We are considering staying at this hotel for a long weekend in July. Any opinions or experiences would be appreciated.

In particular, how walkable is it to restaurants/nightlife and the closest T stop?

Thanks

Don't know what weekend you are considering, but the Democratic National Convention is in Boston last week in July - weekends on either side of that are likely to be impossible anywhere around Boston.

Have never been inside hotel - have to defer to others on that. But the hotel is located overlooking the Charles River with a small park along the River for walking/jogging. The area behind the hotel is largely residential - nothing else really close. Harvard Square and Central Square with MBTA stops and lots of restaurants/nightlife are a little less than a mile walk away - not an especially picturesque walk - but if you don't mind walking it is fine. A cab would also be really cheap for that distance.

Directly across the River is the Mass Turnpike and a semi-industrial area.

As with most hotels in Boston area, if you want to stay right in the middle of everything, the cost, especially in the summer, is very high. Depending on rate you can get and what the inside of the hotel is like, it might or might not be worth staying there.

It's a bit longer walk to the subway than many other hotels, but not terrible - 10 minutes to the green line. More convenient is the Marriott at Kendall or the Charles Hotel at Harvard Square - if you can get a good price. I would definetly make sure that you aren't coming the same week as the convention because it will likely be nuts with long transit delays.

Thanks for the info.

In addition to the Democratic Convention, the Yankees are visiting Fenway on that weekend (7-23 through 7-25). Hotel availability is slim and prices are very high. My usual Priceline/Hotwire schemes will not work this time! There is virtually nothing available in the Back Bay and prices range between $250-$350 per night for most choices. The aforementioned Radisson Cambridge is offering a reasonable rate. I assumed that it would be just fine for our purposes but wanted to make sure it was not completely isolated.

Hmmm, I've always wondered what it would be like to turn my house into a B&B . . . .

I am surprised you can even get any reservation near Boston for that week/weekend. If you are really coming to Boston area at that time, take the reservation at the Radisson - and check back with them a few times to make sure reservation is intact.

If you are coming to town to route for the Yankees, you could always just stay home.

I have 3 tickets for one of the Yankees games that weekend and am seriously considering scalping them instead of attending - I think I could get some decent money for them.

I plan to hold onto the reservation at the Radisson with an iron grip. I am just glad I started looking for a hotel now.

Yes, we are New Yorkers and will be rooting for the Yanks. If you like baseball you can't do much better than Yankees vs. Sox at Fenway.

Getting tickets for these games was always difficult and is now next to impossible. Tickets went on sale yesterday morning and I literally spent hours on the internet and phone. I was finally successful in getting tickets to two games. The past few years I have not been so lucky.

I have no intention to resell my tickets but I have no doubt that scalpers will get many times the face amount.

The Radisson isn't in the best spot for tourist amenities but it's not too bad. As Gail said, it is located in a mostly residential and light industrial area. You can probably reach Central Square, where you can find many restaurants and lots of nightlife along with a subway ("T") stop, within a 20-30 minute walk. I would be very surprised, however, if you can reach the green line that hleesa mentioned in a 10 minute walk. Unless I am completely wrong the closest green line stop is near BU on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and my guess is it's about a 20-25 minute walk.

Central Square has a lot more nightlife than Harvard Square and some quite good restaurants as well. I don't know what your interests are but there are a couple of very good live music venues in the Middle East (right on Mass Ave) and T.T. the Bear's, which is right around the corner from the Middle East. There are lots of bars in the area as well. Check www.bostonphoenix.com for more information.

If you plan to walk to Fenway Park from the Radisson it's probably a 30 minute walk. My guess is cabs will be scarce before, during and after the convention.

I can only guess what the city will be like that weekend. Although the convention does not officially start until the weekdays, I imagine many will arrive before. My suspicion is that some restaurants will be closed or limited due to private parties. Those who live/work in Boston are considering taking that week off. Boston traffic is never much fun, and thousands of lost conventioneers will not improve that at all.

Newspaper articles over the past months have mentioned hotels in what I would consider rather distant locations being used for convention housing. Coming from NY, this may be difficult to fully imagine (I grew up around NYC and spent summers commuting in for jobs), as NY has many conventions that hardly cause a disruption in the flow of the city.

Since Boston is so compact, this is going to be an experience. If you are driving, do not plan on taking your car out of the hotel, and especially do not drive to Fenway. When we drive into games from 20 miles north of Boston, we park about a half mile away normally to avoid massive congestion after games.

An interesting side note - we were considering a cruise leaving Boston 8/1 and found it is already fully booked - travel agent told us it was mostly convention people. So things you never would think of may be more difficult during this time.

Another PS - if you bought tickets on the Red Sox website, you got to experience the "Virtual Waiting Room" - I also spent several hours on 2 computers waiting in it in December when they first released some tickets. It is not how I wanted to spend my weekend hours either.

And to fully experience these games, note the sleazy vendors selling "Yankees S@ck" t-shirts outside Fenway - I did not enjoy explaining those to my kids.

No- we would not drive into Boston. We are taking Amtrak then the Red Line (Central Square?) to the hotel. I am somewhat familiar with the city so we should be fine.

We want to hit some great restaurants while in town. My wife has heard great things about the "Daily Catch". I am sure we will try out the dining in Cambridge as well. All suggestions again appreciated.

Thanks to all who have responded.

The closest green line stop is at the Science Museum and is a 10 minute walk, as I noted before.

To hleesa - are you sure you are thinking of the same hotel as original poster. They are asking about the Radisson and you may be thinking of the Sonesta - the Radisson is much farther west on Memorial Drive - across from Mass Pike, Harvard B school.

Which is the one with the Regatta Club?

To hleesa - now you have me wondering, too. I thought it was the Hyatt, but I just checked websites for Radisson, Hyatt, Sonesta - no Regatta Club, although I know I have heard of it.

To hleesa (again) - did a google search - there is a Regatta Bar Club at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. Could that be what you are thinking of. Or, perhaps, the Spinnaker restaurant which is the revolving thing atop the Hyatt.