My fiance have decided to drive from New York to Boston for Valentine's Day. The best deals I've found were for the Parker House in Boston ($120), the Hotel @ MIT ($99) and the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge ($99 to $120). We're leaning towards the Sonesta for the pool, but how is the location?

Also, is there anywhere (especially in Cambridge) we could have Valentine's Dinner late, around 10pm?

Thanks!

I would always go to the north end for fine italian on valentine's. there is Olives in charlestown which was/is? excellent. Dali is also excellent.

If you're thinking of dining on Valentine's Day after driving from New York, I would highly recommend you consider celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday night instead.

Except for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day is the most hectic in any restaurant. You'll likely find the entire staff totally exhausted and cranky by 10PM. And, many restaurants (if not most) will have only limited menus (with ridiculous mark-ups compared to their regular prices) or even pricey prix-fixe menus, so you'd want to check when reserving. Those restaurants accepting reservations may be all booked up at this late date. Reservations will be absolutely essential, even for 10PM, as most, if not all restaurants will be completely booked for the entire evening (if they aren't already).

Note that Olives never takes reservations and folks line up there at 5:30 on a normal night.

The Sonesta sits on the Charles River and is a very romantic site, especially if you are on the river side. It is also next to the Museum of Science. There is a good restaurant in the hotel -- Davio's I think. There are also a couple of restaurants in the mall across the street. There is a T stop nearby that would get you to the North End, Fanuael Hall or downtown pretty easily. I think it would be a better site than MIT. Also saw it in quikbook.com at $99/night.

If you would like to try Afghani food, then I recommend The Helmand on First Street in Cambridge. The ambiance is wonderful, the service and food are excellent, and you can get a reservation for 10pm. The President of Afghanistan's sister owns this restaurant.

If it were up to me, I would choose the Hotel @ MIT over the Sonesta, precisely because of location. The Hotel @ MIT is right in Central Square, a very lively section of Cambridge with many bars and restaurants to choose from. Also, you are about 4 blocks from a T stop and if you are feeling athletic a doable walk into Boston. You are also one T stop from Harvard Square. The restaurant at the Hotel is quite good, but then again Davio's at the Sonesta is good as well.

Some Cambridge restaurants worth checking out other than the aforementioned Helmund: Rialto, The Blue Room, Salts, Upstairs at (on?) the Square. And as I mentioned, there are lots of restaurants in Central Square. Check out www.bostonphoenix.com for restaurant reviews and you can search by location. I have found those reviews to be pretty accurate (to my way of thinking).

If you want to go into Boston, here are some restaurant suggestions: Radius, Clio, Via Matta, Mantra, bleu, Julien. These are all relatively expensive restaurants but I'm assuming you want a special spot for Valentine's Day, or perhaps the day after as someone else suggested.

Well, sharona, all the places you've mentioned are booked solid for Valentine's Day.

Rates are much better on Hotwire, probably even more favorable if you know what you're doing and bid on Priceline...

To NotoriousMEG, you might want to visit www.opentable.com.

Here is a hint...try going out for a lovely lunch....when the prices aren't completely outrageous. As for Parrot Pop and I...we'll be in the Caribbean and hopefully dining by the stars...lol

The Hilton Back Bay is going for $125 that night.