Hi Mountaineer girl,
I live twenty minutes north of Boston, so I don't spend the night often! Sorry, but I go to Boston often and have a lot of friends that stay in various hotels. I will ask them about that particular one. One good thing for sure is the location. 😉

thanks Darlene - I hope they don't say its a dump! If its clean, that's all I care about. Just somewhere convenient to lay our heads at night. We had a choice between the more expensive street-front rooms, or the "garden view" rooms. We took the cheaper garden view because I was afraid the street-front would be too noisy.

thanks again.

I have stayed at the harbor side.... .just once......that was enough for me.......when I go to Boston.........4 or 5 times a year I stay at the omni ......same area as harbor side...and about $40 cheaper and much much nicer in my opinion.....try hotels.com they guarantee lowest rates

well I just looked, and hotels.com has the onmi for $299, and I got the Harborside Inn at $199, and we're staying 3 nights, so do you think it warrants another $300 to stay at the Omni? What exactly did you not like about Harborside?

thanks for your opinion!

Hey....not sure if this would work for you or not, but have you considered Hotwire.com? Their only flaw is that when you book, your stay is non-refundable. Further, they don't give you the name of the establishment prior to booking. Now that I've scared you, here's what they do offer:

A star rating
A list of amentities
A specific area of the city in which the hotel is located
The price
Some hotels also have a marking of "customer favorite"

That being said, my husband and I were recently staying at the Navy Lodge in Jacksonville, Florida. One hour in that hotel was enough, so we checked out Hotwire. For $80/night we chose a 3 1/2 or 4 star hotel (don't remember how they rated it exactly) and after we paid for it, the next screen showed us that we had booked the Omni Jacksonville. Needless to say we were pretty excited. Other hotels and prices we have gotten in the past are: Omni Chicago for $75/night, Doubletree San Diego for $60/night, Westin or Wyndham (can't remember which) in downtown San Diego for $75/night, Marriott San Diego for $45/night...you get the picture.

Okay, now, my advice is that if you book through hotwire you stay above 3 stars....3 1/2 to 4 is the best value. Some 3 star hotels in some cities are equivalent to a Ramada or Comfort Inn....a 3 1/2 will bump you up substantially in quality.

I checked on a weekend in mid-september (14-17) and there are a couple of 4 star hotels for $109/night. One is in Back Bay - Copley Square, the other is in Waterfront - South Boston. The one in Copley Square has a fitness center, pool, dining, business center, internet, spa, and has a "best value" designation. If I click on the green "continue" button for that hotel I can see that retail value is $245/night, and there is a savings of $136/night. Not all listings will give you the retail value, but some do, so it's worth checking.

So long as you know you're heading to Boston, I think it's worth using Hotwire to book. It can seem scary to commit to a hotel in that way, with no room for cancellation, but the savings is so worth it, to me. It might be worth looking into for your timeframe.

Good luck!

thanks Crystal - I hadn't looked at hotwire for some reason. I've booked rental cars thru them, but not hotels. I'll check it out now. Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

You're welcome. It's always my first "go-to" for hotels. I like to get the best deal possible on airfare and lodging and splurge on restaurants and entertainment. My priorities are food and fun 🙂

Well Crystal, I did it! Made reservations thru hotwire for $112/night! BUT its not really where I want to be, but a nicer hotel. Its the Westin Waterfront, so its not exactly handy for the Freedom Trail and such, but I'm saving about $250 on the 3-day trip. Can't beat that with a stick! I hope we don't burn up all the savings in taxis. I need to do some research on the transportation issue. Anyway, Westin Waterfront usually charges $229 and up for rooms, so I definitely got a deal. '

Thanks again!

That's fabulous! Hopefully the location will end up having some perks. I have only visited Boston once, and it was for only one day. My husband is in the Navy and following his acceptance to a commissioning program in 2004 had to spend 2 months in Newport, Rhode Island for some training. During my weekend visit, we spent the majority of our time exploring Newport (the mansions are wonderful...I love interior design and architecture), but we took a day trip to Boston. I will confess that driving was a pain in my butt. There was a lot of road work going on and we missed our exit. Once we finally got into town we ditched the car and used our feet. We spent the entire day around the marketplace and the freedom trail. I wouldn't imagine cabs would be too costly for three days. Once you're over where you want to be, so long as you have comfy shoes, you should be fine hoofing it all around. I'm actually heading back to Newport in May with my mom and grandmother. I think they would really enjoy that little town. I can't remember how many days we have booked on that leg of our trip (we are heading to Dallas for a few days to visit my aunt following Newport), but maybe we'll head to Boston, too. My mom has never been and I know she would thoroughly enjoy the history. Anyway, enjoy your visit. Glad you saved some cash!!!

Moutaineer Girl,

You location is not bad at all! It's in the newly developing Seaport section. You can get the Silver Line (subway) to South Station which will connect you to all the subways you need (Back Bay for Newbury Street, State Street for Fanueil Hall). If the weather is good, it's actually a lovely walk across the Fort Point Channel (you can see the Tea Party boat on th way!) and from there it's only a 15 minute walk to Fanueil Hall and the Freedom Trail. Alternatively, taxis are plentiful and it shouldn't cost you more than $5 or $6 to get from your Hotel to Fanueil Hall. Boston is a great city. Have fun!

OK thanks to you guys. I feel much better now. I've been researching the subway system and it does seem pretty convenient and cheap! like $2 PP to get where we want to go. I guess there is a water taxi option too, at $10PP, might be nice to do once.

I always feel better about saving money 🙂

Mountaineer Girl,
Wish I could help you with Boston, I actually lived there for a year when I first got out of college but that was the eighties and I am sure most of what I would have known is gone. I can say I have had great luck with hotwire on discount rooms. They advice given about the star level is right on the money. You also can use priceline with similar results. If you pick the area of the city you want to stay in and the star level you can usually bid about 55% percent of the rates published any were else and get the room. I have used this regularly in Charleston for the Marriott and in Charlotte for an overnight prior to flights.
Good luck and enjoy Boston.
Jay

Hi Mountaineer Girl,
The Harborside is in an excellent location. The Quincy Market area is great for shopping, restaurants, bars, etc. Also very close to the North End if you like Italian (I love it!). You're probably thinking "great, now that I've made other arrangements" - don't worry! The Westin is in the South Boston Seaport right on the T (Silverline) so you can get wherever you want by subway http://www.mbta.com/. If the weather is good and you're up for walking, you can cross the bridge at either Congress Street or the old Seaport Blvd bridge (just a walking bridge now) to get to the Financial District/Quincy Market area. There are some good restauants on the South Boston side as well, such as Anthony's Pier 4 ($$$), No Name Seafood on Fish Pier (reasonable), and the Barking Crab (reasonable, good bar). Any other questions - just ask 🙂

thanks for all the advice/suggestions. I've heard of that "Anthony's Pier 4" and thought it might be an expensive restaurant. The Barking Crab sounds like it would suit us just fine! The other couple going with us ususally does things on a "shoe string" budget. That's the downfall to traveling with other couples. sometimes they want to do more than you can afford, sometimes its the other way around. Even tho its only a 3-day trip, I'm looking forward to it. It sounds like a fun time. I really wish we had time to go to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and other places. My sister has been there a few times and raves about it.

The Cape is nice in September - fewer people, but the weather is still nice.
Here's a few more websites for you. These places are all a short walk from the Westin:
http://www.barkingcrab.com/
http://www.theinsider.com/Boston/Restaurants/no-name.htm
Harpoon usually has an Oktoberfest in September: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?pid=28487