Where to stay in Boston?
 

My husband will be attending a convention at the Boston Convention Center in May, 2008. We'll turn the trip into a family vacation with our 3 teenagers. My husband can't walk far so I need a hotel that has a shuttle to the convention center or is close by. We are a very tall family, so I usually try to find hotels with Queen/Queen beds and free breakfasts. Any other tips for touring Boston would be great. We're huge Red Sox fans.

Check out seaportboston.com, it is a luxury hotel close to the Convention Center. It also has a subway stop that connects to the mainlines and the airport.

There area other hotels out there as well. I think there is a Westin.

5 tickets to the sox will be hard to get any time of year. After the schedules come out look at hubstub
or ebay. You may consider one group of two and another of three.
As far as touring Boston, tell us what you like to do.

As far as touring, the Freedom Trail is great (free, given by the parks dept). Also the Museum of FIne arts is lovely. The Acquarium, Faneuil Hall, Boston COmmons, and the North End for an Italian dinner.

Your teens if they are girls, and enjoy thift shopping you should check out the garment district. My daughter is a freshman in the area and likes to explore thrift shops. She discovered this area and was delighted with the deals (especially while on a student budget). They charge by the pound so a good shopper can get some great things for next to nothing.

The Garment District is actually the name of the store that sells clothing by the pound.

The convention center is rather isolated geographicaly; consider staying in a location that's more tourist-oriented, for you and the kids, and letting hubby take taxis to and from the convention. This will save him some walking and probably save money too via cheaper hotel and fewer subway fares for the rest of the family. Boston is such a compact city, with such good public transit, that hotel shuttles are rare.

Hi..
I just stayed at the Westin Waterfront in Boston that is right next door to the convention center and I was very impressed with the hotel..its a year old and we had 2 double queen beds, corner suite overlooking the harbor..
No free breakfasts but they have a Starbucks in the hotel along with a pretty decent restaurant.
I got an incredible deal of $229 a night on Expedia..or try direct.
If you have a car, we parked free across the street and saved $39 a day for the valet.
We could walk to downtown and it was about a 15 minute walk, which was easier than driving in Boston.
The town is so vibrant with their love of the Red Sox that it was such a great place to be while the Yankees were in town!
Love Boston..

I stayed at the Omni Parker and used a shuttle to get to the Convention Center. It's a historical hotel located near Boston Common. Rates were fairly decent from what I can remember.

We stayed at the Marriott Long Wharf last month and loved it. It's right on the water and has a T stop right in front of it. We loved the Duck Tour and the Freedom Trail, also went whale watching (seasonal), went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, went to a Red Sox game, ate Italian food and pastries in the North End, and went the "Shear Madness" - there's so much to do there. Your kids would probably get a kick out of Regina's Pizza - it's been there for 80 years - really good!

went TO "Shear Madness" - can't type today!

We stayed at the Westin harborfront over Columbus weekend as my husband attended a conference there. It's very close to the convention center ... next door to it and a short walk to the silver line for the T.
The hotel is very nice and they do have specials on their website plus an indoor pool (we didn't get to see it let alone swim in it!) and a Starbucks at the hotel. They have an airport shuttle. We had a room with two double beds not ideal but all they had left as we booked last minute.

Take the tour of Fenway park. The other suggestions posted are great, too.

Shuttles to the Convention center will depend on the particular convention - the specific convention generally has a website that lists something like "official convention hotels" and these will have shuttles. As far as walking, a hotel with shuttle will probably have him walking less than one of the hotels right near convention center - as one would be assumed to be walking from these hotels and it is a block or so.

Hotels in downtown area with breakfast - can't recall one that offers that in ads (I live here so don't stay here). Generally this is a feature of Residence Inn type places and these type hotels are somewhat outside downtown area - not places I would recommend staying for transportation purposes. You may have to compromise location for breakfast - I would pick location.

Red Sox have sold out every game for several seasons. Go to Red Sox website and register for email junk mail. By doing so you will be notified of when tickets first go on sale. They usually have a special presale internet date right before Christmas for April/May games and then a month or so later for other games. I usually plan on spending all day on 3 computers trying to get tickets and sometimes can not even get one game. When I can it is for terrible seats bad game. We have used Ace Tickets (website of same name) to buy broker tickets. Unless a prime game, like the Yankees, usually pay about twice to 2 1/2 times face value. If you do buy tickets, do not sit in Grandstand sections 2-5. These are the seats facing towards left field and you mustr crane your neck to see infield. Bleachers are better.

There was a recently passed law in Massachusetts effecting legality and other things about secondary market ticket resale - don't know how that will effect availability of Red Sox tickets. Also, Red Sox are constantly trying to improve internet sale of tickets to eliminate hackers from buying up allo the tickets on sale dates.

Make hotel reservations soon. May is college commencement season here as well as a very popular time to visit city.

You have 6 months to plan you activities. Lots of posts here on that - first do a search. And what are specific interests of your family, from where are you coming, how long will you stay.

You might try selectiveseating.com to get Red Sox tickets - that's who we used and got to see them play the Yankees. The games are a blast.

Stubhub as well for Sox tickets.

Wow! Thanks for all the replys. I was starting to panic yesterday because I kept calling the AIA (American Inst of Architects Convention) Housing number and all the hotels I was interested in were already booked! I ended up with the last room at the Radisson from recommendations I had read on this site and Trip Advisor. They have QQ beds and large rooms, so hopefully we can get a rollaway. I guess it's in the theater district??? Supposedly, all the hotels have a shuttle to the convention center and I got a rate of $229 which seemed good for Boston. I haven't booked our flights yet but we'll probably be there from a Wednesday evening - Sunday morning, 4 nights.

We will definitely splurge and try to go to a Red Sox game or at least take the tour. I'm anxiously waiting for the convention brochures to come out because usually they have tours set up for family members. I'd like to take the scenic trolley as my husband and I did that two years ago in London, Paris and Edinburgh and it seemed a great way to get your bearings and an overview of the city.

We'll have an 18 year old son, a 16 year old son and a 16 year old daughter on the trip. None of us have ever been to Boston, and this should be a very educational trip for the family. Of course, the kids are easily bored and I drove them nuts a couple years ago in Washington DC wanting them to see and learn about everything.

My preference would be to NOT rent a car and from what I've read, Boston is easy to get around. I don't see any sense in paying for parking and trying to find our way around an unfamiliar city.

We like unusual restaurants and dining experiences, as long as they aren't too extravagant. We'll definitely want to hit a seafood restaurant or two and it sounds like probably an italian restaurant and perhaps something in Chinatown. I don't know if we'd spend the money to go to a show, but since we're in the theater district, would anyone have a recommendation for something the teenagers would like? I like the classic musicals; the family has already seen the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas.

Keep the tips coming. THANK YOU!

Oh, yeah, what's Shear Madness?

I'll want the kids to see the historic sites to bring history to life and make it real for them and I'm sure my husband will be going on some architectural tours. Would the sightseeing tours be the best way to cover a lot of area fast and get the education via a tour guide? My kids are not ones to read placards at museums for very long, (sigh).

Shear Madness is a comedic play that has had a very long run in Boston. There are alternate endings and audience participation determines which ending they'll use. It's a fun show, especially if you can get half-price tickets the day of the show (at BosTix kiosks at Copley Square or Faneuil Hall)

Yes, it's a murder mystery set in a hair salon - kind of goofy and funny, and the whole audience gets to interact/participate, and they change the ending each night accordingly. There were lots of teens there on the night we went.

You've been getting lots of great suggestions. Definitely take a tour of Fenway or try to go to a game (don't know if your visit will be during a home series). Also, I've sent a lot of our visitors on the "authentic" Duck Tour (don't know if your kids as teenagers would be into it as the guides are kind of goofy but it's become a Boston institution). You can also get a 90 minute guided tour of the Freedom trail starting from the Downton Boston National Historic Park Visitors' Center on State Street (or you can walk the Freedom trail on your own and do as much or as little of it as you like). I think your kids would also like the Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market area (lots of shops, kiosks, street performers, restaurants). The Museum of Science is also interesting (depending on the exhibits) and there is an I-Max Theater at the Aquarium. Hopefully, you will have good weather in May so you can do the outdoors things.

These are some restaurant suggestions, by type of food:

Italian: Lots of good restaurants in the North End. Artu, Giacomo's and the Daily Catch/Calamari Cafe are my favorites (downside to the last two would be waiting in line outside; I believe that Artu takes reservations). The original Regina's on Thatcher Street is excellent, as Volcanogirl pointed out.

Chinatown: Ginza is good for sushi and either the original Chau Chow or Grand Chau Chow across the street (Beach Street I believe) are known for their seafood. For dim sum at lunch, Chau Chow City around the corner from the other two is also good.

Seafood: There is, of course, lots to choose from in Boston, and we all have our own opinion about the various restaurants (which is fine). I have found Legal's to be consistently good, especially the one at the Acquarium. There is also the Legal Test Kitchen ("LTK") near the Boston Convention Center. Your kids may also enjoy Jasper White's Summer Shack (there is one in the Back Bay). I also like Skipjack's and Atlantic Fish in the Back Bay, but they are a little less casual than the others.

Your kids may also like a restaurant called "Fire & Ice" (in the Back Bay and also one in Harvard Square). It's a big grill where you pick your ingredients (lots of different meats, fish, veggies to choose from) and then everything is grilled and a sauce of your choice added. They have a part of the grill for just veggies if anyone is not a meat eater.

There is so much to do and see here in Boston - also, lots of information already on this board. Let us know if you have any specific questions and I'm sure you will get even more information!

Agree with the recommendation for Legal Sea Foods - we had a great lobster dinner there and also enjoyed Artu - really good fried calamari. I think the guided Freedom Trail would be best to keep your kids interested - our guide was funny and dressed in period costume. While you're in the North End, walk over to Modern Pastry for some excellent cannoli. They have gelato too.

Volcanogirl: If you visit Boston again, try the fried calamari at either Giacomo's or the Daily Catch (we like it better than Artu's, along Artu has really good eggplant parmesan). I'm glad you mentioned the cannolis!