Boston is a great old city, probably the closest you can get to an old style European city in the US. Boston is a smaller city, making it easy to walk from location to location, and it has a great subway system for making longer jaunts. Whether you are in Boston for business or pleasure, there are plenty of options when it comes to lodging. What is the best hotel? What is the best location? Most business travelers stay at or around the Boston Commons Park, but there are also some nice places in the Back Bay area and around Copley Square. The Marriott Copley, Westin Copley, and Fairmont Copley Plaza all offer rooms at less than $200, a pretty good deal in this city. If you want to stay along the harbor, check out the Boston Harbor Hotel (70 Rowes Wharf, rooms closer to $300). Hotel listings and reviews are below:
The Four Seasons is in a classic location, right at the corner of Boston Commons and the Public Garden, just a 5 minute walk to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. We always like to stop for an Italian dinner in the authentic North End Italian neighborhood -- but you won't find much there in the way of lodging. Finding a hotel near the Boston theater district is easy, since the theater district is just 2 blocks south of the Public Garden. Any of the hotels within 2 or 3 blocks of the parks will put you in easy walking distance for an after dinner play or musical performance.
Finding maps for Boston:
Getting around in Boston is always easier with a map. The old portion of the city has a lot of twisting, convoluted roads, making it tricky to get from one spot to another if you don't know the "secret" of the one way streets. We certainly don't recommend driving around the downtown area if you can avoid it - park your car at the hotel and walk or use the T (subway).
Google Maps has nice interactive maps of Boston and the surrounding area - you can zoom in and out and drap the map to the area you want to see. Overlay it with the satellite images, and you can see what the parks, neighborhoods, and streets actually look like.
Boston Vacation Tips, Recommendations, and Advice: Suggestions for a better Trip!:
Make sure you spend some time in the North End for an experience in a traditional, authentic old-style Italian neighborhood. Lots of excellent restaurants, though sometimes reservations are a good idea. Make sure you also spend an hour or two around Charles Street and the Beacon Hill area - the quaint shops and homes there are lovely to stroll about. Stop in at The Sevens Tavern along Charles St. for a beer with some locals. If you are looking for the best restaurants, the best bars, the most popular tourist sites and activities, a great starting place is Virtual Tourist. Their site is built around travel tips and advice from their thousands and thousands of members. You get recommendations from real live travellers who've been there and done it already: what their favorite hotels are, what the most popular dining spots are, what museums to visit, etc.
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