Hotels near Children's Hospital

I will be attending a seminar at Children%26#39;s Hospital in August. I%26#39;m looking for a comfortable, safe hotel nearby, perhaps with transportation.

It would also be nice to be in an area that has some restaurants and shops so I won%26#39;t have far to look for something to do in the evenings.

Deb

Hotels near Children's Hospital

Any online description that says ';Longwood Medical Area'; is your best bet, but I can%26#39;t think of any names at the moment. In the evenings, you can take the trolley or bus up Huntington Avenue, which essentially is a long strip with a lot of restaurants, luxury malls, and hotels all the way up into Copley Square, which has even more restaurants and shops.

Hotels near Children's Hospital

I looked in my guidebook and found the Best Western Boston/The Inn at Longwood Medical which is apparantly next to Children%26#39;s Hospital (www.innatlongwood.com). I have no first hand experience of this hotel nor of the area but thought this would give you a place to start.

Thank you for your replies!

I did not know what area to even search in, so that has given me a place to start.

Deb

Indeed, the Best Western is right next to Children%26#39;s Hospital, but you would be no more than 1/2 mile away from the Kenmore Sq/Fenway Park area, too and the are more hotels

there to pick from. Providing the Red Sox are not at home, the bustle of the evening is not nearly as great.

There is also a T bus that goes directly out Brookline Ave from Kenmore Sq to the Children%26#39;s Hospital area that would get you from one spot to the other in no more than 10 minutes, should you not wish to walk. The neighborhood is a safe one, though.

Kenmore Sq has plenty of restaurants and pubs, and you are not very far away from Newbury St and Copley Sq for shopping.

Indeed, the Inn at Children%26#39;s is your closest location, and the map I see connects it to the Galleria, which is a giant food court. (www.hms.harvard.edu/about/maps/lmamap.html)

You%26#39;re actually in luck, whether you want to go to a restaurant or shop. There is a free shuttle bus (says Partners Healthcare on the side) that goes from the Brigham and Women%26#39;s Hospital to the Prudential Center (meaning the shopping mall between the Sheraton and the Colonnade), and you don%26#39;t have to be an affiliate, just someone who is connected to a hospital, like a patient, or like you. It%26#39;s much nicer and faster than the trolley or bus (no stops), though the trolley (E line) and bus (#39) are not so bad and have more hours (http://www.mbta.com).

The last BWH shuttle is at 8:30 at night.

partners.org/ourhosp/鈥gh_pru_bwh.html

Restaurants and shops for your convenience is the Prudential Center and the Copley Place Mall, which are connected. They are very nice places, including a few European designers.

A couple of blocks from the Prudential Center shuttle stop, past the Sheraton, next to the Hynes/ICA subway stop just a couple of blocks away, is a Virgin Megastore, a 3-floor giant record store that is open until midnight most nights (the last trolleys/trains are around midnight, so don%26#39;t cut it that close unless you want to catch a cab at the Sheraton). Great fun. The Barnes and Noble in the Prudential Center is open later than the rest of the mall, too.

Another area you might want to look into is Brookline... specifically Coolige Corner. Lots of interesting shops and restaurants, and I believe the hotel at 1200 Beacon St. is actually a Holiday Inn (it always WAS, but it%26#39;s been awhile, and things sometimes change names). It%26#39;s on the ';C'; branch of the Green Line Subway, about a mile away from Children%26#39;s Hospital, but as others have pointed out, the area is criss-crossed with all sorts of transportation options. The Brookline Village area is even closer for shopping and dining, but I can%26#39;t think of anything for lodging in that immediate area.

Any hotel in the Back Bay area would be easily accessible by public transportation, and VERY close to many entertainment and dining options.

One hint... lots of hotels are booked up in August, as parents come to town to get their college kids situated, so you may want to explore non-chains. The Eliot has a good rep.

I wouldn%26#39;t want to draw conclusions based on what the first-floor public area of a hotel looks like, but the lobby of the Best Western Inn at Longwood gives the impression that the place is a tad bit more ';nice'; than your typical Best Western. The ';huge'; food court at the adjacent Longwood Galleria is mostly dining space, lol; there are actually only about a half-dozen take-out spots there which are in the league of McDonald%26#39;s and Dunkin Donuts.

From a safety standpoint as well as convenience and variety of eating places, I second the motion for Brookline. The Audubon Circle neighborhood which straddles the Boston/Brookline border is about a quarter-mile from Children%26#39;s. You could easily walk to and from there, or catch a bus on the 47 or CT2 routes that run down Park Dr and then Brookline Ave. A largely ';undiscovered'; place to stay is the Beacon Inn Guesthouse, a nicely restored brownstone row house a block and a half west of Park Dr on Beacon St. Right in the immediate vicinity are numerous good restaurants, a 7-Eleven, and my favorite bookstore. Coolidge Corner is about a mile out Beacon from Audubon Circle and is Brookline%26#39;s commercial hub. Dining choices run the gamut from kosher Chinese to sports pub. A new Marriott has opened there, while on the inn/B %26amp; B side of the lodging spectrum the Sewall Inn always gets high marks. Longwood Ave starts in Coolidge Corner, with a 20-minute walk past well-kept apartment buildings and large older houses leading you to Children%26#39;s Hospital. Coolidge Corner also offers a wealth of window-shopping opportunities, as well as a restored Art Deco movie theater.

The weather here in August is almost inevitably ';beastly hot,'; so if you find yourself outside during the day or while it%26#39;s still light take advantage of the Riverway and Longwood Parks (part of the ';Emerald Necklace.';) In Brookline there%26#39;s also a nice, shady park off Amory St just north of Beacon and not far west of Audubon Circle.

I ditto the recommendation for the Holiday Inn 100 Beacon Street - it%26#39;s very close and safe another option is the new Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square - about 1/2 mile from Childrens Hospital and adjacent to the Boston University Campus - if budget is an issue there is also a Howard Johnson%26#39;s Hotel on Boylston Street right behind Fenway - about 6 blocks from Children%26#39;s - the downside to the Inn at Longwood is the area is fairly isolated at night.

Good Luck

I agree with Brian about the Commonwealth, but disagree regarding the Howard Johnson on Boylston St. (I would highly recommend the restaurant on their premises, however... the Hong Kong Cafe). It%26#39;s just that the ';hotel'; part of the premises, and its pool... at least what one can see from the dining room... is the worst maintained hotel I can think of in the city. Somebody correct me if I%26#39;m wrong.

There is another Howard Johnsons hotel on Commonwealth Ave, though, that looks a ';gazillion'; times better.