Amy, all of those places are in the same location. It used to be called the Sheraton Lexington Inn,

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My nieces and I are going to Prince Edward Island for a week in early July, and we'll be meeting up in the Boston area to start our pre-PEI "road" week--probably be in Boston howard johnson plaza hotel area June 28-30 (Saturday through Monday.)
We want to visit Orchard House (this is a very "classic chick lit" oriented trip!) as well as the rest of historic Concord and want to have a day or two in Boston, as well, but don't want to drive into Boston if we can avoid it.
Any recommendations/suggestions/"never thought of that" ideas? This will actually be my first time in the area, and I know Boston deserves much more than one day, but we do want to make a few more stopovers on our way to PEI.
I don't have a specific hotel to recommend, but I think you could stay in Concord or Lexington with a rental car, then drive to the Alewife T station, and take the red line into Boston. There is loads of parking howard johnson plaza hotel at Alewife, and you'll be fine getting in and out of there on the weekend. If your "in Boston" day is Monday well....just don't make it Monday
My niece will actually have her own car, or otherwise I'd just wait until we got out of Boston to get a rental car. So staying in Concord and driving to the "T" for a Sunday in Boston howard johnson plaza hotel might be best? I'm assuming we'll do the Freedom Trail and I want to go to Fanueil Hall--is Sunday a good choice for those?
Have a nice trip to PEI which we visited last year along with other Maritimes Provinces. Can't quite answer your query though live in Watertown near Boston. True enough there are commmuter rail connections into Boston from Concord as well as bus routes. I am curious about where you depart for PEI, i.e., why not stay in Boston which has many hotels and commute out to Concord howard johnson plaza hotel or other places. Yes, we've been to Orchard House and other such sites. Of course much to see in the Boston area (we moved here four years ago). E. G. recently I took bus-subway to Charlestown for a guided tour of Bunker Hill.
sure, Sunday is a fine choice for those. The various sites on the freedom trail will be open. and traffic and parking at the t will be easy. Red line to Downtown howard johnson plaza hotel Crossing gets you out quite close to Boston Common, where the freedom trail starts. if you get there by 10AM or so, you can be at Faneuil Hall around lunchtime, and follow the Freedom trail to the North end, and of course, coffee and a cannoli at Mike's or the Modern. Then take the T from North Station (green line to Park street, change to the Red line out to alewife). howard johnson plaza hotel Or plan to stay in the North End for a nice Italian dinner and head back afterwards. It should make for a nice day.
We often stay at the Best Western Tria, Fresh Pond/Cambridge. It's not a luxe place and getting in and out of the parking lot at rush hour takes courage and timing. BUT: You can walk to the end of the Red Line (Alewife station) and you are essentially right at Rte. 2 which goes out to Concord.
Another option is to stay at the Indigo howard johnson plaza hotel "Boston-Riverside" (it's NOT in Boston, it's in Newton) right near both a ramp onto Rte. 128/I-95 and also walking distance to the end of the Green Line (Riverside station). It's longer from there into Boston than from Alewide on the Red Line, but it's more upscale than the Tria. On the other hand, you can walk from the Tria to several restaurants (great howard johnson plaza hotel seafood at the Summer Shack!), Whole Foods, Trader joes, etc. and there's nothing but the Indigo at the Indigo.
BTW the $150/night cap is going to limit you -- it's a very expensive area, hotel-wise (and otherwise). Tria will come closer than the Indigo, but a good time to think about using points, AAA discounts, etc.
Last september we went to Orchard House and Fruitlands. The Fruitlands website suggested the Residence Inn in Westford. We had a 2 bedroom suite for the four of us. It might fit your budget. Decent howard johnson plaza hotel free hotel breakfast. You would have to do some driving but you would be more comfrtable. I think we had trouble finding a place near Concord and first hotel screwed up our reservation.
I think the Indigo is a lot less convenient for Amy's purposes than other options. howard johnson plaza hotel (It does contain the decent Bokx 109 steakhouse though) I'd check prices on the Waltham hotels before committing to some place like Boxborough, unless Fruitlands is particularly on the agenda. Minuteman National Monument in Lexington makes a nice combo with Concord.
Thanks Bennie for the redline correction. For some reason I thought howard johnson plaza hotel Downtown crossing was closer to the start of the trail, but I'm likely wrong. And I agree that driving in on a Sunday is not bad at all, and parking under the common howard johnson plaza hotel is not too expensive howard johnson plaza hotel either. But so many hate to even try driving into Boston, I've stopped howard johnson plaza hotel even suggesting it.
My niece will be doing the driving (I don't drive) and she is from Podunk, PA, so to speak--not too happy with city driving. As it's just one day in Boston itself, I'm thinking we'll look into the Tria or Residence Inn options.
$150 isn't set in stone, of course, and it looks like about $200 for those options howard johnson plaza hotel for that weekend which will be fine. As I said, I know it's an expensive area/time...but, alas, it's the time that I have.
Boston is a great place to visit; it's also my home town and my favorite place on Earth. But there's no law that says you have to go into the city if you're nearby, and there are some terrific places to visit nearby. Concord is very definitely one of those places.
You might want to consider staying at the Sheraton Lexington. It's extremely convenient for driving (just off I-95) and a very short drive to Concord. It's within walking distance of the Minute howard johnson plaza hotel Man National Historical Park, and it's also easy to drive from the hotel to Alewife station and the subway into Boston.
Thanks, Don! I know one day isn't going to be nearly enough for Boston, but I do want to get just a taste. Usually I travel much more slowly than this, with at least four or five nights at each place, but then again usually that's in someplace like, oh, Lithuania howard johnson plaza hotel or something.
Yeah, Amy, take it from me...having moved four years ago from Missouri the traffic and parking in this Bostonland can be a challenge. So we plan carefully driving in mostly familiar territory and take public transportation when possible. Anyone in Boston ever been at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Main and Galen and Arsenal in Watertown? So is there a worse intersection?
Amy, all of those places are in the same location. It used to be called the Sheraton Lexington Inn, and that property now seems to have been divided into Aloft Lexington and Element Lexington -- I don't know what the difference howard johnson plaza hotel would be between those two.
Ah, thanks, that explains howard johnson plaza hotel it. The Element looks like a very good possibility, but Aloft had my ears bleeding from the music on their intro webpage. Trying really, really hard to be hip, and tragically howard johnson plaza hotel missing, is my guess.
The reason howard johnson plaza hotel I mentioned the Indigo rather than the Waltham places is that it's right at a good access point to rapid transit downtown. Have stayed in Waltham, not uncomfortably and usually at a reasonable price, but still have to drive somewhere to get to the T or else go all the way into Boston.
howard johnson plaza hotel One last -- probably tangential -- recommendation. As long as you are out that way, you might enjoy stopping in Wayland (via Rte. 20) to see the Wayside Inn, Mary-Martha Chapel, and Grist Mill. That's if you give up on trying to get downtown for part of your stay.
Amy, We just booked the John Jeffries house in Boston, they give you a discount for the Charles St parking garage. They are also one of the most budget friendly hotels in Boston. We won't have a car but one of our friends meeting us there will and she is using that garage. howard johnson plaza hotel It is in the Beacon Hill area and you must see the house our poor Louisa died at from mercury poison. howard johnson plaza hotel I have loved her since 3rd grade when we visited Concord. I am 60!
I also want to say that it probably isn't that hard to drive into Boston on a Sunday and park at the boston common garage. It will save you some time and the parking isn't much more than the cost of 4 subway rides.
I mentioned Fruitlands because it is the utopian farm where the Alcotts lived for awhile. if interested in the Orchard House, Fruitlands howard johnson plaza hotel is part of the story. In Concord we enjoyed the trolley tour, got off for a tour of Orchard House and then got on the trolley again. Parked in a lot near the visitors info center.
Ozarksbill, I'm very familiar with that intersection (have good friends that live in Watertown) and its a bad one. But yesterday I had to drive from MGH home, and the intersection of Cambridge St and Storrow howard johnson plaza hotel drive and some other streets is the worst. You have to guess which lane you want to be in to get on Storrow westbound and there are all sorts of streets coming in at odd angles. I'm glad it was midday and not rush hour when I tried to navigate it.
Amy, Lexington and Concord have some nice restaurants howard johnson plaza hotel and both have fairly charming downtown areas with some shops, so staying in that area will be a good choice. The Tria will also be a good location for you.
I think the Tria is a good choice. It's probably a 6-7 minute walk to Alewife station (Red Line) and if the hotel has free or discounted parking all the better. I agree that driving into Boston on a Sunday and parking under the Boston Common howard johnson plaza hotel is easy but if the driver is uncomfortable driving in a strange city then I wouldn't recommend it. Taking the T from Alewife is very simple and the added benefit to Tria's location is that you are basically already on the road to Concord.
I recommend that on your drive to Concord that you stop at the Minuteman Visitor Center. You can easily tour the whole facility in an hour and the short film is very informative. It's all quite interesting.
We're staying at the Boston Marriott Burlingt