Boston Hotel Help

[Sunseeker20]

Any suggestions for a hotel close to the Boston port? What is a general price range in October?

[1025cruise]

What dates in October? Very important due to Head of the Charles.

[Sunseeker20]

Need a hotel for one night on the 26th

[Sand and Seas]

Seaport area hotels are walk-able to the port area.  Lots of great restaurants in that area too.  We went on our first Boston cruise in early September and really enjoyed staying in the Seaport area for two nights prior.

[Nitemare]

Go to Google Maps and put in "hotels near boston cruise terminal", then zoom in on the area near the terminal to see the 7 or 8 properties that are considered "Seaport" hotels.  You can put your dates on that screen as well to see prices!

[Sunseeker20]

Thank you for the help!

[Stace894]

Weston Waterfront, Seaport Hotel, Element Hotel,  Aloft, Renissance Waterfront.  All very nice hotels, but be aware you will be paying pretty high cost to be in Boston near the seaport.  Nothing "reasonable" that close but nice for a one night splurge befor your trip.

[Sunseeker20]

12 minutes ago, Stace894 said:

Weston Waterfront, Seaport Hotel, Element Hotel,  Aloft, Renissance Waterfront.  All very nice hotels, but be aware you will be paying pretty high cost to be in Boston near the seaport.  Nothing "reasonable" that close but nice for a one night splurge befor your trip.

Thank you for the help!

[138east]

I know you're anxious to make reservations for next Oct, but the reality is that you're really too early to get a good deal.  What is your hotel budget range w/o tax?  Do you have any sightseeing objectives in Boston?  Are you flying or driving? 

 

For right now I would suggest the following strategy:

1). If you're nervous about having any kind of reservation, make a cancellable reservation now.

2). Monitor Hotwire and lastminutetravel.com over the next months.  If you see a blind hotel on Hotwire in the Seaport District at a price you can live with, book it.  All the hotels in the Seaport District are 3* and up.  They are all relatively new and totally acceptable (unlike hotels in other areas of Boston).  Feel free to post back if you see something that looks good.

3). If you're driving and don't have sightseeing objectives, post back as other strategies apply.

 

There's no guarantee a deal will pop up, but a number of folks were able to find Hotwire deals this year in Sep and Oct.

[Sunseeker20]

On 11/20/2018 at 2:42 PM, 138east said:

I know you're anxious to make reservations for next Oct, but the reality is that you're really too early to get a good deal.  What is your hotel budget range w/o tax?  Do you have any sightseeing objectives in Boston?  Are you flying or driving? 

 

For right now I would suggest the following strategy:

1). If you're nervous about having any kind of reservation, make a cancellable reservation now.

2). Monitor Hotwire and lastminutetravel.com over the next months.  If you see a blind hotel on Hotwire in the Seaport District at a price you can live with, book it.  All the hotels in the Seaport District are 3* and up.  They are all relatively new and totally acceptable (unlike hotels in other areas of Boston).  Feel free to post back if you see something that looks good.

3). If you're driving and don't have sightseeing objectives, post back as other strategies apply.

 

There's no guarantee a deal will pop up, but a number of folks were able to find Hotwire deals this year in Sep and Oct.

That's great advice thank you!

We are flying in from Northern British Columbia and have never been to the East Coast so we are excited and a bit nervous. I will take your advice and wait to book... you gave a lot of great tips, thanks!

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks to good advice from 138East we grabbed a Hotwire 'blind' 3Star deal in Boston and we ended up at the Aloft for our early September cruise.   It worked out so well we are looking forward to trying another Hotwire deal next summer in the Seaport area.

[Nanatravel]

Great advice 138east.  We have a wedding to attend in downtown Boston on Oct. 6.  Even the bridal group booking rate is $289 plus about $60+ in taxes.  I booked a cancel able rate, so will watch for rates to drop.  Being from the area, I doubt it will happen with colleges having home coming events and it being peak Foliage season.  The Seaport Hotel is beautiful.  I've held events there before retirement.

 

[138east]

3 hours ago, Nanatravel said:

Great advice 138east.  We have a wedding to attend in downtown Boston on Oct. 6.  Even the bridal group booking rate is $289 plus about $60+ in taxes.  I booked a cancel able rate, so will watch for rates to drop.  Being from the area, I doubt it will happen with colleges having home coming events and it being peak Foliage season.  The Seaport Hotel is beautiful.  I've held events there before retirement.

 

For starters look at the Park Plaza on lastminutetravel.com for $186 plus tax refundable.

[Nanatravel]

2 hours ago, 138east said:

For starters look at the Park Plaza on lastminutetravel.com for $186 plus tax refundable.

Only issue is the wedding is being held at the Courtyard by Marriott on Tremont and I would prefer to stay where our family will be staying.  I love the Park Plaza and know it's not too far away.  I will be wearing a formal outfit and don't want to have to bring a more dressy coat.  What I still have in SC is wool with fur, so much more wintry.  Thanks for the hint though.

[138east]

18 hours ago, Nanatravel said:

Only issue is the wedding is being held at the Courtyard by Marriott on Tremont and I would prefer to stay where our family will be staying.  I love the Park Plaza and know it's not too far away.  I will be wearing a formal outfit and don't want to have to bring a more dressy coat.  What I still have in SC is wool with fur, so much more wintry.  Thanks for the hint though.

Did you check the prepay direct booking rate at the Marriott Tremont?  For Oct 6 I'm seeing a much lower prepay rate for Marriott members. 

 

[Nanatravel]

34 minutes ago, 138east said:

Did you check the prepay direct booking rate at the Marriott Tremont?  For Oct 6 I'm seeing a much lower prepay rate for Marriott members. 

 

No I didn't.  I have not used Marriott rewards in years since the Ice Freeze of 2010 or earlier!  Decided to sell after that.

 

Which web site to I go onto?

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Nanatravel

[138east]

2 minutes ago, Nanatravel said:

No I didn't.  I have not used Marriott rewards in years since the Ice Freeze of 2010 or earlier!  Decided to sell after that.

 

Which web site to I go onto?

 

 

Www.Marriott.com - Marriott rewards is a free membership with no strings - don't have to buy stock or get a credit card

[Nanatravel]

On 11/26/2018 at 5:30 PM, 138east said:

Www.Marriott.com - Marriott rewards is a free membership with no strings - don't have to buy stock or get a credit card

Thanks.  I had the membership at my old address in MA/NH.  Got a new # one for this trip.  Didn't have many points to speak of anyway.  I can't find a Pre-pay option.  Does it come up when you go to finish the reservation?

 

[138east]

1 hour ago, Nanatravel said:

Thanks.  I had the membership at my old address in MA/NH.  Got a new # one for this trip.  Didn't have many points to speak of anyway.  I can't find a Pre-pay option.  Does it come up when you go to finish the reservation?

 

When you go into Marriott.com, select Boston, and put in your dates,  the Courtyard on Tremont is one of the offerings starting at $211.  There is a heading at the top which offers 3 choices - Standard Rates, Prepay and Save, and Deals and Packages.  Select Prepay and Save, and then member rate and it should ask you to sign into your account.

[Nanatravel]

20 hours ago, 138east said:

When you go into Marriott.com, select Boston, and put in your dates,  the Courtyard on Tremont is one of the offerings starting at $211.  There is a heading at the top which offers 3 choices - Standard Rates, Prepay and Save, and Deals and Packages.  Select Prepay and Save, and then member rate and it should ask you to sign into your account.

 

Thanks I'll give that a try.

 

[Nanatravel]

On 12/1/2018 at 2:17 PM, 138east said:

When you go into Marriott.com, select Boston, and put in your dates,  the Courtyard on Tremont is one of the offerings starting at $211.  There is a heading at the top which offers 3 choices - Standard Rates, Prepay and Save, and Deals and Packages.  Select Prepay and Save, and then member rate and it should ask you to sign into your account.

Thanks so much for all of your assistance.  I couldn't find the Prepay option but have re-booked directly on their website, got a Sr. discount for $233/$229 per night.  Saved us almost a $100.  I had just read a Horror story about booking.com and decided, I could not take the chance of getting bumped.  So glad for your cruise critic help.  

 

How are things near Tewsbury?  Figure you must be near due to your screen name.  DH will probably be up in Andover next week or so.  Not looking forward to him traveling up there in this Winter weather.  He doesn't even have snow boots any longer.

[138east]

29 minutes ago, Nanatravel said:

Thanks so much for all of your assistance.  I couldn't find the Prepay option but have re-booked directly on their website, got a Sr. discount for $233/$229 per night.  Saved us almost a $100.  I had just read a Horror story about booking.com and decided, I could not take the chance of getting bumped.  So glad for your cruise critic help.  

 

How are things near Tewsbury?  Figure you must be near due to your screen name.  DH will probably be up in Andover next week or so.  Not looking forward to him traveling up there in this Winter weather.  He doesn't even have snow boots any longer.

Good for you.  Keep monitoring prices - you never can tell.  You're kind of stuck because the wedding party picked the hotel.

 

Things are fine near Tewksbury.  It's very cold this week but no snow or ice.  It could be worse.

[cementhands]

On 11/2/2018 at 4:07 PM, Sunseeker20 said:

Any suggestions for a hotel close to the Boston port? What is a general price range in October?

$200.00 plus or minus. Harpoon Brewery with beer hall. No name Restaurant for seafood chowder. J Hooks lobster roll. Hanover st north End Italian food. ICA museum. Galleria Umberto great food. Cash is king north end.

Seaport is fantastic area.

If you’re healthy ya can walk to everything.

[138east]

2 hours ago, cementhands said:

$200.00 plus or minus. Harpoon Brewery with beer hall. No name Restaurant for seafood chowder. J Hooks lobster roll. Hanover st north End Italian food. ICA museum. Galleria Umberto great food. Cash is king north end.

Seaport is fantastic area.

If you’re healthy ya can walk to everything.

IMO the expectation of finding a $200 base rate for the Seaport area is not realistic. You might get lucky on Hotwire or lastminutetravel.com but I wouldn’t rely on that happening.  Fri and Sat night will have the best prices, but weekday nights will be more expensive because of business travel.  May, Sep, and Oct are high season because of college activities. 

[Alberta Quilter]

We are planning to travel to Boston on the Labour Day weekend in September, prior to a cruise departure on Tuesday, Sep 3rd.  We have not yet made our air bookings so we are considering spending at least two days in Boston.  My parents, when they stayed in Boston a few decades ago, stayed at the Back Bay Hilton; my mother thought that was a good location.  Of course, we don't know if it's still a good location.  I'm leaning more to the Seaport area based on the discussion above.  I will be travelling with my mother who will be 83 at the time of travel; she can walk flat surfaces (no inclines, declines or stairs).

 

We have been to Boston before but my only visit was a port call on a cruise.  We are interested in seeing some sights, possibly going to America's Test Kitchen (if it's open on a holiday weekend).  However, we will be recovering from some jet lag and it's probably best to keep our touring to half day tours/sights so as not to wear out my mother before a port intensive cruise.

 

So, with all that in mind, can you recommend one location (Back Bay Hilton) over the other (Seaport area)?  Is there any advantage of one area over the other when one is staying for a couple of days pre-cruise?  We'd prefer not to rent a car but are willing to travel by public transit.

 

Thanks for your help!