My husband, two sons (23 and 21)and I are headed to Boston for the first time. We are arriving July 29 and staying four nights before leaving for Maine for the rest of our vacation. We are flying into Logan and want to stay in an area that will be convienent to the main sights either by foot, T, short taxi etc. We will probably take a city tour one day and take the train to Salem for another. We have Sox tickets on the 31st and want to possibly see the Kennedy Library. We are really open to most everything and we are all foodies.

Which area should we try and book our hotel in? Downtown, Copley, Backbay, Cambridge or somewhere else? I usually Priceline but still need to have a basic neighborhood area to start. We will rent a car on the day we leave so we don't have to attempt driving in Boston. Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to pass on!

I would say Copley. Copley has great shopping and is one of the nicest sections of the city. Plus, it is very close to Boston Common and all of the other attractions. Whenever we go to Boston, we always stay in the Copley area. I do not think you would want to stay in Downtown, it is more of a business district (not many shops or a great place to walk around). Back Bay would be good if you really want to be by Fenway Park. But I would say Copley hands down!

I think Copley or Back Bay. I'm not sure what priceline is likely to give you in those neighborhoods, so I might be swayed by specific hotels. But you would be happy in either neighborhood I think.

You can walk to Fenway from either area, and its a pleasant walk on a nice day.

Lots of restaurants in walking distance from either area.

Thanks for the advice. If I am not able to Priceline, what specific hotels would you recommend in the Copley area?

Got the Sheraton Boston Hotel through Priceline for $160 a night. Considering the hotel rates in that area are about double that, I feel we got a good deal. I know there are mixed reviews of the hotel but all say it is in a great location and has good beds. We will take it!

If you stay around the Quincy Marketplace/waterfront area, you can walk to the most things--Freedom Trail, Aquarium, Quincy Market, Beacon Hill. Fenway, Kennedy Library are via the T. Better chance of a sea breeze for comfort also.

I would vote for the Westin Copley or Fairmont Copley.

Be careful w/Priceline. A few months back someone wrote in having gotten a *really awful* location for a hotel, that I believe, was misrepresented on Priceline.

I got the Sheraton Boston Hotel for $160 a night which I think is right next to the Westin. I checked out the reviews on Priceline and Trip Advisor and I think it will be just fine location wise. Now I need a hotel at the airport for the night of Aug. 5th. We drive back from Maine and fly out early on the 6th. Any suggestions there?

Sorry, I was not paying attention--duh--and did not realize that the person who got the Sheraton was also the OP!! I guess I will have to repeat Fodor first grade. That is a great location for Boston!!

Copley is in the Back Bay

This should give you an overall view of the neighborhood. I wish you a lovely time. In Salem at the PEM Peabody-Essex Museum has a wonderful exhibit going on at that time, "Summer in New England"great works by the finest artists of all time. There's a good outdoor restaurant there at the PEM.

The boundaries of the Back Bay, as defined by the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay, are "the Charles River on the North; Arlington Street to Park Square on the East; Columbus Avenue to the New York New Haven and Hartford right-of-way (South of Stuart Street and Copley Place), Huntington Avenue, Dalton Street, and the Mass. Turnpike on the South; and Charlesgate East on the West."

The main thoroughfares of Back Bay run approximately east and west and include Beacon Street, Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Newbury Street, and Boylston Street.

Culturally speaking, the Back Bay is known for being the home of the wealthy and the upper middle class. It is most well known for its expensive housing and shopping areas. Most stores are located on Newbury and Boylston Streets, with the ends closer to the Boston Public Garden traditionally more expensive.

Commonwealth Avenue is a 200-wide expanse with a wide median strip, laid out in imitation of the French boulevards constructed by Baron Haussmann in Paris.

The north-south cross streets are named alphabetically, and a 1903 guidebook notes an alternation of trisyllabic and bisyllabic names: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. (This same set of street names is used for the long East-West main streets in the center of Gladstone, Oregon, but the origin of this connection is unknown).

Copley Square, bounded by Clarendon, Boylston, Dartmouth, and St. James streets, includes Trinity Church, the John Hancock Tower, and the Boston Public Library.

Trinity Church was the crowning work of architect H. H. Richardson and a masterpiece of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. In 1893, Baedeker's United States called it "deservedly regarded as one of the finest buildings in America."


Trinity Church c. 1903Admirers of the 60-story John Hancock Tower, designed by I. M. Pei, assert that it does not diminish the impact of Trinity Church, although its construction did damage the church's foundations. Donlyn Lyndon notes that an early Hancock press release had "the gall to pronounce that 'the building will reflect the architectural character of the neighborhood.'" Lyndon opines that it "may be nihilistic, overbearing, even elegantly rude, but it's not dull."[1]

The Boston Public Library, designed by McKim, Mead, and White in Roman Renaissance style was intended to be "a palace for the people." Baedeker's 1893 guide terms it "dignified and imposing, simple and scholarly," and "a worthy mate... to Trinity Church." At that time, its 600,000 volumes made it the largest free public library in the world.

The Copley Square area is close to the Back Bay (MBTA station) railroad terminal, and is the eastern nexus of a system of hotels and shopping centers connected by a set of glassed-in pedestrian overpasses. These hotels and shops are glossy and upscale, but are mostly not very different from what one would find in many other American cities. Hotels include the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Westin International, Marriott Copley Place, Colonnade, Sheraton Boston, and Back Bay Hilton. The large Copley Place mall includes the only Neiman Marcus in the New England area. The system of overpasses extends over half a mile to the Prudential Center and the shops surrounding it. The 52-story Pru tower, thought a marvel in 1964, is now considered ugly.[1] However, the Prudential Skywalk observatory offers a wonderful view of Back Bay, Boston, and surrounding areas.

"Back Bay Historic District" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973.

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References
Bacon, Edwin M. (1903) Boston: A Guide Book. Ginn and Company, Boston, 1903.
W. C. Fields: "My Little Chickadee" (1940), in which the Fields character calls himself "one of the Back Bay Twillies."
Train, Arthur (1921), "The Kid and the Camel," from By Advice of Counsel. ("William Montague Pepperill was a very intense young person...")
Howells, William Dean, Literary Friends and Acquaintance: My First Visit to New England
^ a b Lyndon, Donlyn (1982). The City Observed: Boston. Vintage. ISBN 0394748948.: the Hancock "may be nihilistic, overbearing, even elegantly rude, but it's not dull;"

Apseals,

You done good! GREAT price, GREAT location! You are right at the Prudential, walking distance to many great locations. Cigalechanta has given you a terrific informative outline of the whole area. I second the PEM in Salem, and have to add my plug for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, my all time favorite small museum in Boston. Have a wonderful time!

Sorry I don't have a suggestion for your last night stay...

WOW Thanks cigalechanta for the GREAT orientation of the Backbay area. We will check out the museums you all mentioned as well. If you have any restaurant suggestions for dinner in that area that would be great too. We love all kinds of food but since we are going to Maine, might do something besides seafood. Love a place with a good selection of wines by the glass... We are up for anything from ethnic casual to more upscale.

We have now returned from our trip to Boston and Maine and I am posting my trip report tonight. Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions and advice.