Cheap accoms (with strings) in central Boston please!

September 5, 2006 6:44 AM

Please help with cheapish city accommodation in Boston!

I will have the pleasure of spending a week in Boston and thereafter other towns in Massachusetts during the Fall on work-related activities. Work is going to pay for the accoms, but I am hoping to wing out an additional weekend for myself and a colleague before returning to the UK and to do so the accoms will need to be reasonably priced and hopefully fairly central. So far everything we have looked at is very expensive (~$350-$500 per room per night).
Please recommend places to stay. We will be travelling with laptops and some confidential files so we would be looking for security although I dont think any of us are too bothered about it being five star luxury or anything like that.

We will be in Boston from the 13th to the 15th of October and have plenty of ideas for when we are there. We will be spending most of our time in a town called Marlborough and would appreciate any tips for things to do in the evening in or around the surrounding area.

Thanking you in advance!

posted by ClanvidHorse to Travel & Transportation around Boston, MA (11 answers total)

Check out the Newbury Guest House... it's centrally located and as a guest house instead of a hotel, I remember the rates being half what a large hotel would be.
posted by kdern at 6:51 AM on September 5, 2006

Unfortunately your chosen weekend is the same as a number of local college's Family Weekends (MIT, Northeastern) as well as high foliage-viewing season, so cheap-ish hotel rooms in Boston proper might be difficult to come by. If you have a rental car, you might want to stay outside the city a bit - perhaps the Westin in Waltham which has rates in the $179 range for those dates.
posted by FreezBoy at 7:28 AM on September 5, 2006

Central Boston will almost certainly be pricey for anything worth staying in; you might try looking for discounts through AAA, your employer, or whatever you can think of. Agree with the suggestion to stay a little further out; we stayed at the Summerfield Suites in Waltham about a year ago. It is right next to the Westin and is much cheaper, not to mention has a kitchenette in each room so that you can avoid the expense of dining out every meal if you want to. There are a number of hotels in that immediate area to choose from.
posted by TedW at 7:48 AM on September 5, 2006

I've stayed at the Newbury Guest House and it was reasonable and very nice rooms. Good breakfast there, too.
posted by dagnyscott at 8:25 AM on September 5, 2006

You'll definitely want to look outside of Boston for cheaper hotels.

Waltham, Natick and Framingham are all nearby suburbs with lots of business-class hotel space. They also offer varying degrees of public transportation back into Boston (commuter rail and bus service).

Marlborough is decidedly ex-urban; not much of particular interest there. You'll definitely need a car to get around. On the upside, you'll be able to ride around some fairly rural countryside and see the glorious autumn foliage, on the downside, they roll up the sidewalks early in places like Marlborough and it's a long ride into the city for entertainment.
posted by briank at 8:38 AM on September 5, 2006

There are several hotels near the Alewife T-stop (far north end of red line), near Fresh Pond. This is about a 20 minute subway ride into Boston, and far enough that they should be less affected by family weekends. You should be able to find them using google maps, but the names escape me at the moment.

Waltham, Natick and Framingham, all mentioned above, will be cheaper but are far enough to be annoying. Other close-but-not-technically-Boston places to search would be Allston, Brookline, and Somerville.
posted by whatzit at 8:45 AM on September 5, 2006

There are many guesthouses in the city. I would try the John Jefferies Guesthouse which is just north of $100-$125 per night, the Oasis, which has similar rates, or the Gryphon. All have reasonable rates and are in or near the bay back and would be a great jumping off point to explore Boston. Another option is the Harvard Club, which if any one in your company is a member you should be able to get beautiful rooms at reasonable rates in a historic building with great (and I mean GREAT) perks (library, bar, reading room, restaurant, gym, etc.).
posted by zia at 8:51 AM on September 5, 2006

Another perk of those guesthouses is they are all beautiful brownstone buildings.
posted by zia at 8:51 AM on September 5, 2006

As for suggestions of things to see, the National Heritage Museum in Lexington is a hidden gem. We went last year and loved the exhibits, it was easy to get to but not too crowded, and has a nice little sandwich shop.
posted by TedW at 9:08 AM on September 5, 2006

We were crazy impressed with the Copley House last summer. Pictures on their site are true to our experience (in fact it was the same room we stayed in). See-your-car parking for only $10/day. Excellent location and rates ~$100/day (or less depending).

My heart's all a'flutter with nostalgia just thinking about it.
posted by 10ch at 3:37 PM on September 5, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks to all for the advice. Will do what we can. I have been recommended Copley House by two separate people but unfortunately it is booked the weekends we are looking for.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 4:26 PM on September 7, 2006