etc. staying in town is a better idea. Since we have a car hotel parking costs habe to be considered. Several years ago we stayed at one convenient to I93 with free parking near a hospital but it was a long walk to the T. Ditto for the time when stayed across the river in Cambridge. We are ok with using the T during the day but prefer a cab or uber at night.

We also don't mind casual local restaurants near our air b&b but warning, due to traffic it might be a long ride into the city in the morning. On our last trip we did a food tour of south Boston that was a lot of fun but when we were planning on the North End food tour we stayed at a harbor hotel. When I stayed with one friend she picked a hotel in Copley Square near public transportation since she wanted to visit museums. We also took an art class in the evening. If you are planning a visit to the Kennedy Library there is good parking there so on one weekend we made that our first stop before checking into our hotel and parking the car for the weekend.

if you aren't going to pack your days with activities staying outside might be fine especially if you want the larger space of an air b&b.

amyb

What I'd suggest really depends on whether you're just doing daytrips to Plymouth and Newport or staying there. Will you be returning to Boston after Plymouth/Salem/Newport?

SullivanSun

There will be 3 of us, including a 14 year old. We are older, also, and don't do the nighttime activities. We are mostly interested in the historical sights and eating!

SullivanSun

We will be flying in and out of Boston. Not sure yet if we will do day trips to all of those places, especially Newport, or maybe stay there a couple of days before returning to Boston for our departing flight. We had planned on a one way rental car and driving home, but that is not an option anymore, so we will be flying both ways.

k_marie

I’ll be interested in following the responses here. We will be in Boston for a few days in July with our 16 year old grandson. I expect we will drive and meet him there, either at the airport or at the hotel. We, too, are looking for hotel suggestions ~$300. per night.

clarkgriswold

What did you like or dislike about staying in Salem last time? I would imagine that you found it quite a trek into Boston, especially during traffic hours. And that finding parking around Boston was a chore?



For kmarie, $300 a night in Boston is going to be tough in July. The Hampton Inn at the Seaport is very nice, and has some "park and stay" rates in July that are close to $300 including parking, but other nights in July are over $400. So that would depend on your dates of stay, and note that Boston has about 17% hotel taxes.
There is also the Yotel near the Seaport, around $280 per night on booking.com after taxes & fees....nice place but it is "tiny house" style rooms with a queen bed that has a twin bunk overhead, and parking is an additional $55 per night.
Just outside of Boston in Somerville is a brand-new Cambria Hotel, around $250 per night including breakfast. Parking is $20 Cambria Hotel is about 4 miles from the center of Boston or a mile from Cambridge. The closest T-stop to the hotel is a good 15 minute walk, some of it uphill. One great thing about this hotel and it's grand-opening rates is that it offers a 4pm-day-of-arrival cancellation policy, so you could book it now as a backup while you continue to look for something else in the $300 range.
Also maybe check The Irving House at Harvard for your dates, rooms are usually under $300 in the summer and include parking. This place has stairs/no elevator.

k_marie

Thanks so much, clarkgriswold, for your insights here. And, thanks too, SullivanSun, for sharing your post with me. (Just say the word if you think my input is taking this on a tangent you do not intend. If you prefer, I could start another thread.) SullivanSun, what activities and sights in Boston did you especially enjoy last time?

I expect we’ll be in Boston for only two full days and I’m certain food will be a focus for my grandson. He likes to cook and is an adventurous and enthusiastic eater…and a teen-aged boy! Proximity to great food choices will be high on his list for a choice of a place to stay. We find the Hampton Inns to be very reliable but the location of this one at the Seaport may not be right for us. And I’ll check with my grandson about places he’d like to include in this brief visit. Looks like I may need to adjust the hotel budget! Any thoughts about the Prudential Center/Copley Square area? Eataly is nearby?

dfrostnh

K-marie, would your grandson enjoy a food tour of Boston's North End? Dim sum in Chinatown? Even a visit to a Chinese bakery is a lot of fun.

k_marie

Thanks, dfrost. A food tour is definitely on the radar.

k_marie

SullivanSun, I’m reconsidering my initial thought about driving to Boston. I’m finding high hotel rates in the areas I’m considering and the overnight parking rates are also very high. If it were a different kind of trip, i would seriously be thinking of staying nearby, but not in, the city.

HappyTrvlr

EATALY would be fun for your grandson. Also take him to the North End for Italian. Our go to regular spot is Saraceno’s.

SullivanSun

We really enjoy walking the Freedom Trail and all the historical stuff. And eating, of course!! I love the North End, and have to try all the bakeries. One of my favorites (for their nouget, especially) is Modern Bakery on Hanover St. Next door to it, if I remember correctly, is another coffee shop where I had the best cappucino of my life!! Hotel rooms are really high. We are staying near the airport the first night, then in Salem, then a few days on Cape Ann. Not really looking forward to the driving but it will be ok.

amyb

I live on Cape Ann and grew up next to Salem so can confidently say once you get to Salem the driving is not bad at all. Just avoid driving during rush hour into or out of Salem and don't drive to Cape Ann late on a Friday or early on a Saturday (weekenders and beach-goers) and don't try to leave with everyone else late on a Sunday afternoon. Even at it's worst though, Cape Ann beach traffic is nothing like Cape Cod. Hope you have some nice things planned for up this way. I recommend 7 Seas Whale Watch and the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, and the Rockport Art Association and Bearskin Neck in Rockport.

k_marie

Reporting back (again with apologies to the OP): We stayed in a junior suite at the Inn at St. Botolph, a 16-unit inn in a brownstone on a tree-lined street a block from the Prudential Center. Bedroom, with queen bed, lamps, bedside tables, small closet,and bench, had pocket doors for privacy from the main room. There, a glass-topped desk with two chairs, fireplace with flat-screen TV mounted above, armchair, and, in the bay window alcove, a chaise longue that was made up as a twin bed. Really, it was that big. Bathroom with walk-in shower and…kitchen! Plates, cutlery, glasses, mugs, some cooking items, sink, refrigerator, toaster oven, electric burners, microwave, and coffee maker. Breakfast was available every morning in the downstairs lounge: bagels, English muffins, hot and cold cereal, Clif bars, yogurt, butter and cream cheese, juices, milk, coffee and tea.

A few evenings my husband and I ate in—salami and cheese, fruit and wine from Eataly. Other evenings were more extravagant. Mooncussers offers a four-course prix fixe menu with an emphasis on seafood. My grandson, the budding gourmet and already an accomplished cook, lingered over each course, discerning the flavors of unexpected ingredients and enjoying the experience. Another evening, after grandson’s departure, my husband and I dined very well at Atlantic Fish Company on Boylston Street.

We walked and used buses. We were about 0.5 mile from Newbury Street (and our dinner at Saltie Girl), one block from the bus to Northeastern University, Boston University of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, and two blocks from the bus to Cambridge and the Harvard campus where we saw the Ware Collection of glass flowers.