I am looking to go to Boston in October. I will be driving to Boston from NYC and can only spend Sat and Sun. in Massachusetts. I definitely want to go whale watching and so far have found a good place in Plymouth.
Does anyone know a good whale watching place in Boston? a nice, upscale not-too expensive hotel? and great jazz? It would really make my weekend great

The Aquarium runs whale watches that I heard were good. However, I think if you leave from Plymouth, you spend more time looking for whales then getting to Stellewgon (sp!), which is where all the boats go (no matter whether the boats originate from Boston/Cape/Plymouth) to see the whales. I took a whale watch from Plymouth and it was good, though still spent a while getting out to the whale watching area. JMHO.

Lotsa of info on here about different hotels already. Try a search.

I took the whale watching trip out of Plymouth and out of Gloucester. The one from Plymouth was much better as far as actual whales seen & the trip out had lots to see. The one from Gloucester had some interest if you liked the movie The Perfect Storm but I didn't see many whales.

The difference between "roadtripper's" whale experiences probably had less to do with the starting point of the trips, and more to do with wales activities on the days in question. As klam has pointed out, all the whale-watching trips go to the same area, regardless of starting point. There's one from Boston that has a fast boat, that's the one I'd take with limited time, rather than heading down to Plymouth.

The two 'big name' jazz clubs in the Boston area are Scullers, and the Regatta Bar.They are both in Cambridge. There are many other jazz venues. Check the Boston Globe.

Micki.....If you are not going to Plymouth for other reasons than the whale watch, I would do the one from the Aquarium in Boston - they have great naturalists. I have done about 6 whale watches this year (am a tour guide) and I have to tell you that this is not the best year for numbers of whales. We did not have any big northeast storms last winter to bring the nutrients to the surface of Stellwagen Bank, thus food is harder for them to find and they are more spread out. Go anyway, even 1 whale is better than none.