My husband and I, after an exhaustive search of hotels and apartments, found a great agency that booked just the right place for us...bnbboston.com.

We ended up with a studio on Appleton only a block and a half from the metro and 2 blocks from Boylston. The apartment, although smallish, was well appointed and convenient to everything. For $130 a night, it was perfect and we enjoyed staying in a real Boston brownstone rather than the pricier hotels we'd also considered. We were very pleased with our service from the agency and would definitely use them again.

Good luck and enjoy Boston...it's really a fun and very walkable city!

Christina

PS...If you can get yourselves over to Cambridge, it's worth the metro fare!

I understand totally the pull when visiting to walk out your front door and be part of the city in that way, unfortunately, that usually costs the price -
the place on Appleton that 1travelbug mentioned might be worth looking into that company - you may find something for a tad less off the Commonwealth/Marlborough/Boylston main fares and going into the South End area or even North End - oh wait, there is that B & B in the North End, now that I type this-

LaCappella Suites -

maybe you want to check thta out - I think it is lacappellasuites.com

This was one reason I mentioned Clarendon Sq Inn, usually less than some hotels and a 'home' feel for a visitor -

will keep our eyes open - good luck !

Thanks for all the encouragement! Escargot - yes, had checked out La Capella, but the reviews on TripAdvisor were not positive at all.

But, I think I can shout success thanks to 1Travelbug's post with the link to bostonbnb’s. Checked all their listings, and found the identical apartment I’d requested through vrbo (who still have not replied!) vacant for our dates at the same price, U$175 (apparently September is considered an ‘event’ month due to autumn colours so many lodging rates increase accordingly). As a side note, the Charlesmark on expedia is U$230 per night for a Queen room, for the same period. So not only more space, more privacy and more facilities (eg full kitchen) but $55 cheaper to boot. Yaaaay :-D Many thanks, Travelbug ((*))

Bostonbnb gave much more detailed information (and replied within a few hours); there is no extra tax or cleaning fees – and the closest cross street for the Marlborough studio is Hereford, so the location looks perfect. They also added the queen murphy “is very comfortable” and as we're planning on murphying some siestas (or nanna naps, as we say here)between excursions, it will only be a 'wall-bed' after we leave.

Am hoping it’s possible to stroll along the Charles River from here, is there a walkway/promenade along the river (ducking for the duck tour, of course ;)

And see on the Boston subway thread - not only is that MTA song well-remembered, it's now immortalised in the 'Charlie' card!

Bostonians must have a wonderful sense of humour - can't wait to sample it first hand. Not to mention Charlie's wife's sandwiches, lol

Jackie

yes, the walk along the Charles River, is lovely, I can walk or bike, or jog from Cambridge to Boston or visa vera from both sides.

Just wonderful, Cigale. We love strolling at sunset, or would that be 'risky' as the return, at our rate, would probably be in the dark?

(Lol - projectile joggers? ;)

Jackie

How about the Pickett and Eliot House, which is a small B&B owned by the Unitarian Universalist Association? I've never stayed there but I used to work for the UUA and remember the guest house to be extremely well located (it's behind the State House), and in an old Boston brownstone (ie charming), and about $122 per night. Trip Advisor reviews seem fairly promising, though sparse. Also, I'm not sure if non-UUA members can stay there, though I think they can. Here are some contact details (lifted from the UUA website):
Address: 6 Mt Vernon Street, Boston 02108
Phone: (617)948-4679

Good luck!

You're going to love that location, Marlborough Street is just gorgeous and you can walk to so much.

I want to recommend the South End Open Market which runs on Sundays through October. Really fun place and you can have brunch at one of the delicious South End restaurants.

http://www.southendopenmarket.com/

Thanks for the tip, petitepois - luckily, we have confirmation (and credit card deduction ;) for our studio apartment on Marlborough.

Wyatt, that Sunday market looks great - but unfortunately our stay is from Mon thru' to Friday. Wish it was longer ... but as compensation BI beckons!

The nearest cross street given is Hereford, but wondering if No.387 Marlborough might be closer to Massachusetts Av? CW mentioned noise problems? We're not going to change our location if there is, but it's always great to know any 'downsides' and be prepared with ear plugs :-D

One of the 'downsides' is the check-in time of 4pm - but hopefully our luggage can be stored somewhere, if I can't get an early check-in approved.

We arrive at Logan at 1pm from Stockholm via London (10 hrs flying) - so perhaps getting thru' Immig/Customs and transport into town will eat into the intervening 3 hours anyway. Any estimates on how long this usually takes?

Thanks again for all the help,
Jackie

You won't have a problem with noise at Marlborough and Hereford, my friend used to live there on a ground floor and all was fine.

Sounds like you have a great trip planned all the way around!

Trip of a lifetime, wyatt - celebrating that giant step into seniorhood!

Have just remembered multimap.com and see the apartment is in the middle of the block between Hereford St 'n Massachusetts Av, so will be easy for the taxi to find (looks like Marlborough is a one-way street?) It looks so lovely tho, that I don't mind sitting on the pavement with all our luggage and drinking it all in as we wait for 4pm to roll around. And that murphy will be hugged like an old friend, :-D

If you get in on MOnday at 1pm, and your plane is running on time, then I would think you would be in a cab between 2 and 2:30 at the latest and it is about 20 minutes to your apartment. Maybe you can get them to give you a 3pm check in - or if the unit is being cleaned, maybe you can ask if you can just drop your luggage and then you can walk and stretch your legs and sit in a nearby cafe for an hour -

It is a perfect location and wonderful for walking and close to so many things - you'll love it.

Thanks for that info, escargot. Am requesting a 3pm check-in ... in the confirmation email, they do include "Check-in after 4pm; prior approval is needed to leave luggage earlier" so we're hopeful.

I'm having a quiet rofl - mentioned Charlie's wife sandwiches earlier, and just now reading another Boston thread, see indeed there's a Charlie's Sandwich bar on Colombus which gets the ((y)) so we could always go there!

So looking forward to our visit, thanks all for everyone's invaluable help -

Jackie

Re Duck Tours. They cannot be reserved in advance by telephone or e-mail.But, if you get to their booking desk in Boston you can book for a particular time that day---possibly the following day.

I suggest this because they are popular and can be booked up rapidly.

GTG

Just a quick note on your early check in, FurryTiles...our check in was also for 4 PM but they said that if we got their earlier (we were planning around 1 PM) to just leave the bags in the room if it hadn't yet been cleaned (with a note saying that we were the new tenants for the duration). Fortunately, we got there around 2 PM and the room had already been cleaned. Hopefully you'll have a similar experience!

Glad to hear you found a great place to stay! Enjoy!

Thanks gplus, for the tip about the Duck Tours.

Travelbug, the bnb booking agency will be mailing us a key to the letterbox, so if the apartment key is there, we can - hopefully - check in without waiting for the chime of 4pm.

I've been browsing all the Boston info sites - and on the Events Calender for September is a Duckling Tour - with fair-dinkum wee baby ducks - for young school children, so I feel vindicated!

:-D Jackie

FurryTiles...(Jackie) I hope you will do a trip report. Your enthusiam is contagious and I would love to hear about your trip. And why is Australia called OZ??

Bostonducktours.com DOES allow you to buy tickets over internet in advance - extra charge of $3.50 per ticket. I think paying this is a better option than treking over to ticket booth unless you are going to be in ticket booth vicinity anyway.

Hi gomiki,

Aussies, or Ozzies themselves have abbreviated their sun-burnt country Australia, to a single freckle, Oz, due to the 'Strine pronunciation of our homeland, Oztraya.

I've been travelling since I was an ankle-biter, and get more enthusiastic (not less!) about each destination as the decades pass; travel is a never ending menu, the more you eat, the more you want ;)

Took a break in the planning for this trip, and visited an island I'd been dreaming of for zonks - Lord Howe Island - early last month. It was a top-of-the-menu desert - truly delicious :-D

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34996144

Jackie

ccrosner, if you come back -= I was wondering why you were leery about accomodations made thru the greater B oston Convention and Visitors Bureau?
Friends of ours from LA are coming to see us in Boston this summer and some of the packages she found on their website, www.bostonUSA.com, looked good to her and I was wondering ifyou were just leery because it sounded funny that they might also be involved in lodging, rentals, etc or if there was a specific experience to note?
thanks in advance if you come back !

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