Doubletree Boston
 

We will be in Boston for 3 days in June and want a hotel not too near the centre of things but with good transport connections into main areas of interest. Has anyone stayed at Doubletree Bayside?

Not a great location by any means. Why don't you want to stay near the center of things?

I agree strongly with Wyatt92.

If ever you wanted to be in the middle of things, Boston is that place because so much is within walking distance, and Boston is one of those rare American cities where there is a lot going on on the streets (especially in the Back Bay) at all hours and it is safe to walk around. Anything that is not within walking distance of the Back Bay is an easy bus or subway ride away, and the bus and subway to any place a visitor is likely to go is also safe.

"a hotel not too near the centre of things but with good transport connections into main areas of interest"

Well, the Doubletree Bayside would meet your criteria, since it's near nothing else other than the Byside Exposition Center but is just a block or two from a stop on the subway's Red Line.

On the other hand, I do share the above posters' curosity about your desire for a hotel "not too near the centre of things".

We would love to stay in the centre of things, but after our 3 days in Boston we are having a car dropped off at our hotel and travelling out towards the cape then further afield. We have been told that trying to drive around the one-way streets and roundabouts of central Boston is a nightmare.We would be out all day and return to the hotel only to sleep. Would the Doubletree be a good location to get directly onto the road that leads out towards the cape? If not we will look for a more central hotel.

Yes, the Doubletree is very convenient to highway access, and furthermore is south of Boston.

But your reason might not be sufficient for avoiding a downtown hotel. It's true that driving *in* Boston is very confusing. But just driving from your hotel to the nearest highway entrance, to get *out of* Boston, would be much less complicated. All that extra time and energy spent subway-riding for 3 days would surely be more hassle than following specific directions to get from your hotel to the nearest highway entrance.

This Doubletree, while close to Red Line, I would not call "a block or 2" - and the walking is not pleasant or convenient and I would not do it after dark.

The first sign of spring in Boston is when posters start to look for ways out of ridiculously high parking and hotel rates for true center of Boston - let me suggest that the search is generally futile and trade-offs between convenience and cost must be made.

Agree with Anonymous.

Find a hotel in a good location. You'll be fine driving to your hotel, leaving your car for 3 days and then driving out of the city. Any hotel in the Back Bay will work.

It's almost a 1/2 mile walk to the nearest "T" stop.

The Doubletree website indicates they offer complimentary shuttle service to Downtown Boston, but our experience has been that Doubletree shuttle service is totally unreliable (if the driver calls in sick, there is none that day).

It would be much more convenient to stay in the city center. Leaving in a car would be somewhat more convenient from Doubletree Bayside, but would not, for me anyway, offset that location for spending three days in Boston.

djkbooks and I usually agree on almost everything, and in this case we do agree that it's not "worth it" for you to stay outside the city in hopes of avoiding a little traffic.

But I have taken the T to the Doubletree and Bayside myself, I am in the area regularly visiting friends and my daughter attends UMass. The distance from the T station to the hotel is not a half-mile. According to the Google aerial map, the distance from the UMass "T" station to the front door of the Doubletree is about 900 feet.

OK, thanks for the advice, we will try to get a hotel in Back Bay area, sounds more convenient.Just hope hubby doesn't do his "Incredible Hulk" when trying to negotiate driving through Boston to I 93

If you have driven in any major cities, Washington, DC, Los Angeles,New York, and many others, you will 'survive' driving in Boston - from a hotel to the highway is not that difficult, it really has become some type of urban legend about people almost needing armor and an armored car to drive in Boston - truly, it is the thing I would give the least thought to and choose a hotel that is in a great location for your visit instead -

if your car is dropped off to you at a hotel in the Back Bay/Copley area for instance, you will be on the highway in under ten minutes - unless you choose to leave in the middle of rush hour, and I am sure your hotel can help you with the timing in the early am or evening.