Hi all, planning on spending about 4 days in Boston in mid August before heading up to Nova Scotia for a trip...can anyone recommend a reasonably priced hotel in a good location and the 'must do' stuff to see and do?

Are you driving? Parking at downtown hotels is $40 or so a day, but you can park in public garages under the common, in Post Office Square, or Prudential for less. You will not want or need your car while you are in Boston.

Attractions in Boston include museums -- the Museum of Fine Arts is world class --
history (the Freedom Trail and the Kennedy Library, Old Ironsides
Neighborhoods -- Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Harvard Square
Marine activities like harbor cruises, whale watches, even a beach you can get to on the subway.
Sports: Fenway Park and Boston Garden

Hotels are always expensive, but you should focus on the Back Bay, which is very centrally located. Priceline helps make it affordable. ON NO ACCOUNT book a hotel that advertises itself as revere Boston, Waltham Boston, Danvers Boston or ant two word name like that. They are way out in the sticks, and any money you save will be spent in city parking or in driving back and forth. If there are exceptions to this, others will let you know here.

Go to a red sox game! There's nothing more quintessentially Boston!

Other suggestions would be the Public Garden and the Freedom trail. If time allows, you may want to look into renting a car and driving to Cape Cod for the day. It's magnificent in the summer!

Good advice from Ackislander.
We have stayed at a Cambridge hotel that had free parking but it was a long walk to the subway station. No matter where you stay, check distance to a subway station unless you want to use cabs all the time or enjoy a lot of walking.

If you like food, there are food tours you can take of Boston's North End (Italian section) and Chinatown (includes a dim sum lunch). I enjoyed both very much. They included a lot of local history.

There is free parking at the Kennedy Library so if we plan to go there, we usually visit on a Friday before checking into our hotel. It was far more interesting than I expected. I was in high school when JFK was president.

>>can anyone recommend a reasonably priced hotel

There are a few prerequisites when considering a trip to Boston. First, don't go in February. This may seem obvious, but it bears repeating, not only because the winters are indeed so miserable, but because the other seasons are so immensely enjoyable. Spring and Fall are gloriously verdant and the summers are breezy and temperate.

Hotel prices in Boston fluctuate depending upon season and what conventions or events are being held. August is usually a more inexpensive time to visit, especially earlier in the month. Later in the month there are more visitors as people come to drop off their college student children.

Look at locations in Back Bay/Copley Square, waterfront, and downtown/theater district. All are well-located for walking or taking public transport. Boston is a compact city and you'll find you can walk to and between most sites.

August weather can be pleasant though it may also be hot and humid. But it's summer and nice to be out and about.