Best Hotel Location for trip to Aquarium (Boston, Cambridge: spring break, credit)

[CVette]

Hi all, I am planning a trip to the NE Aquarium. We'll be traveling in from NY, staying the night and then driving to the Aquarium on a weekday when they open at 9am. What is the best area to stay to limit my travel time between the hotel and the aquarium during the morning commute? I want to avoid staying downtown due to high hotel and parking costs. I also tried to avoid the Logan airport area.

The Holiday Inn on Beacon st in Brookline looks nice. I'm guessing the commute might be 20-30min. What's the best route to take around the 9am hour? I didn't find any hotels I liked in Cambridge or Roxbury (or along 93 South).

[lrfox]

Since you plan on driving, don't park at the Aquarium garage. It's the most expensive garage in the city and it's inevitable that you'll end up spending $30 or more simply for parking. I'd recommend the Dock Square garage (at the Hard Rock Cafe), Government Center Garage, or Post Office Square garage as an alternative. The aquarium is a 10 minute walk or less from all of those places.

That said, unless you have a large group, taking the subway will save you some money. It'll be $4 per person round trip from wherever you're staying. Regardless of the line you're on, it'll be a short walk (and an enjoyable one) from the subway station. In addition to cost, it would save you the trouble of driving in rush hour Boston traffic which can be a pain regardless of how familiar you are with the city.

The Holiday Inn in Brookline is just fine. Although, I'd be surprised if they didn't charge for parking. I know a number of places in that area that will charge at least $20/day. The good news is that the hotel is right next to a stop on the Green Line. That line would take you to Government Center where you can either switch to the Blue Line (free transfer) and go one stop to Aquarium, or you can just get off and walk 5 minutes to the Aquarium from Gov't Center (through Quincy Market which is worth walking through).

If you can get a good deal for a rate on a downtown hotel, you may actually be able to save money on parking. If you really want to drive from Brookline to the Aquarium, you're going to pay in the ballpark of $20 (at least) at the hotel to park and another $30 to park at the Aquarium for a grand total of $50 (at a minimum) for parking. If you arrive in Boston after 5 and park downtown, it's between $10-20 to park overnight in most downtown garages (except, of course the Aquarium garage). You could also walk from a downtown hotel to the Aquarium which would save you a nice chunk of change. One rule of parking downtown... NEVER let the hotel park your car for you. Hotels always charge a premium and often times don't keep the car on site. In fact, if you park at a nearby garage yourself, there's a good chance you'll be parking in the same garage the hotel uses to valet your car for less than 1/2 of what the hotel charges.

For rates, check Kayak and use Priceline (the Name Your Own Price section) or Hotwire to get the best deals downtown. Any 3-5 Star hotel in the Financial District, Beacon Hill or Faneiul Hall area will be in a safe spot, within walking distance to the Aquarium and clean and comfortable. Between Priceline/Hotwire and self-parking downtown, you can do the overnight for less than it would cost you to stay in Brookline and park in two places.

If you insist on staying in the 'burbs, I can personally vouch for the Element in Lexington. Very good property (new and all rooms have kitchenettes). The Aloft in Lexington (literally on the same lot as the Element and operated by the same company- Starwood Hotels) is nice, but not as family oriented as the Element (Aloft is a child of the W brand... a little more modern/trendy). Hotel Indigo is nice too. All of these hotels have easy access to/from I-90 (I'm assuming you're coming from that way?). If you want to drive in to the aquarium, these hotels will charge less for parking. It's also not a difficult commute into town via I-90 (30 minutes or so).

[gf2020]

Why not stay at the Long Wharf Marriott? It's right next door to the Aquarium.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by gf2020

Why not stay at the Long Wharf Marriott? It's right next door to the Aquarium.

I stayed there, did the Aquarium/Faneui Hall, all within walking distance. Had a limo take us to dinner at Limoncello (North End) and then to the Fleet center for an event. Worked out great!

[CVette]

Wow! Thanks everyone and Irfox for the detailed post!

I guess some more details would help, I just didn't want to be long winded for my first post. I'll have two kids under 5 so I think it's best to avoid the T. It would be nice to grab the car right near the Aquarium when we're done and head home.

The Rowe's Wharf garage offers $18 with Aquarium validation, which seems like a great price for a garage near the aquarium. My plan was to try to find a hotel under $250 within 0.5 mile of the garage/aquarium. I would drop the family off at a downtown hotel, park in the evening in the Rowe's garage, walk by myself back to the hotel. Then we all would walk to the Aquarium the next morning, have a day and walk back to the Rowe's Wharf garage and drive home late afternoon. I'd pay $18 for parking and avoid the hotel parking. The only hotel that meets my needs (<0.5mi, two double beds under $250) is the Bostonian. I still might do that but am worried about two young kids (not used to the city) getting enough sleep in a downtown hotel (too noisy?) to enjoy the following day. Without enough sleep the night before, no one will have fun

Also, Priceline can't guarantee me two beds so I'm left to my AAA rate. I thought for a while about using the Long Wharf but I can't convince myself to spend over $300 after tax for 1 night with two little kids. Thanks for the tip on valet - I'm too fastidious about my car to use a valet.

So I started looking for something close with a short drive (closer than Newton/Lexington) like the HI Brookline. It's a decent price at $210 and close to supermarkets for the kids breakfast or snacks. Yes, parking is $24 but that's still only $234 total (before the 15% tax!), within a pretty close drive in a good, quiet neighborhood.

So after a lot of online research I think I'm down to the Bostonian and walk or the HI Brookline and drive (paying for parking twice). That's why I thought I'd check the ability to drive in from Brookline to the Aquarium. Should I head over to Cambridge St to hop on 90 to get to the Aquarium or should I try to take Rt2 and other roads into downtown? I'm not sure what the morning commute would look like. I figured the closer I am to start, the better/shorter the commute would be.

Thanks again!

[lrfox]

You're welcome!

That parking rate is very good. I would certainly take advantage of that. It's not that much more expensive than taking the subway and the difference is probably worth it for the piece of mind. Two young children by yourself can be a hassle on the T during rush hour (though they are free since they're under 11). I wouldn't worry about the noise in any hotel downtown that's 3-stars or more. They're designed to keep out the noise very well (and most do an excellent job). Especially the more business oriented hotels. If something falls into your price range, just check the reviews on tripadvisor to see if there are many noise complaints.

Do you mind my asking what dates you're looking to stay? I'm surprised that nothing is below $250 in the area around the Aquarium. Is it a holiday? I also have some promos for Starwood Hotels (their brands are Westin, Sheraton, W, Liberty, Le Meridian, Aloft, Element, Four Points and St. Regis) that may be useful depending on your dates.

I didn't think of children when I mentioned priceline and hotwire! They don't offer bed choices (for the most part) with their rates which is definitely a deal killer.

As for the drive, I would probably get on I-90. The commute before 9am will be slow no matter what, but there are just so many lights on the surface roads and so many left and rights that I think it would drive you nuts. And when you say "Bostonian" hotel, do you mean the Millenium Bostonian? If so, that's a great hotel in a great spot. I would definitely recommend that. You'll avoid dealing with the rush hour commute and the walk through Quincy Market (even if you're just passing through) will be nice for you and the kids. I feel like it would probably be easier just to stay there.

[Bruins_Fan]

Warning: if you park in the Dock Square garage, make sure you have CASH. They don't accept credit/debit! A friend of mine joined me for a B's game recently, and he didn't have enough cash to cover the $35 parking fee. Lucky for him I had enough :/

A reminder as to why I take the T onto Boston whenever possible.

[CVette]

Sorry for the delay...I had to reformat and reinstall Windows.

Yes, I meant the Millenium Bostonian. I did see some comments about noise at the Bostonian, which I was surprised at, but we ultimately decided to stay at the HI Brookline. The car is more accessible during our stay and there are less expensive food options for the kids. Thank you for the promo offers though.

We have been looking at middle of the week (to avoid crowds) toward the end of April and early May so there's nothing special about the dates that I know of. I did notice next week Boston area schools are on Spring break so we avoided that week.

The drive from Brookline to the Aquarium was my biggest question, so I'll take I90 and avoid the multiple lights.

Thanks!

[thecharlesriver]

Originally Posted by CVette

Hi all, I am planning a trip to the NE Aquarium. We'll be traveling in from NY, staying the night and then driving to the Aquarium on a weekday when they open at 9am. What is the best area to stay to limit my travel time between the hotel and the aquarium during the morning commute? I want to avoid staying downtown due to high hotel and parking costs. I also tried to avoid the Logan airport area.

The Holiday Inn on Beacon st in Brookline looks nice. I'm guessing the commute might be 20-30min. What's the best route to take around the 9am hour? I didn't find any hotels I liked in Cambridge or Roxbury (or along 93 South).

I would go to hotwire.com or hotels.com and look for something in the financial district, north end, south boston/waterfront, government center, or almost any area around the T.

The problem with places like Holiday Inn in Brookline is that you are going to pay a hefty amount for it as well, and it's not a great place to stay. What's the rate on the Holiday Inn you're looking at? If you're stuck on that area, it will take you about an hour to get into the North End due to the slow pace of the green line.

[SoFresh99]

You might want to call the aquarium and see what the deal is, last I heard all of the fish were being moved from the big tank to the penguin pond so that the crack in the big tank could be repaired. I don't know if that is a long term project or not. IMHO the aquarium is really not much of an attraction to begin with and I would hate for the one cool part of it to be closed when you go.