Harvard Graduation Affordable Hotels?
 

We're attending graduation in May and need advice on more affordable hotel options than most of what we've seen in Boston. We can stay at Best Western in Woburn or Best Western in Quincy as rates seem better. For Woburn we may need car to get there from airport whereas Quincy has aiport shuttle service. Have read that it's not easy to drive in Boston and expensive to park. It's our first time to Boston so we want to see some of the area in addition to graduation. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

As graduation is actually in Cambridge have you checked rates in Cambridge? Probably also high. it's also Mem day weekend too right?

I'm seeing some Hol Inns and Best Westerns in Cambridge/Somerville in the mid 200's for May 22-26.....on kayak.com

Plus it is CRAZY to try and drive.....

The Best Western in Quincy has had a reputation for being scary. Maybe it has changed, but it is also a terrible location to see anything in Boston. In terms of location, Woburn is even worse though it's a nice town.

Harvard graduation is a great event, funny and moving at the same time (no, I am not an alum) but it is going to require you to bite the bullet and stay somewhere close to the Red Line because there will be no parking in Cambridge that day. Kendall Square would be good, there is a Holiday Inn on Cambridge Street near the MGH station on the Boston side, there is the Parker House, and there are a couple of places in the Theater District/Park Square area. Some people really like a small hotel near Quincy Market and the Financial District (name escapes me). You could stay at the airport and take the Blue Lie to the Green Line to the Red Line.

You don't have to stay the whole time in the same hotel but to get to the action on graduation day, it is worth the splurge. Save money on food, but get to the Red Line and get there early. Then you could change to a cheaper hotel, farther out or to a guest house or B&B.

Congratulations!

What's your budget for a hotel? I checked www.lastminutetravel.com for May 23-27 (commencement is on the 24th) and saw the Marriott Copley Place for $173 per night. There are other hotels as well. You can identify the Marriott from one of the photos. It's the 3.5 star Back Bay hotel.

Boston Marriott Newton?

Thanks for the replies! We were hoping to stay around $150 per night but that's probably unrealistic for the area and time of year. Our dates are May 21-26 with graduation on the 24th. Now that I know Woburn and Quincy aren't the best choices I'll take a look at the hotels mentioned above and also the areas, such as Back Bay and/or somewhere close to the Red Line.

Not Marriott Newton. It is a long, long way from the airport and not remotely near public transportation to the city, much less Cambridge. You would have to take a hotel van to the end of the Green Line at Riverside, then _at least_ 45 minutes to Park Street, then change to the Red Line for Harvard Square. And it isn't "8 minutes to Park Street" any more, if you remember the sign that used to be outside the Harvard Square station.

But it was good to post this to show the OP that you really have to be careful about hotel listings for "Boston this" or "Boston that." They are often very far out (like half way to New Hampshire or the Cape).

Have you checked with the University? Most schools get specials for graduation, in my experience.

Here's a nice place on Beacon Hill, a short walk to Harvard Campus, and within your $150 budget.

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

YOu can also check the Hampton Inn near Lechmere, or the Holiday Inn Suites near North Station.

The John Jeffries House is about 3-4 miles from the main Harvard Campus. It's a short walk though to the Red Line which will take you to Harvard Square. Good suggestion if it has vacancies.

I'll check out the Jeffries House as it sounds/looks nice. I'm holding a room at the Best Western Hotel Tria, located at 220 Alewife Brook Pkwy, Cambridge. It says they have a free shuttle to Harvard Square and also the Alewife T Station. If I don't find anything else I hope this is close enough to Harvard and sightseeing.

I'm not a fan of Tria. It's at a busy intersection and not much around except for IHOP and Trader Joe's. You can technically walk to Alewife T station if you wish (google map says 0.6mile) but it's a totaly charmless walk along strip malls and probably not very pleasant esp at night.

Did you check the Hampton Inn or the HI Suites I mentioned above?

The Tria does have a a couple of things going for it. It's adjacent to a Whole Foods store and across the street from the walking/running/biking trail that encircles Fresh Pond -- you'd use the pedestrian signal to cross the very busy street. The bus to Harvard Square passes in front of the hotel, but I'm not sure where the bus stop is. (I've never set foot in the Tria, so I can't speak to the quality of the property itself.)

You do not want to depend on a free shuttle to Harvard Square, but if you stay there, a free shuttle to Alewife Brook would be very helpful. You don't want to go into Harvard Square on graduation day in an aboveground wheeled vehicle. Take the T. Please.

Do you find that you can get better prices closer in the days after graduation? It's a long trip to Alewife for a sightseer.

On the other hand, if you do stay at Alewife, you have the opportunity to get off the T at Davis Square in Somerville, a kool neighborhood with lots of entertainment and places to eat, including Redbones Barbecue (yumm) and a real, old-fashioned diner from the '30's or '40's. You will need to ask directions.

If you get off at Porter Square, you can walk to Harvard Square (this is during your tourist days) and check out all the interesting shops and cafes along Mass Ave.

Jeffries is booked along with the condos on Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) that my niece (our graduate) forwarded to me. I looked at Holiday Inn again and I can get HI Somerville on Washington St or HI Boston-Cambridge on Monsignor O'Brien Hwy. These are roughly the same cost as Hotel Tria, so I'm wondering if either of these would be a better choice for us. What I'm seeing is the rates from about the 23th to 25th are almost double the regular rate, all for the commencement attendees presumably. In any case if you guys can advise regarding Holiday Inn vs Best Western Tria I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks for all the help!

Another option, La Quinta Inn Somerville on Cummings St. Hotel description says it's 1/2 mile from the T.

Have you looked at where these are on Google Maps? First find them, then see where they are in relation to the MBTA. None of those Somerville motels is anywhere near the Red Line.

The HI Express on Monsignor O'Brien is the same one as the one on Washington St and is four long industrial blocks from Lechmere Station on the Green Line, which you would take to Park St and the change to the Red Line and come back in roughly the same direction.

Check the HI on Friend St in Boston. It is much better located for the T, and you can walk there from Maverick on the Blue Line if you take the T from the airport (strongly recommended if you are on a budget). There is a Whole Foods almost next door and you are on the back side of Beacon Hill for sightseeing as well as being a short walk to the Charles/MGH Red Line stop.

I can't comment on specific hotels in Boston, but I'd like to throw in a couple of considerations anyway.

1. $150 is very low for any hotel in Boston proper regardless of the time of the year. I think your expectations for hotel pricing are just not very much in line with reality. If you can find a hotel for $250 or less (even if it's double the regular rate), that's not bad as long as it's not way off at the end of one of the T lines. What I would consider is making this more of a vacation rather than just going for graduation (if you can do that); then you may not feel so bad about splurging for the hotel for a couple of nights. The costs may balance out in the end.

2. You need to consider the cost of being far out of the way, and time is money. If you do plan to do any sightseeing or anything else in Boston besides the graduation, you lose so much time when you stay in the suburbs. That travel time is worth something to me, and I'd much rather stay at a hotel in the center of things than on the outer edges if I can pay modestly more. There is a reason that location figures into pricing.

3. Definitely pay need to the experienced posters with regard to getting to Harvard on graduation day. Stay near a T stop that doesn't require a lot of changes or too much walking.

4. Finally, keep in mind that many people book their hotels for the various college graduations in Boston about a year in advance. You will have already missed out on all the good, cheap, well-located rooms already, so concentrate your search at bigger hotels if you want to stay in Boston proper or at suburban hotels that are near T stops if you really want to go that route. This is a special occasion; it's worth the splurge if you are going to the trouble of going all the way to Boston for your niece's graduation.

Ouch, the Holiday Inn on Friends Street near Boston Garden/N Station, as well as the one on Beacon Hill are showing $300/n for your dates.

The Holiday Inn in Cambridge at 250 MONSIGNOR O'BRIEN HIGHWAY is $250/n. (0.4 mile to Lechmere Station)

The Holiday Inn in Somerville (1/3 mile to Sullivan Station) is $220/n.

The Hampton Inn in Cambridge I mentioned above is >$300/night.

Just to correct what Ackislander said above, you DO NOT need to rely on the T (subway) to get from Lechmere (cambridge Monsignor O'Brien) to Harvard Sq. You can easily take a bus that goes directly to Harvard Sq on Bus # 69
http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...utes/?route=69

The same goes for the Somerville Holiday Inn near Sullivan Square. You can take a bus to get to Harvard Sq (much easier than the subway). That's Bus # 86
http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...utes/?route=86

Thanks for all the input. You're right about our budget, $150 has turned out to be totally unrealistic so we seem to be talking $250+. One more alternative to ask you about then I'll leave you all alone, I promise! I had a B&B company give me available alternatives but they're located in Boston South End. One is Chandler at Berkeley and the other Appleton at Berkeley. Is this just too far away with travel issues to even consider? Thanks to all of you for your advice. We're from the Carson Valley of northern Nevada, very rural, high desert (near Lake Tahoe), and nothing close to a big city! But my husband and I love adventures so we'll have a great time I'm sure, no matter where we end up! Thanks again to all of you!

Those B&B locations are fine - altho transportation is also not very convenient. You can walk to the Back Bay station to take the Orange line into town. But they're probably not any more inconvenient as the Holiday Inns I mentioned above.

The Somerville hotels may be referring to distance to Sullivan Square on Orange Line. I am very familiar with that area - that distance would be for a helicopter. And it would involve walking along roadways where people do not walk. And crossing several highways where drivers are insane, including one rotary.

I think of the above suggestions the Best Western on Alewife is probably the best compromise. The walk to Alewife is really more like a mile - but there are sidewalks along the busy secondary road and a pond with walking path. There are some fast food places and a couple of chain-type restaurants within walking distance, the Whole Foods, Dunkin Donuts. Summer Shack (seafood which I like but others here do not) is across the street from Alewife station. If the shuttle to Alewife actually is operative, that would be the way to go - would not rely on any public or private road transport to Harvard Square on day of Commencement.

You have probably helped others with your post - live and learn about graduation weekends everywhere - although I am not sure you would have found better rates if you had booked earlier, since hotels know when the busy weekends are and adjust rates in advance. (We booked hotel for our daughter's graduation in NC 364 days in advance, and rates were 3x what they normally are - and we had to pay in advance, non-refundable after April 1).

So don't be too hard on yourself - I would try to find some other ways to economize on the trip and enjoy Boston. If you are flexible and want to do your sightseeing after graduation, you might consider moving into Boston after that date - you might find somewhat lower rates, but Boston is terribly expensive for hotels.

Thanks for the bus info, yk. I am only familiar with bus lines between Dudley and Arlington, so I was hoping someone would come in to help.

The South End B&B's will be close-ish to the Orange Line (you would not want to stay far from it) which interchanges with the Red Line at Downtown Crossing. They will be fine for sightseeing but make for an early morning to get to Harvard.

I hope they still have all the graduation hoopla -- the sheriff of Middlesex County arriving on a horse, the Latin oration that you will be able to understand, the Business School graduates waving money, and all the colorful robes, top hats, etc. It will be worth it, and your niece must love you a lot because tickets are hard to get.

The B&B's in the South End are only about a 10 minute walk to the Green Line at Arlington St. so they are convenient to get to Harvard Sq. If you stay there you'd be in a better location for sightseeing and walking around and you are surrounded by loads of good restaurants.

I re-checked lastminutetravel and unfortunately the $173 at the Marriott Copley is no longer available for your dates.

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but I have a question for Ackislander, since you seem to know a lot about Harvard's graduation. My daughter is graduating from Harvard (getting a masters) & we were told we can only get 2 tickets for the university-wide commencement. (but don't need tickets for her grad school commencement.) Do you know if there is anyway to get more tickets for the all-university commeencement? I ask because of your comment that "tickets are hard to get". Is it possible to get one or two more? There will be 3 or 4 of us who would like to attend the university-wide commencement as well as the grad school commencement. We live nearby so we don't need hotel reservations.
Thanks so much & I apologize again.

Just thought I'd follow up with some good news for my husband and I this morning. I got an email from the John Jeffries House offering a Deluxe Suite for $194 per night (most likely they had a cancellation), so I booked it. As mentioned by a few people this B&B is near Beacon Hill and close to the Red Line so hopefully we can get around easily. I'm so excited to visit Boston and am already looking forward to our trip in May!

That's wonderful news, Rubi_Niner! I hope you enjoy your stay at John Jeffries, and the graduation ceremony!

I think you'll find that location very convenient for your stay. Happy it all worked out . . . enjoy your trip, and thanks for reporting back.

Good for you, Rubi_Niner, on the B&B...I am enjoying the suggestions put forth being new in the area. The T is great for getting places including the commencement. Yes, Harvard Square will be so full of people and excitement. What an event!
Bill in Boston

I am coming back to this thread afte a log time away, for which I apologize.

Congratulations on John Jeffries House. It will be absolutely perfect for what you are doing.

Kwoo: Harvard Graduation tickets are very hard to get. Whole familes want to come because it is a show as well as an occasion. The only place I know to get extras is for her to ask people in her school who are not attending graduation or who live too far away for families to come. She should also put up requests on both physical bulletin boards and whatever electronic boards she and her colleagues use.

I hope you report back on the John Jeffries House after your stay there. I have been trying to interest my husband in a long weekend in Boston this spring and that seems like a good affordable option. Definitely convenient for getting to Harvard Square on the T, too.

Have a great time at the graduation and visiting Boston/Cambridge

How about some directions from the airport to John Jeffires house using the T?

You can research routes at www.mbta.com but from the airport the best way is to take a Silver Line bus from outside of your terminal to South Station. Then get on the Red Line inbound (the train will say Alewife) and take it three stops to Charles St./MGH.

You can either pay on the bus or buy a Charlie Card from the bus driver and load it with some cash. You'll be using it to go to Harvard and for your sightseeing. I think there may be ticket machines in the terminals, but I'm not sure. Someone else will chime in, I'm sure with that information.

It will be easy and you only have one change to make.

Thanks tracys2cents and cw. I was thinking we could take a taxi from the airport but our United flight arrives at 5:04p on a Monday, so that's right at rush hour. It'd probably be easier to use public transit as you suggest.

Vttraveler - I'll be sure to update after our trip what we thought of the John Jeffries House.

If I can digress a moment and tell you guys a little more about my niece, the graduate, as we are all so proud of her. She hails from a tiny island called Saipan in the western Pacific. She's a go-getter who we think will likely end up in law, even though her Dad's a doctor and we had hoped she'd follow in his footsteps. She's been active in photography and is a gifted writer. In her high school senior year she placed 3rd in a national essay competition. Not bad for a little girl from Saipan among more than 10,000 entrants. She writes for the Harvard Crimson periodically. Whatever she ends up doing she will excel at, I'm sure. And she'll give back however she can as it's just her nature. She really exceeded our expectations adjusting to the culture, the weather, the size and scope of living in the States, not to mention the academic competition at Harvard. It will be an exciting day for us on May 24 watching her receive her diploma!

Sounds like she should be able to help you write a great trip report! I'll be checking back here in late May, dont' forget the photos!