Brighton is better than nothing. This is last week of classes/finals for Boston University students. There may be sojme parents staying in hotel here to pick up kids - or there may be more rowdy behavior around area as students celebrate end of year.

I would call hotel ahead of time and ask what they suggest for transportation into center of Boston.

Enjoy your trip. I would be annoyed at travel agent since this hotel is not anhything like location of the first.

Thanks everybody. We're going to try to be happy with this. Seems like a long commute to everything but I guess it won't be so bad after a long day-sitting for 40 minutes or so.

The notion of trekking out to a travel agency, only to find that the promised reservation has been completely altered, only underscores how obsolete that whole system has become.

I unfortunately now wholeheartedly agree with you. I certainly would have appreciated them calling when the 1st reservation was unavailable before them just choosing something for me and finding out later in the day when it was too late to do anything about it. Perhaps earlier I might have found something. It seems there's something going on on Tuesday which was the problem with rooms, but I would have been willing to perhaps stay out by the airport that night and in closer for the rest of our stay. Oh well, I digress. I certainly appreciated all the advice I've gotten here. Much better than from the travel agency who is getting paid. I've definitely learned from this experience that there are people out there who definitely will help you out if you just ask. Thanks so much!

I've never been inside the Best Western in Brighton but it is right off the B line. If it is not to your liking, I stayed at the Hampton Inn on Mass Ave (near New England Medical Center) but it is a bit more expensive, and the area is not as nice. Hampton Inn itself is a good bet - has a (tiny) rooftop pool with city views.

You really should be grateful to find any hotel available during this time of year. Having gone to college in Boston, May is the busiest month for hotels due to many, many graduations and commencements. Most parents book hotels months ahead of time for May because of that.