Where to stay - First time trip to Boston

My hubby and I are going to Boston for a long weekend. We%26#39;ve never been there and are in need of your suggestions. We want to stay someplace ';central'; meaning.. .walking distance to shopping, restaurants, etc.

I%26#39;ve read through some of the forums and have seen suggestions re: staying in Copley Square? And others suggest Downtown area.

Is the Westin (waterfront) in a good location, the reason i ask is b/c their advertising some good rates for the weekend we plan on arriving..

I would appreciate any and all feedback as to where we should stay.

Thanks again guys.

:-)

Where to stay - First time trip to Boston

The Westin is a little out of the way, but not too far out of the way. It%26#39;s minutes from the T, so if you%26#39;re on a budget, it%26#39;s a nice hotel not far from downtown. Copley hotels are expensive because they%26#39;re right in the middle of things. Downtown is okay, but there%26#39;s less to do after dark. The Marriott Long Wharf is nice...

If the Westin has great rates way below everyone else%26#39;s it%26#39;s not a bad place, but it%26#39;s not walking distance to everything you%26#39;re talking about.

Where to stay - First time trip to Boston

The Westin Waterfront is actually in South Boston, not Downtown. It%26#39;s about a 15 minute walk through an old industrial area to get to the edge of Downtown. While the area is not bad, per se, it gets very lonely there at night and there is little around the area of the hotel in terms of amenities: shopping, restaurants, etc.

As CoCoSandy said, the Downtown, Waterfront, and Back Bay areas all have a wide variety of places to go and see, including all the highly touted tourist sites, and you can walk between the three areas and be assured of seeing interesting things along the way.

Make sure you budget extra taxi fare into the equation if you%26#39;re staying at the Westin Waterfront.

What about the location of Boston Park Plaza Hotel? Good, Bad.. middle of the road?

:-) Thanks again -

The location is much better. It%26#39;s located between the Back Bay and Downtown, about 5 minutes from the Public Garden. Check the reviews, though, as they have recently been very mixed. See if their comments resonate with you or not.

If the Park Plaza doesn%26#39;t work for you, try the Omni Parker House. The location is superb, although some folks complain some of the rooms are smallish.

The Park Plaza is between the Back Bay and Downtown Crossing on the edge of the Theatre District. Easy walk to Back Bay Shopping and dining and the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common. The Omni Parker House is between the Boston Common and the Fanieul Hall Marketplace and an easy walk to the waterfront and the North End. It is also easily reached by either the MBTA Orange Line (State Street Station) or the Green Line (Government Center). The Westin Waterfront is brand new but the area (next door the the Boston Convention Center) is still a neighborhood that is in the building stages.

And there is also the Midtown Hotel which is on the %26#39;T%26#39;subway line,which can take you downtown.also there is the Prudential and Copley Malls connected by a walkway,with many restraunts in the area including Legals Seafood and the Cheese cake factory.

No idea of your budget but The Lenox,Jury%26#39;s,The Raddisson are all conveniently located to the downtown and Back Bay areas and if you want to push it a little The Marriot Long Wharf is on the waterfront near Fanueil Hall

If you%26#39;re considering Copley Squay-ah (is that how we spell it?) I%26#39;m gonna guess that you%26#39;re looking at higher priced hotels, so some suggestions on some of the great old Boston hotels. The Marriotts and Westins are great -- but lack some of that personality. (I%26#39;ll exempt Marriott Longwharf from that group, since the hotel has such a superior location.)

Copley Plaza Hotel, Omni PArker House (Home, of course to the Parker House Roll, JFK%26#39;s bachelor party, and countless other high-profile events, I also really like the Boston Park Plaza (beware, if you google it, there%26#39;s a Park Plaza out there too.) The Boston Park Plaza has had every US president as their guest since they opened. (Partly because it%26#39;s an easy hotel for the Secret Service to defend.) The former Ritz-Carlton, now the Taj.

I%26#39;m certain to be missing one or two, but those are all great old hotels... and all in neighborhood that are good for touring.

I agree with what Alan says about the Westin---it IS really outside the area of downtown, but if you%26#39;re looking for a bargain, it could offer good rates. It%26#39;s not an unsafe area but it is desolate. I assume they have a shuttle to the T or something like that. If not, I%26#39;d cross it off the list.

ram interrogate