<p>I need a hotel suggestion from someone familiar with Cambridge (Marite?). My son has requested an overnight in the dorms at MIT the first few days in Dec. But it looks like he'll need at least one night more than they are offering because of flights. He also wants to spend part of his visit at Harvard. So, does anyone have a suggestion of a hotel close enough to MIT that he could walk to classes there, but also close to a bus or subway stop so he could get to Harvard? We know almost nothing about the area.</p>
<p>I stayed at the <a href="mailto:Hotel@MIT">Hotel@MIT</a>. It fits your requirements exactly. 5 minute walk to MIT and 5 minute walk to subway stop. Plus it's a cool hotel.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Boston Marriott Cambridge. It's across the street from campus and has a T-stop at the back door. Very nice and convenient (if a little pricey for us). I think they give discounts for MIT visits.</p>
<p>There's a bus stop in front of Lobby 7 on Mass Ave. The bus goes straight to Harvard.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with coureur. The Hotel @ MIT is, I believe, if memory serves me correctly, managed by Hilton. If you spend a little time perusing the web, you can probably find some good prices for it. And yes-- it is a fun place-- with the models in the lobby and the computer chips in the furniture. Our room didn't have the Bose radio, as advertised, but who cares. The restaurant is good too. We were there in the middle of a huge snowstorm, but could walk back and forth to the campus easily, and as most of the MIT folks are nocturnal, life began at 10 p.m. Don't miss the little MIT museum on the road from the hotel to campus. (P.S - after all the years that my s. talked about MIT, after his visit he decided that it was better for grad school than undergrad, as there seemed to me an unspoken emphasis on the grad students. So, we'll see in 4 yrs...</p>
<p>And the T red line goes from MIT to Harvard Square, a few stops is all. Very easy.</p>
<p>I've stayed at both the Marriott and the Marriott Residence Inn in Kendall Square and gotten good deals, depending on the time of year. Weekend nights in the winter were particularly inexpensive*. (The Marriott, by the way, was where the 2002 USAMO was held--students easily walked from that hotel over to MIT for the exam and tours.)</p>
<p>As an alternative, why not ask Harvard to put him up for a night, since he's visitng there too? That would save some money AND give him some exposure to Harvard dormitory/social life.</p>
<p>(*Note: I should point out that "inexpensive" is something of a misnomer. It was only inexpensive relative to the usual exhorbitant Boston/Cambridge hotel prices! It's been over 10 years since I've been able to get a price less than $100 for a night in a hotel room within walking distance of Harvard or MIT. But I've come pretty close to $100 at the Marriot Residence Inn, on occasion, which also offers a big complementary breakfast buffet.)</p>
<p>Texas:
I sent you a private message through CC.</p>
<p>Hotel at MIT is nice and convenient. However the Hyatt Regency offers free transportation to Harvard. They also will pick you up from Harvard Square at a designated spot when you call them. Hyatt Regency is at the end of the dorm row, so an easy walk to campus. I have stayed at both depending who had the lowest rates on cheaprooms.com.. If your child needs to stay longer I am sure he could find a student willing to keep them. Good Luck!</p>
<p>The Hotel@MIT not only has the science-minded models and displays in the lobby, it also has mathematical equations as the pattern on the bedspreads. And of course every room has a T1 high speed internet line at no additional charge.</p>
<p>I'm not clear. Is this hotel for your son to stay in alone? Or for you and your son? Have you considered a youth hostel in Cambridge or Boston if it is just for your son? Or having him sleep at the dorm of a friend who's at one of the colleges in that area?</p>
<p>My H and I have stayed at the Hotel@MIT and the Kendall Inn, both very convenient to T stops (Central and Kendall, respectively), but both in the $150-200 range.</p>
<p>yes, for my son alone (he has forbade me to even think about going). As near as I can tell, Harvard does not arrange overnights at all. And MIT only arranges for up to 2 nights, and can't tell you anything definite until 1 week ahead of time when it's too late to arrange flights. So we're going ahead and arranging flights now, hoping he can stay 3 nights in some dorm or other. He knows a few people at both schools, although none very well. We're just looking at hotels as a back-up plan.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. Hotel@MIT looks very cool from the website. He would like the nerdy motif.</p>
<p>I believe Harvard offers overnights on Mondays and Tuesdays this month (or it might have been just October). Check their website. I'm sure it's on there, under "prospective students."</p>
<p>Harvard definitely does overnights. A girl I know has already had a prospective student applying EA stay overnight in her room on the dorm.</p>
<p>I found the overnight info for Harvard! Thanks for making me look again. I had checked a couple of times without finding it, and just decided it didn't exist.</p>
<p>texas, I sent you a private message</p>
<p>Tex
When is S coming to Pasadena?</p>
<p>Bookworm - January for Pasadena. I was actually hoping we would get to skip that one, since we went last year, plus he spent 5 weeks on campus during the summer. But no such luck - he feels like he needs to visit again when classes are in session and he can get a more typical experience. I haven't started thinking about housing arrangements for that one yet. He wants to stay in a dorm, of course, and there does not seem to be an official overnight program. But he's applied early decision. I'm hoping that once he is accepted they'll be willing to scrounge up a dorm host for him. If not, we'll make it a family trip. He does not seem to be as set against having parents along on a visit there as he is against it for MIT/Harvard (or maybe it just seems that way because he hasn't thought about it yet).</p>