My husband and I are planning to travel to Boston in late september. We are traveling by Amtrak.Thanks for the useful info on trains in other posts.

My question is what hotel I should stay in,as I am unfamiliar with the area although I have read several travel guides. Also how do I book through Priceline, etc where you name a price for a hotel. How do you know what price is a good deal?
I am nervous about it because that seems risky to me not to know what hotel you will "win".Thanks for any help!

Go to www.biddingfortravel.com where you can learn all about Priceline, including which hotels have been won recenty (including winning bid, their zone and star rating) and all sorts of insights into Priceline bidding strategies.

The Back Bay/Copley area is full of good hotels and furthermore is within walking distance of the Back Bay Amtrak/subway station (it's the stop before South Station).

thank you so very much for referring me to BiddingforTravel!!

Pepper, give www.cityres.com a try.

I have used PL for the last 3 hotels in Boston and was very happy with what I got. Once the Westin and the other the Colanade (both back bay). I always read the biddingfortravel.com site before bidding. If you choose a 4 star you will absolutely get a great hotel.

Have fun!

You are smart to be concerned about not knowling the hotel location with Priceline. The 4* hotels in Back Bay/Copley?theatre Dist seem to be ok, but some of the 3* hotels (for example, the Doubletree) are a long way from either Amtrak station (South Sta or Back Bay).

My daughter and I are also planning a trip via Amtrak from CA to Boston in late September. We used Priceline and received reservations at the Boston Sheraton. Problem is if the train is late getting into Chicago and we miss our connection to Boston, we'll have to wait for the following days' train. Normally that wouldn't be too much of a problem since we might be able to change our dates with the hotel but with Priceline I believe we would be out of luck. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we make the connection in Chicago. I've had good luck with Priceline hotels and have been satisfied. Have fun on your trip, we can't wait for ours.

As I live here, I can't tell you much on hotels outside of location or if they have a great dining room, But anything else post away, there are alot of us here.

The Sheraton Boston is a fine hotel, and is actually the Hotline "customer favorite". The Hilton across the street on Dalton Street is also very nice. Both hotels have full amenities including a concierge. The Hilton has really neat showers - they accommodate 2 people. Robes and nice bath products too.