For those of you who know Boston... is Copley Place the same a Copley Square? If different, are they near each other? Is this Back Bay? I'm booking for a conference at Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel (on Huntington Ave. zip 02116), but want to find cheaper accommodations walking distance from it. Many thanks, as always, Suze

Copley place is a shopping mall. Copley Square is an actual square. Both are considered to be in Back Bay, and are quite close together, just a couple blocks apart. Huntington Ave ends at Copley Square. You can find them both marked on google maps, too (well, the Marriot Copley place shows up on the map, anyways).

Perfect! Thanks so much for your incredibly quick and helpful reply, china_cat!

I'm getting the impression this is a very nice neighborhood? All the hotels that are coming up are in the $250-450 range.

Hi Suze,

Boston is one of the most expensive hotel cities in the US. How cheap do you need to go? I checked out this place several years ago when I was putting together a meeting at the Colonnade, for folks who didn't want to pay Colonnade prices:

http://www.hotelstravel.com/North_Am...townHotel.html. Looked serviceable and it's in a great location between the Marriott and the Colonnade.

Patti

It is a nice area, and probably the most central area in town so that influences hotel rates. I don't know how much cheaper you'll find within walking distance.

If you're coming during colder months, the big advantage is that the Copley Marriott (along with the Westin Copley and Back Bay Hilton) are all connected via pedestrian bridges so you don't have to walk outside if the weather is bad.

Thanks for the input. Yes I understand about Boston being expensive. The rate at the Marriott is $299/night. Unfortunately we waited too long and the discounted rooms at ($199 & $219) are no longer available. The conference is the beginning of October this year.

Most cities I can find him a budget property since he is not picky, but it needs to be walking distance to be practical. Patti I'll certainly check your suggestion.

And then I'll go yell at him for waiting so long (lol).

I plugged in some random Oct dates and I think it's probably one of the most expensive times for hotel rates in Boston. If he's looking for convenience, he might want to suck it up and stay at the Marriott. You could check out the Charlesmark Hotel, it's very close and I think you'll do better than $299.

yah, we're screwed ;-)

i'll check the Charlesmark... thanks everyone!!

You might check the John Hancock Conference Center. It's on Copley Square and 5 minutes from Copley Place.

http://www.jhcenter.com/index.htm

You may also find some B&B's in the South End--which, depending on their location, could be a short walk to Copley Place.

October is high occupancy and high cost for 3 main reasons - people doing the foliage thing tack Boston on one end of the trip; the many colleges in Boston do Parents' Weekends; Head of the Charles Regatta (usually 3rd weekend in October) brings in rowers from all over the world.

Boston does not have as many "budget" properties for a couple of reasons - the geographic area is small and property values high - owners can make a lot more money with a higher end hotel on same parcel of land - and since tourist area of Boston is bounded by Charles River, Boston Harbor, Mass Turnpike - not much room to expand outward.

Midtown, Charlesmark, John Hancock, all booked.

But thanks everyone, for the ideas and gail for your explanation of the situation.

I'd make reservations at the Marriott at $299 and then continue looking.

I had the same problem this week finding a room for someone coming to Boston. Nothing near what their travel allowance would allow, $240. Not even the Courtyard Marriott and Holiday Inn in Brookline (about 3-4 miles from Copley).

So she stayed in a B&B in Jamaica Plain. Nice area, about 3 miles from Copley, but not downtown.

Start looking at Priceline. Read one of the bidding sites (or both) first. Keep trying. You can try more than once in a day if you delete your cookies from your computer because that is how Priceline knows you have been there.

Boston, like San Francisco, is a great Priceline city. There is a huge cluster of hotels in the Back Bay and Theater District, none of them bad, even if many of them are soulless. For exaple, I got the Sheraton for $199 a night during graduation week. That is a lot to pay on Priceline, but it is better than $299.