<p>We stay at the Hampton Inn in Cambridge right near Green Line Lechmere station; excellent rates for government employees whether or not business travel.</p>
<p>It might be easier to stay at hotels in Boston proper or in Cambridge easy walking distance to the T. Though some hotels are near public transportation, the Tufts dorms aren’t going to be, unfortunately. The nearest T stop at Davis Square is a 10 minute walk, and there is also a shuttle that goes from campus to that T stop. Are you flying in, or taking the bus or train? How many suitcases and boxes will your son have? Are you picking up any purchases from Bed Bath and Beyond or a similar store? </p>
<p>It might be possible to ship some of your son’s belongings ahead of time to Mail Services (check when they start accepting packages). Then your son will have to get them from the mail room on move-in day. When we moved in D1 (coming from California) I shipped a couple of bulkier items she’d bought for her dorm room (memory foam mattress topper, heavy and dense, and her duvet cover) directly to Tufts rather than having to wrestle them cross-country.</p>
<p>He will ship some items directly from Amazon. I will ship a few things and I’m sure we will take a taxi and buy a few things. He is flying in on the 22nd and I’m coming in on the 27th. Thanks momyel and SlitheyTove.</p>
<p>I just checked Hyatt own website, there are still rooms available. I checked from Mon to Wed (8/26-8/28). see link.
I called them. there is free shuttle to Tufts and Davis Square upon request. So I have no plan to have the rental car, just use their shuttle for the move in day. </p>
<p><a href=“http://bostonmedford.place.hyatt.com/hyatt/reservations/roomsAndRates.jsp?language=en&xactionid=13f5eb41026&isFromHICBookingValidator=HIC&_requestid=300278[/url]”>http://bostonmedford.place.hyatt.com/hyatt/reservations/roomsAndRates.jsp?language=en&xactionid=13f5eb41026&isFromHICBookingValidator=HIC&_requestid=300278</a></p>
<p>fromcalifornia, you might want to double-check with the Hyatt that the shuttle will be able to accomodate y’all and your stuff. Sometimes hotel shuttles are large enough to carry a lot of people and their bags; other times, it’s just a van with limited cargo room. At worst, you can always get a taxi. :)</p>
<p>Good reminder. Definitely, if the shuttle does not work, I can get a taxi. I asked them if I can use it for the moving in day, he said Yes. But it really depends on that day. If too many people … </p>
<p>by the way, the shuttle runs about every 15 minutes if you did not catch the current one, as he told me. </p>
<p>SlitheyTove, you said you shipped your daughter’s stuff to the Tufts. What carrier did you use? Is it expensive? I might need to ship something as well. Should I use the dorm address? The Mail Service you mentioned is the same as I put dorm address or different address?</p>
<p>fromcalifornia, the things I shipped were a few new items that she’d bought for her dorm room. They had to be shipped from the seller, so it was no more expensive to just have them shipped to Tufts instead of to home. 
And yes, you just use the dorm address. Make sure that you aren’t shipping anything before the mailroom starts accepting packages for the coming year!</p>
<p>She did have one (enormous) box of stuff that got shipped from home to Tufts at the beginning of sophomore year. I just used USPS. </p>
<p>Move-in day is stressful and emotional, so I figure that ANYTHING you can do to help simplify things is worth it (given it works with your family’s budget, that is) :D</p>
<p>fromcalifornia - I just checked that site and they don’t have any rooms available. I’ll call and see</p>
<p>too bad. I just saw you only need 8/27. I searched 8/26 & 8/27 two nights, the room is available. one night, no room. so they must still have room. definitely call. </p>
<p>I found that the link I posted now goes to the central Hyatt. below is the exactly one. </p>
<p>[Medford</a> MA Hotel - Boston Hotel, Hyatt Place Boston/Medford](<a href=“http://bostonmedford.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html?src=agn_mls_hp_lclb_gplaces_boszm]Medford”>http://bostonmedford.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html?src=agn_mls_hp_lclb_gplaces_boszm)</p>
<p>Thanks fromcalifornia - I ended up getting a room at the Hyatt Cambridge and they have a shuttle to Harvard Square - It will work out and I think my son my come and stay with me the night of the 27th. Now, just to find out when we can ship things to the school. And since he is going with a random roommate the roommate assignment so they can decide what to bring.</p>
<p>Wait, is your son doing a pre-orientation? I didn’t even know that there were ones that started on August 22.</p>
<p>TuftsStudent - he is doing a pre-orientation. Not sure of the name of it but it is the community service one.</p>
<p>FOCUS. Did they say to come that early?</p>
<p>And your son should absolutely be in his own dorm the night before matriculation, not in your hotel. It’s an excellent time to meet people, and to hang out with friends he has already made through FOCUS.</p>
<p>Hey there. Incoming student here. Question- if both my mother and i are flying up to medford, will there be a way for us to get to a bed bath and beyond/target/etc from campus without renting a car? I was planning on doing the thing where you shop at home and then pick up your items at the bbb store in medford. Is there a way to get a bus/shuttle/taxi/etc from campus to the store and back?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Refer to p. 6 of this thread. Typically there’s a planned excursion there via bus that takes place sometime after matriculation (i.e., after parents have been shoo’ed off of campus). But nothing before then. So you’ll probably need to take a taxi, which may not be big enough to fit everything you buy there (depending on what you get, of course).</p>
<p>There is a trip to target during orientation. But not BBB. Taxi will be very inconvenient. You really need to rent a car. If that’s not an option, buy at BBB and ship everything to Tufts. But then you don’t know when it will get there. You need a car. Driving there is not a problem. Tufts is in the suburb. And BBB is couple of miles away of easy driving</p>
<p>You can certainly take a taxi from Tufts to BB&B in Somerville, then call a taxi and have another take you home. Just be aware that the round trip will probably cost $30 to $40. (Our taxis are insanely expensive out in the suburbs.)</p>
<p>Okay, thank you so much for the info!</p>
<p>They may be tough to get a hold of during move-in but I believe there are a few zip cars around campus, too</p>