Boston Hotels
 

Hello. I am having some trouble finding good, centralized Boston hotels in my price range. I am looking for about $100-$150 per night for June 2008. The only 2 I have come up with that look good so far are the Holiday Inn Express-Boston (69 Boston St.) or the John Jeffries House (14 David G. Mugar Way). If anyone knows of any others it would be most appreciated. I feel like I have searched high and low!

You might try Priceline because that budget is very low for Boston.

I don't have experience with the John Jeffries House but it is in a good location. The Holiday Inn Express is not in a good location so I'd cross that off the list.

I agree with looking into priceline (for more info, check biddingfortravel.com). Boston is a pricey hotel city, and June may be a busy month. Also, plug your dates into kayak.com and see what it comes up with, although it's more than 6 months in advance so at this point it may be too early to book.

wyatt gave you good advice. Many hotels in the Boston area use "Boston" in their name but aren't convenient to the usual tourist activities.

Priceline is a good strategy for later in June; early June is still graduation season so everything is probably booked already.

I am going either June 23-27 (Mon-Fri) or 25-30 (Wed-Sun). Why is the Holiday Inn Express considered a bad part of town?

It's just not a good neighborhood and not convenient to tourist attractions. I'd book the John Jeffries House and you can always keep looking.

LoL I hate being a college student on a budget!

Part of the Massachusetts strategy of keeping visitors geographically disoriented is their system of naming streets for the town they go to, rather than the town that they're in. When you're in Milton, you take Randolph Avenue to go to Randolph, or Canton Avenue to go to Canton, or Blue Hill Avenue to go to the Blue Hills. If you're in Boston, you take Cambridge Street to go to Cambridge. The Boston Street that your Holiday Inn is on is located in Dorchester, which was annexed to Boston in 1870. Residents of Dorchester took Boston Street to go TO Boston. Nowadays it's technically IN Boston, so Holiday Inn can claim that they're in Boston, but it's not the Boston that you're visiting.

John Jeffries House on the other hand used to be the nurses' dormitories for Mass General Hospital, is right at the bottom of Beacon Hill, extremely close to the Red Line subway station.

Try looking at Bed & Breakfasts in Brookline or Newton. if they are near the "T" (rail) it may be a good bet to be much cheaper than hotels yet close to Boston.

Thank you everyone for you help. It sounds to me like I won't get a better deal the the John Jeffries House.

John Jeffries is one of my favorite Boston "secrets." It's got serious character but/and it's in a very good location. Don't hesitate to stay there.

I just stayed at the Harborside Inn on State St a couple of weeks ago and LOVED IT. The hotel is across the street from Fanuiel Hall so you can't get a better central location for site-seeing.

Don't know what the rates are for June, but call and ask. I think there is also a website that can give you more info, and I'll post back when I find the web address.

I have stayed this October in the John Jeffries House. Very good choice, I would definitely stay there again. Here is what I wrote about it in my trip report:

"This very little known hotel is located right at the foot of Beacon hill vis-a-vis from the Massachusetts General Hospital. It's a typical early 20th century four-story building. www.johnjeffrieshouse.com I had booked a deluxe suite for $165 per night - a bargain. The nicely decorated suite had a living room with kitchenette, a bedroom and a bathroom. Breakfast is included (basic - muffins, fruits, coffee/tea) and served in the beautiful salon vis-a-vis the reception. The location of this hotel is perfect and if you don't mind a bit noise from the busy roads I highly recommend it for a Boston stay. They are usually well booked, though: I had made reservations in May and could only get a room for two of our four nights in Boston. Oh, one other nice thing was that we got a substantial discount through the hotel in the valet parking garage around the corner in Charles St. - $19 for 24 h instead of $38."

Ingo

If you really want to spend 100-150 and don't want to try Priceline, you are looking at something like the YMCA/ hostel in Boston which goes for about $ 40-50 per night for a single room but a shared bath.
If you are a college student this might not bother you and you might rather the extra cash for other things.

then if you are really adventurous, you can look on Craigs list or couchsurfing.com

otherwise, the Jeffries is a great option, in about the same price range as the Hancock Conference Ctr rooms which is also an option for you.