Places to stay in Boston/Cambridge, May 19-22?
April 27, 2011 12:27 PM Subscribe
Places to stay in Boston/Cambridge, May 18-22?
Members of my family and I are visiting the Boston area the weekend of May 18-22, and are having a tough time finding a place to stay. It just happens to line up with a bunch of graduation ceremonies apparently, so a lot of hotels seem to be booked and/or superexpensive. Is there anything we've missed or overlooked?
Ideally it would be someplace close to the Cambridge YMCA Theatre, or with easy access to public transit that goes there.
As an added bonus question, I will be in town for a bit longer (May 8-24), so if you have any leads for cool things to do during that date range or in general, that would be awesome. Things on the artsy-nerdy continuum tend to appeal to me (for example, I'm bummed that I'm just missing the Boston CyberArts Festival and the Cambridge Science Festival.)
Members of my family and I are visiting the Boston area the weekend of May 18-22, and are having a tough time finding a place to stay. It just happens to line up with a bunch of graduation ceremonies apparently, so a lot of hotels seem to be booked and/or superexpensive. Is there anything we've missed or overlooked?
Ideally it would be someplace close to the Cambridge YMCA Theatre, or with easy access to public transit that goes there.
As an added bonus question, I will be in town for a bit longer (May 8-24), so if you have any leads for cool things to do during that date range or in general, that would be awesome. Things on the artsy-nerdy continuum tend to appeal to me (for example, I'm bummed that I'm just missing the Boston CyberArts Festival and the Cambridge Science Festival.)
Have a look at East Cambridge. There's Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, the Sonesta and the chic Marlowe, all accesible to the Green Line (buses to North Station during construction) or a longer walk to Kendall Sq. T stop, a Holiday Inn further out in Somerville but a short walk to the Orange line and another option is the Holiday Inn Express or Courtyard Marriott adjacent to the lovely Andrew Sq. T stop, ten minutes to downtown, fifteen to Cambridge but not much of a tourist area.
posted by jsavimbi at 1:40 PM on April 27, 2011
posted by jsavimbi at 1:40 PM on April 27, 2011
Have you looked at bed & breakfasts or rooming houses?
posted by smirkette at 3:20 PM on April 27, 2011
posted by smirkette at 3:20 PM on April 27, 2011
Yeah, the entire Boston area is booked solid during Graduation season, months, sometimes years, in advance. Maybe try Craigslist and subletting from someone? Or other apartment/condo/house rental websites. Otherwise, the area around Andrew's Sq., as jsavimbi mentioned, is probably your best bet. Definitely not a touristy area, though a T stop is walkable.
posted by raztaj at 3:43 PM on April 27, 2011
posted by raztaj at 3:43 PM on April 27, 2011
The recommendation for Andrew Square is good. However, I would just add that it isn't touristy, but is perfectly safe.
posted by driley at 9:55 PM on April 27, 2011
posted by driley at 9:55 PM on April 27, 2011
Anywhere on the Red Line will get them easy access to the Cambridge YMCA (near the Central Square Stop), so you could try out toward Alewife, down toward Andrew Square, or even further south toward Braintree.
I have no idea if they have space, but my folks stayed at this inexpensive but not bad hotel near Alewife once.
posted by ldthomps at 6:23 AM on April 28, 2011
I have no idea if they have space, but my folks stayed at this inexpensive but not bad hotel near Alewife once.
posted by ldthomps at 6:23 AM on April 28, 2011
but is perfectly safe
I live two minutes from Andrew Sq. and it's fairly safe although the rough and tumble chaotic appearance may deceive the eye. I've seen a lot of people stay at those hotels mentioned who were attending events at the convention center or more recently the Boston Marathon. Again, it's not pretty over there, not much in the way of restaurants (24-hour Dunkin's and an Applebee's) but it's ten minutes on the T to downtown or a $12 cab ride. There are some other hotels over by Boston Medical Center, but that means taking taxis everywhere.
posted by jsavimbi at 6:46 AM on April 28, 2011
I live two minutes from Andrew Sq. and it's fairly safe although the rough and tumble chaotic appearance may deceive the eye. I've seen a lot of people stay at those hotels mentioned who were attending events at the convention center or more recently the Boston Marathon. Again, it's not pretty over there, not much in the way of restaurants (24-hour Dunkin's and an Applebee's) but it's ten minutes on the T to downtown or a $12 cab ride. There are some other hotels over by Boston Medical Center, but that means taking taxis everywhere.
posted by jsavimbi at 6:46 AM on April 28, 2011
The aylewife area tends to be cheaper than the rest of cambridge.
posted by paultopia at 9:13 AM on April 28, 2011
posted by paultopia at 9:13 AM on April 28, 2011
Happy to offer up my guest room - not sure how many folks you have, but I can accomodate 2-4 depending on how picky they are. I'm in Watertown- easy bus ride to Harvard Sq
Memail me if you want
posted by darsh at 9:50 AM on April 28, 2011
Memail me if you want
posted by darsh at 9:50 AM on April 28, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by phoenixy at 1:21 PM on April 27, 2011