Flying into Boston the 8th staying til the 12th. Need hotel reasonable ($100-$150 range). Want to do the Freedom Trail, Boston Common, maybe a Whale Watch if they're back. Any suggestions. Do not want to rent a car-need near public transportation. Thanks!

Have you had any luck on hotwire, orbitz, expedia, priceline, hotels.com, and the like? I have found they are invaluable for last minute situations.

I just plugged in your dates and it looks like nothing is available in Boston in your price range. It's an expensive time to visit. I'd try Priceline.

Boston is one of the most expensive cites so you are going to have a very hard time finding anything in that price range.

YOu might try the hotels in East Boston with a walk to the T and not far from Logan.

Also check www.hotels.com.

Hope this helps a little.

Just checked www.hotels.com and the Ramada Inn Boston is showing rates of $120 for your dates of travel.

The hotel is just east of downtown Boston and offers a 24 hour shuttle service to the T station or you can walk it in about 15 minutes. A cab to the hotel from the airport will be less than 10 minutes. Other than priceline this is probably one of your best options.

You're checking out on a Saturday? If so, you may want to shop for the last night seperately - an airport hotel. You might have better luck with places that are booked Friday and Saturday with Tues-Thurs nights.

You're not likely to get lucky with Priceline if most of the hotels are booked for your dates, and still should have a backup you can cancel in case all your Priceline bids fail.

I am very confused about Ramada to which travelbuff refers - the only Ramada in Boston listed on Ramada website is south of Boston in Dorchester (a part of Boston). Even checked hotels.com - this appears to be only Ramada. It is in a bad location - on a major highway - and while as crow flies not all that far from public transportation it is not an easy walk because of traffic configurations. The only thing east of Boston is the airport or the harbor - and the former of these might have to be included in your hotel search options.

Getting a reasonably priced hotel in Boston is usually an unpleasant adventure. There really are few bargains, and these fill way in advance and are rarely available during peak times. Trade-off is location versus cost. Renting a car and driving in does not save you any money because parking is expensive and traffic is annoying.

If you are set on the amount of money, you will lilkely have to stay outside of downtown/tourist area or in a suburb. Some cautions as you explore these options. First, if you decide to rent a car and drive to MBTA lot to park each day, most lots fill with commuters very early - 7-8 AM.

Second, lots of hotels advertise close to MBTA stop - close may not be walkable and if they advertise a shuttle call hotel directly and ask pointed questions about its likely availability. These are the type jobs going unfilled in Boston these days and you don't want to find no such shuttle is really running. Also ask what a cab to MBTA costs.

Third - distance from downtown means nothing. While 5 miles may seem short, the actual public transportation commute may be tedious or traffic congested - yesterday it took me 20 minutes to go that distance on a commute from outer suburbs to within a few miles of Boston.

Good luck - I have lived here for 25 years and love it. Cost does not seem to scare off tourists, but it certainly is beginning to scare off residents.

Welcome to college commencement season in Boston. From early May to mid-June, many hotels are booked a year in advance. The Ramada isn't too bad if you ask for a room on the side facing awy from the highway.

Chandler hotel.Paul

I just checked Chandler hotel website for you - only available for second half of your stay and then rate is about $175 per night for 2 nights.

Just went on Travelocity - since it allows you to search by "point of interest". Cheapest hotel even close to everything is almost $300/night.

If you ask website to search by price, the cheapest hotel in an area that is not totally dreadful (but still not near anything) is in Medford (Amerisuites) for $150. They do not have shuttle to MBTA and list cab companies that will do such transport.

There are cheaper hotels, but some of the actual areas in which they are located are so awful that I would not suggest them.

Likely you could do a little better than what I have found by doing some real research - but not likely much. Or maybe you would not mind staying on a noisy highway in a strip mall or in an area where it was not safe after dark if it was necessary to meet your budget. Do some more research and post actual hotel names/prices here and I am sure I or others will comment.

Perhaps you need to think towards Plan B - which might include other ways to economize on your trip (hotel with breakfast included, picnic lunches, less expensive attractions - such as skipping Duck Tour and Whale Watch). I wish I had better suggestions - sorry, I tried.

Thanks so much Gail for your help. We have looked at the Sheraton Braintree. Is this a bad area and I'm not sure they have a shuttle service to the airport.

Braintree is a safe bedroom suburb; the Sheraton is right across the street from a huge regional shopping mall. It shares an access road with the Braintree location of the Logan Express bus line.

The only convenient public transit would be any MBTA buses that serve the South Shore Plaza, or check with the hotel (phone or web site) for details about transit and shuttles.

Thanks everybody. I called a local travel agent and they booked us in the Bostonian at $149/night. It was just a relief to get that out of the way. They thought it was a great deal so now I'm excited about the trip. Appreciated all your help and the kindness you showed in your posts. Thanks again.

You got a GREAT price on the hotel and staying IN Boston will save you lots of time and some money getting around.

Have a great time.

The location of the Bostonian is terrific, but the hotel is in desperate need of "updating". If you're not happy with the room assigned, ask for another.

Thanks everybody. When we went to p/u our confirmations at the travel agency. She said she couldn't get us into the Bostonian and instead put us in the BW in Brighton. Not very happy about that at all. Anybody know anything about this area. Probably won't use that Travel Agency again.

Brighton is a working class section of Boston with lots of public transportation, mostly bus, nothing fancy and not a place I'd suggest for a visitor. You'll be spending alot of time on the busses. But driving would be brutal unless you know the city areas and its not an "unsafe" section, just not a tourist area at all. If you end up in Braintree, that's a true suburb and there is a bus (ses) that runs from the Plaza- unfortunately, it doesn't run to the "best" areas of Boston and you may end up biting the bullet and taking a cab unless the Sheraton there has shuttle options. You picked a tough time to visit due to the college activities.

Sorry everybody, I don't know where I'm staying. The address is 1650 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. Is this a good neighborhood? Doesn't look very convenient to me, but oh well, I guess I should be happy I have a room.

You'll be fine with that location. It's not fancy, you're pretty much in the BU campus. But you'll be very close to the B line T (runs along Comm Ave) so you can get to the Back Bay, Faneuil Hall, etc without switching lines.

I think you've probably got the best hotel available for your price range and dates.