Hi, I'm thinking of spending Thursday night in Boston. What are the options? I've taken a look at Expedia and booking.com and it looks like centrally located hotels are well over $200 (I think tax is extra)? I'm having a bit of a sticker shock.

Is Priceline worthwhile/possible?

Thanks!

Ahh yes...the 'ol New England summertime sticker shock, I know it well.

If you have AAA, you can get the La Quinta in Somerville for about $140. They have shuttle to and from the T metro station and it's a quick hop into Boston.

It's summer; there are about a gazillion tourists in town.

Is there a particular part of Boston you need to be at/visit?

PL/HW are definitely good options to use for Boston. For PL, I'll rate the following zones in this order:
#5 OR #9 (both are good; depending on where you need to go)
#1
#2

I wouldn't really consider the rest of the zones.

If you want to book hotels in conventional way, cheap options are:

Hampton Inn in Cambridge
Holiday Inn Express & Suites near NOrth Station (on Friends St)
Harborside Inn
Hotel 140 on Clarendon Street
Kendall Sq Hotel
Courtyard Hotel on Tremont Street

Well I live in NYC, so this sticker shock is quite something. I have never booked a hotel room in Boston, so I have no idea how much it costs.

I don't really have any agenda. I need to be in Boston early evening and I figure that I may as well stay over.

My thinking is to visit Provincetown, but it doesn't seem possible to arrive Thursday night as there's no ferry service at night, so I need to spend a night in Boston.

I've checked Harborside Inn, Hotel 140, and Courtyard Hotel and there's no availability. I'm thinking that I'd rather be in Boston rather than Cambridge but I suppose any centrally located hotel close to a T stop is fine.

I'll be happy to take suggestions for Provincetown as well. It seems even less possible to book a room there at this late hour. It looks like I'll have to be content with a day trip.

Hampton Inn, by the way, is 229 (+ tax?). Is there something going on in Boston?

I can't believe you can book a room in NYC for 199 + tax the same dates (following mclaurie's suggestion for a hotel near High Line)....

Maybe fuggedaboutit....

Is there something going on in Boston?

It's Summer!

There are many, many more hotels in NYC than in Boston; and I think hotel:visitor ratio is higher in NYC than in Boston.

Try coming here in Feb; you can stay at Westin for $99.

Given how tight availability is, do you think Priceline is actually a realistic option? I guess I should check Hotwire and see what the cheapest options there are. That should give me some idea. Thanks.

What time are you arriving in Boston on Thursday? The last ferry to P-town departs Boston at 6:30pm.
http://www.bostonharborcruises.com/p...ule-rates.aspx

You *may* have better luck finding cheaper lodgings in P-town for Thursday night than in Boston. P-town thrives on weekend visits; mid-week business is slower. But this is just my speculation and I don't have any suggestions for lodging in P-town.

That's interesting. You found a different ferry company. I was looking at this one:

http://www.baystatecruisecompany.com/schedule.html

Anyway, it's irrelevant because I can't leave before dinner time. I've checked the bus schedules as well and I don't think there's anything available.

Since you are just looking for one night I think it is worth it to try Priceline - but first book a refundable hotel at the higher rates you have found. One night mid-week and not including any part of a weekend just might snag you a deal. Beware of hotels that are called something like Bostyon/Waltham - or any other town. Just like NY, small distances can make a huge difference and take quite a while to navigate by public transit.

Friends from NYC are the ones often suffering the most "sticker shock" for Boston - they expect that since Boston is much smaller (and some make a point of telling me a much inferior) city, how can prices be not much less than NYC.
Boston really has a rather short visitor season - perhaps May-early Oct - so if you came in January it would be much cheaper.

I'm reading all of the responses and suggestions, but I jut have to say - - have you been to Provincetown in Jan/Feb? nothing's open, cold, etc. Go to Boston/P-Town in October. Awesome.

Well I think the idea now is that someone will cover my hotel, so I am not so price sensitive now. We'll see if that's true! Thanks.

If it's covered, look into The Lenox Hotel on Boylston Street. Great old-fashioned hotel with excellent bar/restaurant, beautiful rooms, small gym, perfectly located about three blocks from The Prudential Center, and only a block away from all the shopping on Newbury Street. It's probably one of my favorite hotels anywhere, and I go there often for family/business.

That's funny. I looked through the list I was given and I asked for the Lenox. It was booked initially and I might have had a shot at the Mandarin Oriental, but then Lenox became available.

Interesting how the world opens up when someone else is paying.

My other thought was Westin Waterfront on Summer Street when I was thinking I had to pay because it was cheap, but I wasn't sure about the neighborhood. However it's convenient access for the Provincetown ferry.

Any thoughts about nightlife in Boston? I am planning to meet some folks I know, but I always like a backup plan. It looks like ICA and MFA are both open late too. I've never been to either. I am curious about ICA. The exhibitions don't seem to be especially interesting, however.

Wow, Lenox is #1 on TripAdvisor. And I didn't even check TA. The location was what I cared about the most, so I checked Google Maps, and since Google Maps links to reviews these days, when I saw the 4+ stars, I figured it was fine.

I think the Charles LeDray show at the ICA will be quite interesting. But it doesn't open officially to the public until this weekend. Members-only preview are available this week. http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/ledray/

Dr. Lakra got fairly good reviews. I only peeked in the galleries briefly last time I was at the ICA.

I don't think the current shows at MFA are too exciting. However, their 15th annual French Film Festival is going on right now, and Le Concert is being shown at 7:30pm Thursday night. http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.as...date=7/15/2010 I probably will go see it next week.

On Thursday nights, there is also Gardner's After Hours
http://connect.gardnermuseum.org/sit...tail&id=105321

Another hotel you might consider as good a location as the Lenox ,is the Charlesmark, opposite side of the street.

That Gardner event looks interesting. Thanks! I checked the Gardner website for late hours, but I didn't see this. I think it only takes place the third Thursdays.

How is Tealuxe for tea? Thinking about the Newbury Street location. It doesn't need to be fancy (or luxe!).

LeDray is coming to the Whitney. I think I read somewhere Lakra is a tattoo artist. Haven't heard of either, which means that I can probably pass (or wait until the LeDray comes to Whitney when I can get in for free).

Do people think that taking the 8 am to Provincetown and then the 7:30 pm back to Boston is too much time there? There are just three trips a days and it's kind of hard to plan.

I do think that's kind of a long time in P-town; though I haven't been for years now. Is it the 90-min ferry? So you'll have 10 hours there. I guess if you rent a bike, you can go for a bike ride. but if you're just going to wander around P-town, 10 hours is a lot of time.