<p>My son wants to take a week next spring and tour the colleges in Boston as well as Brown. The problem is that we will really have difficulty affording a hotel for that many days. Anyone have ideas on inexpensive lodging in the area?</p>
<p>The YMCA of Greater Boston is practically on the Northeastern University campus and is one block away from the train station. A twin-shared private room runs $35/per person nightly.</p>
<p>Good suggestion but I have a question for the original poster. If your situation is such that you are concerned about hotel expenses consider carefully the cost of a child being in school a distance from home (assuming that you are not nearby Boston due to the need for a hotel).<br>
Not all of the schools are generous with Financial Aid and many consider heavy loans to be financial aid. Be sure your student has a range of schools on his radar including some that are financial safeties.</p>
<p>Brown offers a hotel type facility where visiting students and their parents can stay. My recollection is that it runs about $80.00 per night.</p>
<p>We found very much lower hotel prices at the airport-area hotels, some of which are very convenient to public transportation.</p>
<p>Also, each of the Boston-area schools we visited had discount arrangements with several local hotels – the admissions office often had a link to these discounts, or could send info to us via email.</p>
<p>But the earlier comment about understanding big city costs is a good one. Our friends with kids at school in Boston, New York City, and DC have all had stories about how much more things cost there than we’re used to paying.</p>
<p>One more thing about schools in Boston. Check out the housing options. Many do not guarantee housing. My son recently moved into an off campus apartment. He is a bit off campus so the rent for the studio is “only” $985.00 per month but in order to secure a place we had to pay out $985. times four back in January of 09 with his move in date 9/1/09. Ouch.</p>
<p>Another way to economize would be to do the trip in fewer days than a week. We did a similar trip last Fall and our schedule was to visit two schools a day. It was tight but it worked and in three days we saw six schools.</p>
<p>If you are going to have a car, make sure you either find a place that includes parking (not all hotels do…our experience was that there was an extra charge for parking)…or plan to use public transportation in Boston. There is a commuter train that goes into Providence…not expensive and might be worth exploring.</p>
<p>What is your budget for lodging for this trip? And how many people will be staying in the room? If there are two of you and you are looking in the $120 a night range, try the John Jeffries House. It’s a bed and breakfast type place that used to be the student nurse lodging for Mass General. It is at the end of Charles Street near Mass General near the T stop on the Red line. There is free parking in a lot (I believe parking is included). Rooms are NOT big but hold two nicely. Some may hold three…you’d have to call. It’s very secure and in a nice neighborhood off of Beacon Hill. In Boston, you can take the T almost anywhere…much easier than driving.</p>
<p>If you plan to have a rental car, it may be worth the savings to stay outside of Boston (within 20-30 miles).</p>
<p>I just stayed in Tewksbury/Andover/Methuen area for $39 per night for a 3 star suite hotel with free breakfast, free parking & refrigerator (Hotwire). I have also stayed in Woburn area for $59 at Courtyard Marriott off I-93 and it was not that far from the Logan airport.</p>
<p>If you do rent a car and stay outside but coming into the city, we have parked the rental car in one of the T stations and take the T in to avoid parking trouble in the city.</p>
<p>If you are visiting MIT, Harvard, BU, BC, Tuft, etc. you can also travel via T (Get a Charlie Card).</p>
<p>In Boston, especially in the downtown areas, hotel parking is expensive! You can get a hotel room for $99 thinking “wow, what a bargain” only to find out that parking costs an extra $40-50/day. Watch out for this fee if you are going to get a hotel room.</p>
<p>Absolutely second everyone who said use the T to navigate the city oif you plan to stop in several places. Parking fees will deplete your travel budget quickly.</p>
<p>Have you tried bidding on hotel rooms? Hotwire, etc.?</p>
<p>I have had good luck in the Boston suburbs staying at Marriott Courtyards and Hyatt Summerfield Suites</p>
<p>We recently took our daughter to Wellesley for her freshman year. We needed an inexpensive place to stay and stayed at The Walker Center - website is: [The</a> Walker Center](<a href=“http://www.walkerctr.org%5DThe”>http://www.walkerctr.org)
My husband is a pastor and had seen their ad in Christian Century for years. </p>
<p>It was reasonable and includes a great breakfast.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to youth hostels in Boston and other towns in MA. The room rates are very reasonable–they get cheaper as you move out from the city.</p>
<p>[Massachusetts</a> Youth Hostels, Massachusetts Hostels & Backpacker Youth Hostel Travel & Tourism Guide To Youth Hostels In Massachusetts. Start Your Massachusetts Youth Hostels Planning Today!](<a href=“Error 404: Page was not found or has been moved.”>Error 404: Page was not found or has been moved.)</p>
<p>The Holiday Inn Express in Waltham has free parking and free breakfast. Current best available rates range from $84 on weekends to $127 on weekdays. From there it’s only a short drive to the Alewife T station on the Red Line, where you can affordably park your car and catch the T into Boston.</p>
<p>When I was visiting colleges in Boston, I stayed at the [Cambridge</a> Gateway Inn](<a href=“NameBright - Domain Expired”>http://www.cambridgegatewayinn.com/). My parents continue to stay there every time they’re up in Beantown to visit, too.</p>
<p>Very cheap without being crappy - and quite a convenient location. There’s a free shuttle to the Alewife station, and once you’re on the T, you can easily get anywhere you want.</p>
<p>You may want to do priceline on the day you are staying. Here’s what we do for daughter’s competitions- works great:
go on priceline and see what they consider a 2 1/2- 4 star. See how much the same hotels are through their site or hotels.com for comparison. Then bid half that on priceline.com- we usually get rooms for 60-70 that are at least 120/night rooms. We don’t always stay in major cities like Boston so I don’t know if it will work but the worst that can happen is you get turned down. MAKE sure you see what they are considering a 2-3 star hotel- and don’t stay in a days in!!! We often get Hyatts for cheap~!</p>
<p>I’ve used Hotwire several times and have always had good experiences. This summer we got a room for $102 a night at the Sheraton Boston - in a FANTASTIC location - Back Bay, Newberry Street area. We walked to Fenway Park for a game, walked to the Public Gardens, Faneuil Hall, area (note: the parking at the hotel was $42 a day! We had a car because we were going to Maine after our time in Boston (and we got a great weekly rate). We ended up taking the car to my aunt’s house in the suburbs and leaving it there and walking or taking the T everywhere in Boston - don’t need a car in Boston). The cheapest rates we found at that hotel on other websites was $275. The thing with Hotwire is that you don’t find out what hotel it is until after you pay. But, you choose the neighborhood and choose 2-star, 3-star, 4-star etc. Their hotels are all national chains - from Marriott, Sheraton, Four Seasons (for 5 star) to Holiday Inn, Days Inn, etc., so you aren’t going to get stuck in a total fleabag, presumably. Hotwire will tell you if the hotel has a pool, internet, restaurant, etc., before you pay. A 2 star hotel doesn’t mean its nasty/dirty. It just means that there may be no concierge, no bellman, and basic amenities.</p>
<p>Another option is a guest house or B&B. There are bunch in Brookline, which is a nice, safe and convenient place. These always have some form of parking and are close to the T for getting around.</p>
<p>[hotels.com</a> - WE KNOW HOTELS INSIDE AND OUT.®](<a href=“http://www.hotels.com%5Dhotels.com”>http://www.hotels.com) has sales every week on Tuesdays. Check out the site and look for good candidates. Downtown and airport hotels typically have the best rates on weekends, if you can schedule your time around that.</p>
<p>Stay near a T stop and save on the rental car - you won’t want one until you leave Boston. In lieu of a car, you could look into Amtrak fares which allow the student to travel with an adult for reduced fare, or the bus.[Reviews</a> of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com%5DReviews”>http://www.tripadvisor.com) has a helpful forum for travel ideas. </p>
<p>The cheapest way is to have the student travel solo and stay with a friend (of a friend) in the dorms for one night. You may balk at this, but the kids usually prefer it. Ask around your school for siblings or cousins who might be generous enough to welcome a prospect. The official stay over programs through the university are a mixed bag - some programs and student hosts are excellent, some are neglectful.</p>