Boston advice?

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caravanman

caravanman

Engineer
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
Messages
4,810
Location
Nottingham, England.
Hi Folks,

I am considering another budget trip to the states in a couple of weeks, and airfares to Boston seem good value just now.

Has anyone any tips on either a decent hostel, or cheap motel near the station, or at the airport?

Any tips on getting from the airport to the station... I assume BOS is the main station?

I see there is an option for business class seats on the train to Chicago. Has anyone used this? Is there any more legroom, wider seats, or somesuch? It is about $60 more than regular coach and I don't want to waste money just in exchange for travelling alongside business types!

I would probably spend more time exploring Boston itself on my way home from the states...

Ed.
 
1. Never been to Boston, but to find a good lodging would be to search for them on sites like Expedia, Priceline, or Kayak.

2. There is a SL1 Bus that runs between Logan Airport and South Station every 12 minutes, and the ride itself takes 16 minutes. Yes, Boston South is the main station there.

3. Business Class has more spacious seats than coach, at least from what I heard of, but there are only so many seats there. Most of the times Business Class is somewhat empty, and contrary to the name, it is not all businessmen, as I've seen quite a few of non-businessmen on the business class. Cheaper than Sleepers though. If you had a few more to burn, try getting a roomette sleeper (I occasionally do this on long hauls), and have some flexibility of days in mind.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
I have never used the Lake Shore Limited to and from Boston so I can't speak for that, I only use the NEC, or Downeaster service.

As for hotels, any hotel in Boston will run on the expensive side, in particular now through October.

There is a fairly new hostel near South Station.

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/HI-Boston/Boston/54929

Near Back Bay Station, the Mid Town Hotel is spartan, but it's clean and near the Prudential Green Line station.

Hotels near the airport will run the same.

The least expensive hotels are near the Braintree station, the southernmost station on the Red Line.

For travel within Boston for 2 days or more, the 7 Day Pass for the T, more than pays for itself.

The extra fare for Braintree was eliminated quite a few years ago.

Ken
 
Boston South (BOS) is the main station with all sort of amenities, rental cars, Acela Lounge, food, etc. I have taken the LSL 448/449 many times to/from Chicago and Boston. The cars from Boston are added to the LSL from NYP, to make a long single level train. DC on the LSL is not the same since the Heritage Diner was taken off. Anxious for the VLII to get on line. My trips to Boston never had me in Boston proper, so I dont know the hotels in the area.
 
Triley could tell you exactly, but I believe Business Class on 449 is club style, 2-1 seating in one-half of the Café Car. As far as hotels go, they are quite expensive, and there are some good ones near Boston's Back Station, at which your train will stop.
 
Thanks all for the quick responses. Having done a little research, it seems Boston is indeed a very expensive place to stay.

If the business seating is part of the cafe car, is it open to the cafe car noise, etc, or quite seperate with a bulkhead and door? Just wondering if it's location next the cafe car would lead to a lot of through foot traffic?

I like coach anyway, but wondering if I might get a better sleep in business...

Ed.
 
I've never taken BCon the LSL, but on the Downeaster (which is also the 2x1 Club) BC is separated from the café counter by a bulkhead and a curtain.

The Silver Line runs from Logan Airport to South Station (BOS). If boarding at the airport, there is no charge! :)
 
Last year I traveled from Boston to Albany on the Lakeshore Limited. At that time, there were no sleepers on 449, and BC was only available to those passengers who were booked in sleepers from Albany to the west. I was in coach, but I ended up chatting with a BC passenger. I spent some time standing in BC and talking to one of the 2 passengers in BC, and observed the car. The car looked very comfortable and I was disappointed that I was unable to book BC on that trip.
 
My most frequent Amtrak destination is BOS, because I have family in the area. Boston has a wonderful public transit system called the MBTA, of which the Silver Line is only one branch. There are buses, subways, trolleys and commuter trains. Your best bet, if you want to spend more than just a night in-transit, is to find a good lodging value and then figure out if it's easy to get from there to downtown using the transit system. Back Bay (first stop on the westbound LSL) and Braintree are both good choices, as they are very convenient to downtown by the "T" (as the subway/trolley system is called). In fact, there may also be museums and other tourist attractions in Back Bay. Back Bay is the home of (or close to) several universities, so if classes are not in session, there may be hostel-type lodging at reasonable prices.

I've been seated in the 2x1 club portion of the lounge car (when the sleeper was unavailable between Albany and Boston). The seats are quite comfortable. There is a curtain between the cafe portion and the business section. I don't know about foot traffic. Does someone have a link to the consist? I am actually considering taking Business Class on the LSL, on my next trip.
 
The business class portion of the Cafe will only have the sleeper passengers on 449's sleeper walking through. There is only a cloth curtain separating the business class section from the rest of the Cafe though, so if things get a little rowdy...it will be heard.

Send me a message when your days are more set, and let me know what you're willing to spend, and I may be able to point out some steals on Priceline or Hotwire. I use to pay for a hotel out of pocket a lot in Boston for work, so I've gotten pretty good at figuring out what hotels I'm able to get off those sites, even though it's suppose to be "unknown" until you book.
 
I would just add that I last visited Boston in January of last year and found hotel prices to be breathtaking, even during the low season.

Another option is to find a hotel away from the city proper but near an MTBA station [known locally as The "T"---which is also the logo on all the railcars & buses]. I ended up staying at a hotel in Cambridge (across tha hahbah) which was across the street from a T station. It was ultra convenient, and much appreciated on the days in which it wasn't warm (relatively speaking) & sunny---which won't be too much of an issue in summer. I commuted every day to the Boston Convention Center and experienced few problems, even when bridge work was in effect and there were bustitutions to the first station in Beantown.

Using Priceline or Hotwire can be a good bet, even more so when someone like Triley knows which hotels are which and can steer you towards them. If you are flying blind in that regard, always choose a star level up on the sites, bearing in mind that their star ratings have nothing to do with actual ratings from established ratings services (eg, AAA, Forbes Travel Guide). Best to avoid the one star establishments at all costs and be careful when choosing the two star ones. Both booking services used to use only name brand (aka 'chain') hotels, which gives another layer of protection, but now both use "selected independent properties", which basically means those who agree to the minimum standards whether they actually meet them or not. If you know the name of the property, checking the reviews on TripAdvisor is usually helpful. Many of the reviewers are rather picky, but at least you will have an idea which places are definite death traps, drug dens, bedbug resorts, and petri dishes for molds, etc. Unless you are accustomed to sweltering weather, checking whether the property has working (and not just advertised) air conditioning will be very helpful. Many hotels in the northern parts of the US focus on the heating aspect of their HVAC systems because that is what's needed for most of the year. But it can be just as uncomfortable being in a place where 26°C & up is considered "cool" as it is in a place where sleeping in a sweater is essential during the winter.
 
booking.com shows a bunch within a mile or so of south station for around $150. The trick is to use the map overlay so you can see which ones are near the T (subway).

That was always my complain about sites like priceline and hotwire is that they only guarantee an area. Sometimes you get a place that is nowhere public transport. I ran into that earlier this year when I took my kids to DC. Could not find anything cheap, so used hotwire, and it picked me the Arlington Sheraton. Hotel itself was great, but a mile from the nearest subway station, surrounded by the highway, so hard to even walk anywhere.
 
You might want to consider NOT spending any nights in Boston since it is vastly overpriced and over hyped as a place to visit Eddie!

I'd consider heading to North Station and catching the Downeaster to Portland.Maine, a charming little seaside town with great seafood and reasonable hotel prices outside the Summer season.

As an alternate, hop on 67 (the nice 2×1 Biz Class is Worth it!)and sleep overnight to Philadelphia, a much more enjoyable City than Boston, or Washington DC ( cheaper Hotels around Baltimore,BWI) where one can book a Hostel.

I know you've done New York and would really enjoy Philly,Baltimore and Washington much more than Bawstin!!
 
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Bob Dylan said:
You might want to consider NOT spending any nights in Boston since it is vastly overpriced and over hyped as a place to visit Eddie!

I'd consider heading to North Station and catching the Downeaster to Portland.Maine, a charming little seaside town with great seafood and reasonable hotel prices outside the Summer season.

As an alternate, hop on 67 (the nice 2×1 Biz Class is Worth it!)and sleep overnight to Philadelphia, a much more enjoyable City than Boston, or Washington DC ( cheaper Hotels around Baltimore,BWI) where one can book a Hostel.

I know you've done New York and would really enjoy Philly,Baltimore and Washington much more than Bawstin!!
Click to expand...
Please, there is reason our hotels are pricey, Boston is so superior to any other American city you can't debate it.

We have everything New York City has with a lot less drama.

Ken
 
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Boston is a great place. It is one of America's great cities and certainly one of the most historic. The hotels I've used when visiting have been pricey, but most big city hotels are. I'm sure there's some low priced motel or hostel that a lot of people on this site are fond of to be found in Boston. After all, it's a big college town. I definitely recommend visit the Hub.
 
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Maverickstation said:
Bob Dylan said:
You might want to consider NOT spending any nights in Boston since it is vastly overpriced and over hyped as a place to visit Eddie!

I'd consider heading to North Station and catching the Downeaster to Portland.Maine, a charming little seaside town with great seafood and reasonable hotel prices outside the Summer season.

As an alternate, hop on 67 (the nice 2×1 Biz Class is Worth it!)and sleep overnight to Philadelphia, a much more enjoyable City than Boston, or Washington DC ( cheaper Hotels around Baltimore,BWI) where one can book a Hostel.

I know you've done New York and would really enjoy Philly,Baltimore and Washington much more than Bawstin!!
Click to expand...
Please, there is reason our hotels are pricey, Boston is so superior to any other American city you can't debate it.

We have everything New York City has with a lot less drama.

Ken
Click to expand...
And here's our winner...KEN!
 
I knew Red Sawk Nation existed, and understand that Bawstin is a Historic City, but having visited and lived in the all the Major NE Cities I'll still take the Apple,Philly and Sodom on the Potomac over the Hub! YMMV
 
I found a nice hotel across the river in Cambridge, stayed there several nights before switching to the more expensive hotel where the conference was. It was the second time in my life I got to see snow!
 
When I stay in many cities, I book a hotel outside the city near a station of the commuter line. Boston is full of history, so if you haven't been there, then you definitely want to experience it. I agree with the Maine suggestion. Beautiful area, unique coast line, quaint small communities.
 
La Cappela Suites is a charming little B & B, rates go around 120 a day, no elevator though, located in little Italy, it can be a little far to walk, a cab might be good if you don't want to walk a half mile from the nearest subway stop
 

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