Boston Travel Forum

I'm arriving in Boston on 30 April. Hotel rates in the city are pretty high so I'm thinking of staying outside the city instead and looking for recommendations.

Ideally I'm looking for somewhere with a 3/4 star hotel that's close to a train or bus station so we can get to Boston easily (less than an hour's journey and regular connections). I was thinking somewhere close to the sea too (not fussy at all I know!) so we could spend a day or two exploring the coast - I'm happy to hire a car but don't want to drive in downtown Boston!

Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks :)

How about staying in Salem, 17 miles from Boston, regular transport into Boston (including a 45 minute ferry option), historic, great museum (the Peabody), close to other interesting towns - Gloucester, Rockport, etc

Hotels: http://www.trails.com/all-hotels/city-hotel.aspx?dest=MA+Salem

Transport: http://www.newenglandtravelplanner.com/go/ma/northshore/salem/transport.html

General information: http://www.salem.org/

Yeah, you don't want to drive in Downtown Boston. Actually, you just don't want to park in Downtown Boston.
Salem would be my first suggestion too. There's the rail station there but also a high-speed ferry as well that takes you right to Downtown Boston. Kinda cool.
If you're willing to go a little further, there's also Gloucester and Ipswich, which are both really pretty towns, have rail stations and right are on the sea.
Have you checked the prices on Cambridge though? That's where I stayed when I was last up there (for a couple of days), and we got around fine on the T subway lines and buses. It's a really nice town and you can actually just walk across the bridges to Boston much of the time. Maybe also look into Charlestown, which should be cheaper, is well connected to Boston, and is a really, really pretty area.
You could also drive in and park at a rail or T station. Alewife is the more popular one for this, but, when I was staying in Woburn, I drove down and parked at the Oak Grove station on the Orange line. You have to get there early on the weekdays because it fills up, but it's fairly cheap, and parking is free at night and on Sundays.

You can get the Boston Doubletree Medical Center for as low as $134 + tax - but that's with the pre-payment option. Without pre-payment it's about $180 + tax.

I've used this hotel many times. It's extremely convenient, less than half a block off the orange line at the Medical Center stop. Nice, clean, one stop away from Copley square.

Not sure what budget you're looking for - this I've used for work, and once when we got stuck in Boston during a layover.

http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/BOSCODT-Doubletree-Hotel-Boston-Downtown-Massachusetts/index.do

No need to hire a car in this location - you can get back to the airport off the metro.

Last time I was in Boston I stayed in Revere and I really liked it. I had found a good deal on Expedia for the Comfort Inn (http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-revere-massachusetts-MA051?promo=gglocal). The Wonderland station is located just a short walk away from the hotel and the "T" takes you downtown in about 15 min. (it also connects with the airport). Revere Beach is also quite close (one station down).

I second the Salem idea. The train ride is pretty quick and inexpensive and takes you right into North Station, with easy access, both walking and riding the subway, to most of the sights in Boston. You might also consider Newburyport, which is further north on the same train line as Salem. Newburyport is a nice village with good restaurants, shops and bars.

Both Newburyport and Salem will give you great access to exploring the North Shore of Boston.

I go to boston every year, and find myself in the same boat - pricing downtown is outrageous - so we've stayed in Waltham it's 20 minutes outside (driving) boston - has some good hotels much cheaper and a train stop that takes you right downtown. Also - I go on roomsaver.com and get discount coupons - usually helps save another 15%

Lexington has the new Element hotel (part of Starwood chain) which I think has good rates. Lexington/Concord areas are nice, esp walking the trails at Walden Pond and visiting Minuteman National Park. It's a 15 min drive to Alewife if you have a car, and parking at Alewife is $4-5/24 hrs. From there you can take the train into the city.

Salem is nice too as others suggested. It's a bit far away from the city but it's quaint and historical as well.