The best cheap hotels in Boston - plus hotel deals
Inexpensive Boston hotels can save you a ton of money - without diminishing the quality of your vacation or travel experience.
Here are my recommendations about where you'll find the best cheap hotels, Boston discount hotels, special deals and packages, other affordable accommodations, and how to save money on parking.
Finally, check out out my recommendations for the best on-line tools for finding Boston hotel discounts, best rates, and last-minute specials.
Inexpensive Boston hotels - 3 top choices
You may be wondering what you give up in return for cheap rates. Convenience? Safety? Comfort?
Don't worry . . . the main trade-off relates to amenities. Boston's inexpensive hotels tend to be small and focus only on offering lodging - so you won't find conference facilities, banquet halls, meeting rooms, or convention facilities. You may not find little bottles of fancy shampoos in the bathrooms.
Boston's budget hotels also may not offer room service or on-site restaurants. You may also find ho-hum furnishings . . . older furniture, color schemes that were popular 20 or 30 years ago, and older color TVs rather than the latest high definition flat screens. Linens may provide basic comfort rather than high thread count luxury.
In general, these 3 hotels consistently provide low rates in super locations:
Boston Hotel Buckminster - If you're looking for inexpensive Boston hotels near Fenway Park or Boston University, the Buckminster is where you'll want to be. Furnishings in the rooms are comfortable rather than elegant and the lobby decor reminds me of my college dorm . . . but the staff is pleasant and helpful, and you can't beat the location - or the rates.
Hotel 140 - This small, contemporary boutique hotel (shown above) is part of a mixed-use complex in the former YWCA building, built in 1929 and now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Best of all, you get an excellent Back Bay location. Hotel 140 is directly across from I.M.Pei's John Hancock Tower, and only one short block away from magnificent Copley Square. The hotel is also near the Back Bay Train/Subway station, the South End, Bay Village, and the Theatre District.
Midtown Hotel Boston - With the architectural design of a 1950s Boston motel, the popular Midtown Hotel offers fairly basic decor - plus a pool, restaurant, and great Back Bay location just down the street from the much swankier Colonnade Hotel Boston. Plus this inexpensive hotel is one of the favorite pet-friendly hotels in Boston.
3 More inexpensive Boston hotels to consider
The following 3 hotels are not for everyone. But if they meet your needs and the rates compare well with other options, they can represent a big bargain.
Club Quarters Hotel Boston - Located in the heart of Boston's downtown Financial District near the Freedom Trail and Boston Harbor waterfront, Club Quarters is a "private" hotel - there's no lobby and you must have a key to get in. It targets business travelers, and also works well for 1 or 2 leisure travelers. And be warned: this small but popular boutique hotel is often fully booked, especially during the week.
Milner Hotel Boston - Visitors love or hate the Milner. Built in 1877 and one of the country's oldest continuously operating hotels, the Milner has a great location at the edge of Boston's downtown Theatre District and Bay Village, close to many wonderful restaurants. Most rooms are small and fairly basic. If you like luxury touches or updated decor, you should stay elsewhere. However, if you like the location and don't care about aesthetics or amenities, check the rates here - you can sometimes find a bargain.
John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center - The drawback to this affordable Boston conference hotel, located next to Trinity Church and the John Hancock Tower in Back Bay's Copley Square is that rooms are somewhat basic and slightly shabby, in contrast with its splendid location. But you can often find great rates here - and you can't beat the location.
Feeling lucky? You may find cheap rates at these Boston hotels
Boston hotel rates vary
based so many factors - with season and day of the week being two of the biggest. For example, you'll almost always find better rates during January than July.
But occasionally, you can find rates at mid-range hotels that are as low or lower than what you might find at inexpensive Boston hotels. For example, accommodations catering primarily to business travelers may be pricey during the week but offer great weekend rates. Here are several hotels to keep an eye on:
Holiday Inn Boston - near MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) and Beacon Hill
Why? These are older (but beautifully renovated) hotels, with wide ranges of room sizes - no cookie-cutter rooms here! You'll sometimes find the smaller rooms at a big discount. I've seen them at rates even lower than what you'd normally expect at Boston discount hotels.
How to find the best Boston hotel rates and specials
Many of the hotels here, including a couple of the most inexpensive Boston hotels, offer "specials" and "packages." Some of these will save you money . . . and some won't.
Usually "specials" are hotel discounts for certain nights, or perhaps a "free" night if you stay for 3-4 nights. If you're planning a 4-day trip, or have flexibility about when you come, these Boston hotel specials are definitely worth seeking out.
By contrast, Boston hotel packages usually bundle special services or amenities with the cost of your room. Typical package items might be free tickets to a destination such as the Museum of Fine Arts or an attraction such as a Fenway Park tour, or a complimentary meal such as breakfast or dinner in the hotel's restaurant. You'll also find Boston hotel packages based on themes, such as "Romance" or "Golf."
An easy way to explore what's being offered is to use the HotelsCombined search tool to find several hotels in the Boston neighborhood where you want to stay.
Find the offers with slightly higher rates and click on them to see what packages they include.
Sometimes you'll find the best special deals at Boston luxury hotels . . . and sometimes, if you get lucky, you'll also find great rates there as well. For this happy combo, try the Eliot Hotel, Langham Boston, and Fairmont Battery Wharf.
Are hotels outside of Boston cheaper?
Yes and no.
You may find hotels with lower rates in Boston neighborhoods outside of the city center such South Boston and Allston, and also in some Boston suburbs. However, many of these hotels on the outskirts are not near subway stations. The time and expense of getting to and parking in central Boston will make any savings quickly disappear.
In general, you're better off looking for inexpensive Boston hotels within the city's central neighborhoods - Downtown, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the South End, the North End, the West End/Government Center, Fenway, and Charlestown. If your plans include Cambridge, then look for hotels near Harvard Square, Central Square, or MIT/Kendall Square.
However, one hotel outside of these areas is worth considering if you can find low rates. Best Western Hotel Tria in west Cambridge is an 8-10 minute walk from the Alewife station on the subway's Red Line. From Alewife, you're about 10 minutes from Harvard Square in Cambridge and about 20 minutes from downtown Boston locations. You'll usually find much better in winter than in summer. Daily rates for parking (as of July, 2009) are $12 versus the $42 at many downtown Boston hotels.
When hotels in the Boston suburbs make sense
Sometimes, you may be planning a couple of Boston activities plus other excursions outside of the city. This is when looking for inexpensive Boston hotel in the suburbs may make sense.
Good areas to try are Waltham, Newton, and Needham. They're close to both the Massachusetts Pike (which comes into Boston from the west), Route 128 (which circles Boston), and Route 2, which goes to the Alewife station on the Red Line.
The HotelsCombined tool works well for this search.
You can fairly easily reach various Green Line stations in Newton - but the Green Line "trains" (in reality, above-ground trolleys) are slower than the Red Line trains.
Is the savings worth the time, inconvenience, and cost of having to commute into town by subway, or worst yet, drive in and park?
That's a question that only you can decide.
How to shave 25% from your Boston hotel bill
Many Boston hotels are now (2009) charging as much as $42 for parking - yes, that's $42 plus tax that gets added to your hotel bill each day.
If you find a great rate of, say, $125 per night at an inexpensive Boston hotel but have to pay another $42 for parking . . . well, you can do the depressing math. Leaving your car at home can save you 25% of your total bill.
You do not need a car in central Boston because you can easily take the subway ("T") or a cab; in fact, a car is a liability. If you are planning a day trip or 2, just rent a car for the day.
But what if you're planning to drive to Boston, and taking a plane, train, or bus simply doesn't work for you? If you're planning to be here for 7 days or less, park at one of the T stations that allow overnight parking (find a list at the MBTA's website by clicking on "parking").
Park your car in the lot (in at least some lots, you'll need to arrive either before about 7:30am or after about 6pm to find a space), grab your suitcase, and take the T to your hotel.
You'll have to pay for the overnight parking ($8 at most stations in 2009) and of course your T ticket (about $2 each way) - but you'll still save a bundle. Plus, parking at the station and taking the T to your hotel will probably be faster and easier than driving in the city.
Even cheaper Boston hotel alternatives
Are even the inexpensive Boston hotels pricier than your budget permits?
Don't despair! Check out these options:
Guest Houses - These are more like small furnished apartments than hotels. Rates are somewhat lower than most hotels. Try Copley House for studios and 1-bedroom apartments on the Back Bay - South End border.
YWCA - The YWCA's Berkeley Residence in the South End near the Back Bay neighborhood offers nightly and longer term (5 weeks or more) lodging for very reasonable per-person rates. Both private and shared rooms are available, with shared baths. More information and rates
Hostels - Hostelling International provides hostel accommodations in Fenway, as well as some travel-related services such as tours to their guests. Both private and shared rooms are offered, although the biggest bargains are the shared rooms. Since rates are on a per-person basis, if you're traveling with 1 or 2 other people, you may find better values at some of the inexpensive Boston hotels. More information and rates
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