Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Guidance please

Your request is more complicated than you may realize. There are, I believe, a Hyatt and a Holiday Inn in the immediate vicinity of the terminals, but they are expensive ($250. up) and far from quiet, given that they are within the airport. The Hyatt has some nice views, but I would urge you to consider staying elsewhere, and there really aren't other lodgings "near" the airport (it's either industrial, residential, or water!). Logan Airport is separated from downtown Boston by 2 tunnels, of which one is only available to commercial traffic and the other is subject to appalling congestion due to a major construction job on-going through the center of the city (sinking the main north-south artery below ground). If you are arriving after about 7-7:30pm, at least you will have missed rush hour, which is a nightmare. Most people familiar with Boston eschew driving anywhere within the city if they can help it at all, and public transportation is very good. You can get from the airport to downtown in less than a half-hour by taxi, or shuttle-plus-subway, or water-taxi (a nice way to see the harbor and it drops you off near a couple of good hotels -- Marriott and Hyatt, I think). A great deal depends on your intended itinerary, the time of evening you will actually arrive, and your priorities re:cost, quiet, location. "Reasonable" in Boston has risen sharply lately and is now about $175/night, although you might be able to find something for less. Thus, if your intention is to see something of Boston right away and can hold off picking up your rental car until you are ready to explore outside of the city, I would suggest doing that -- and securing accommodations wherever you can in downtown Boston or Cambridge. However, if your "fly-drive" holiday might permit you to begin your tour by going north of Boston immediately, you can leave the airport environs without dealing with the tunnel traffic, and there are many lovely places to stay in the northern suburbs/coast (Swampscott, Marblehead, etc.). Otherwise, if you are committed to picking up a car immediately on arrival and staying close to downtown, you will need a place with parking -- which can be as much as $25/day downtown. I would recommend, in this case, seeing if you can find space along the Charles River in Cammbridge or Brighton -- they have parking and can often shuttle you to subways, and taxis are not expensive ($7. to downtown). These are (in descending order of price and also attractiveness and convenience): Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Doubletree Guest Suite, Howard Johnson's Memorial Drive. I would book promptly, as it is the time when first-year students are arriving to college with their parents. One last suggestion -- rather "far out" but a place I often stay. There is a Holiday Inn in Newton, Mass. ("Grove St./128") that will look quite removed from everything if you find the intersection of Interstate 95 and Routes 30 on a map. HOWEVER: A)it is considerably less expensive than staying in the city, B) one can walk across the parking lot to the station at the end of the "Green Line" of the subway system (a relatively safe line) -- about 40 min. to the center of the city, and C) it is immediately proximate to the highways one might well need to use to get to other destinations in New England. I hope this is helpful. I also hope you have been duly warned about Boston drivers and are prepared to deal with the "double whammy" of driving on the right and coping with these maniacs.