My wife and I want to spend the end of August in Boston, but we have a limited budget. We will be driving up from Philly and hope to spend at least 5 nights there. I have thought about using priceline to bid on my hotel but it is a little intimidating. Is there any advise that you can offer? What are the best (but cheap) places to stay in? Can you recommend some nice places for a day trip?

Read up about Priceline at www.biddingfortravel.com, where you can learn about not only general bidding strategies but also which hotels people have won recently in Boston, including prices, zones and star ratings. You want to stay in Back Bay/Copley area or downtown; some of the hotels in other areas aren't in convenient locations for tourists.

Go to biddingfortravel.com. It's a great priceline message board. Before ASKING any questions, please read the FAQ's.

On a bare bones budget, consider staying in Lexington. It's a half hour ride from Boston but you can get rooms for $50 per night...a short drive to the subway station will then get you a 20 minute trip into the city.

www.battlegreeninn.com

If you stay in Lexington, you'll have to take the Commuter Rail trains (NOT the subway) back and forth -- paying for train tickets and being limited by their commuter-oriented schedule. Lexington is a nice day trip, BTW, but rather a schlep if it's Boston you're really intending to see. Boston is a great walking city, but only if you stay in the city!

Within the last few days, people have reported the following winning Priceline bids at biddingfortravel: Hyatt Regency (Downtown, 4*): $85; Boston Park Plaza (Back Bay, 3*): $51, Hyatt Downtown, $65, University Inn (Cambridge, 3*): 50.

If by the "end of August" you mean over Labor Day, hotels will likely be scarce and at a premium price. On this board people have come up with some suggestions for saving a little money on hotels in Boston, but I strongly disagree with those who advise staying anywhere but in Boston itself and commuting in. Commuter rail service is just that - designed for commuters and schedules are rather limited except during AM and PM commuter hours. I have used public transportation a few times around Phil. and it seems more friendly to non-commuters than Boston. The MBTA subway, trolley, street car system operates on a wonderful schedule - as long as you can get to a station. Some of these more outlying stations have commuter lots that fill by 7 or 7:30 in the AM

Hotels try to con you and people try to suggest staying in hotels called things like "Boston/Revere" or "Boston/Waltham" While on a map, these places are not actually that far from Boston, the commute can be tedious. Some hotels say they offer shuttle service, and I would grill them on the phone at the individual hotel (not some national 800 number) to see what that means - don't get stuck with some place where "they guy just quit last week" and then face a more difficult commute.

Then you have the issue of parking. Like in most land-limited cities, parking is expensive. Most hotels do not include it in rate.

All that negativity aside, I might do a hotel search here for ideas of places to stay IN Boston, research like crazy to find the cheapest rate, and then try to economize in some other way while here - perhaps less expensive meals, attractions, etc. I am not a huge Priceline fan, but the zones they offer for Boston are fairly good - choose downtown, copley, back bay - and you should be fine. Parts of Cambridge would be fine, too.

Check out Host Homes of Boston. My husband used the service in August 2001 and it was great. We stayed in a private residence in Beacon Hill. Room had a private bath, with a balcony in a great area. We paid 160.00 a night and we were near everything. The grayline trolley was one block from us. We used it the first day to orient us to everything. A subway station was nearby, we used that to return to the airport to leave instead of a 30.00 taxi. The Best!

Try Cityres.com - no prepayment required.

Rates are better, though, with Priceline. Note that adding weekdays, no matter how you book, ups the average nightly rate, usually.

It's really worth your while to study the Hotel FAQ's at Biddingfortravel.com, learn to complete the "bidding form", and request bidding assistance.

Someone advised me recently they booked the 4* new Hyatt Regency (it's not new, actually, but the former Swissotel, excellent) over Labor Day weekend for $85/night.

In the alternative, try Hotwire.

I've used both many times over the years for Boston. I booked rooms for less (sometimes significantly) with Priceline, but have been more pleased with the Hotwire hotels. Either way, you really can't go wrong.

You could also download Travelaxe and research room rates for your dates that way.

You could also try Quikbook.

For "cheap", you get cheap. Check out the Boston Milner.

But, by doing your homework and using various online booking services, you really can find a 4* room for a 2-3* rate.

Overnight parking will add another $30/night to your expenses. No matter where you stay, you'll save a lot by parking in the financial district overnight, especially weekends. One of you can drop the other off with the luggage at the hotel, head for a garage in the financial district, then taxi or walk back to your hotel.

There's a fairly new Hotel on Boylston Street, The CHarlesmark, in the back bay across from the Copley Sq. subway and in the chicest part of Boston. It runs parallel to Newbury St and a block away from Prudential and less to Coply Place.Continental breakfast is included from rates I saw recently starting at $119.

I have had some luck with hotels.com. I would agree that staying in Boston or Cambridge or even Brookline would be your best bet. Try the John Jeffries House (www.johnjeffrieshouse.com), they may have some reasonable rooms. As for day trips, there is Cape Cod, Newburyport, Manchester/Gloucester/Rockport, all quaint coastal towns. Depending on which way you drive from Philly, Newport, RI may be a nice stop.