<p>We are planning a five day/four night trip to Boston, Amherst, Providence, New Haven, trying to keep it as economical as possible while staying in safe areas (especially if in New Haven.) I’m looking for motels such as or similar to Best Western, Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn quality.</p>
<p>I don’t know my way around Boston at all so I’d like to keep it simple.</p>
<p>Here’s the itinerary:</p>
<p>Day 1: BU then Harvard (sleep in Boston area)
Day 2: Wellesley then Tufts (sleep in Boston Area again)
Day 3: Brown (figured we’d head to Amherst in evening for sleep)
Day 4: Amherst (can sleep in Amherst again or head to New Haven in evening)
Day 5: Yale</p>
<p>Is staying in Amherst very expensive? Should we stay elsewhere locally?</p>
<p>And yes, this is largely the “reach school” tour. I promise you all that safeties will follow at a later date!</p>
<p>We stayed at a very nice and very reasonable Holiday Inn Express near Amherst-- As for Boston, we splurged a bit and stayed at the Hotel at MIT (its owned by Hilton, and pretty cool) but we had explored a very reasonable Residence Inn (I think that’s what it was) with free parking not too very far away. I am sorry that I don’t recall the exact address, but it was on a main street and I am sure you can find it on the web. As for New Haven, we stayed with friends, so I am not much help on that one. But, since you have a car, you might be wise to stay an exit or two away. I am sure you’d be able to find something safe and reasonable.
Almost forgot-- at Brown we stayed at the Radisson on the River (forget the exact name). Several people have used it-- close and reasonable. Another option is to stay on campus at the Inn at Brown.</p>
<p>Oops-- forgot-- the place we stayed at Tufts is on the Tufts website-- its right off the exit in Medford, a few miles from Tufts. Very reasonable and you’ll meet lots of “prospies” staying there too.</p>
<p>I found the Tufts one-- its and AmeriSuites.</p>
<p>…and Brown is the Radisson Providence Harbor. It’s in a funny place, but its fine, especially if you have a car. Borders on an industrial area, but close to campus.</p>
<p>For your visit to the Boston area I would recommend one hotel for both nights.</p>
<p>Wellesley Inn on the Square
576 Washington Street (Route 16)
(A pleasant 10 minute stroll from Wellesley College.)
Wellesley, MA 02181
(617) 235-0180</p>
<p>It is about a 30 minute drive from there into the city or a two minute walk to the commuter train into Boston. </p>
<p>BTW, Providence is only about a 50 minute drive.</p>
<p>If you visit Tufts, you can get to Harvard by the T (Davis Square and Harvard Square are both on the Red Line), so just one hotel. To get to BU from Harvard or Tufts, one needs to transfer from the Red Line at Park Street to the Green Line. It’s a bit long (45 minutes) vs. 15 minutes by car (without traffic). One can also get to Wellesley by the Green Line, I believe or perhaps the Commuter Train, but you may prefer driving.</p>
<p>Try A Bed and Breakfast in Cambridge. It’s steps to the Harvard campus; the owners have a son who is a junior at Yale.<br>
<a href=“http://www.cambridgebnb.com/[/url]”>http://www.cambridgebnb.com/</a>
If they don’t have room, google for bed and breakfast in Cambridge and Boston.</p>
<p>You’re better off driving from Boston to Amherst, west of Boston (about 2hrs) then to Yale and Brown. Yale and Brown are both south of Boston. Brown is about an hour’s drive from Boston, Yale 2h:30.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you; I will look into all of these suggestions and welcome more.</p>
<p>Marite, I understand what you are saying. We put Brown on Sunday as we’ve been there once before (in the dead of winter) so don’t feel like we have to catch a tour/info session … nothing available on Sundays so Brown seemed like the best bet for that day.</p>
<p>When I mapquested Boston to Providence it showed 56 minutes - Providence to Amherst - 1 hr. 52 minutes, Amherst to New Haven - 1 hr 34 minutes. Sound about right?</p>
<p>I just used general locations - not the schools.</p>
<p>I’ve nver tried Amherst to New Haven, so I could not tell. It feels strange, somehow, to think that New Haven would be closer to Amherst than Boston. Amherst is a small town, so the town is more or less the school. Boston to Providence feels right at 1 hour.</p>
<p>For day 1, have a look at the Radisson Cambridge, on the river. You can walk across the bridge to BU, and take a slightly longer (15 minute) walk to Harvard Square. We got a great deal through one of the online places (Hotels.com or similar). The rooms are HUGE and very comfortable, and there is a Trader Joes next door for supplies.</p>
<p>S goes to UMass Amherst. Amherst to New Haven about 1 1/2hours. Boston is further from Amherst then New Haven is. Amherst is in Western Mass which is closer to New Haven. Within Amherst is Smith (next town over), Mt. Holyoke, UMass, Hampshire and Amherst College. Any student in any of these colleges can take classes at all of them as part of the five college consortium. There are many hotels and motels. The Amherst website lists them all. The Holiday Inn is realatively new and the most expensive. Also check out hotels in Hadley, Mass as that is within two min from Amherst.</p>
<p>twinmom -You might try the Colony Inn in New Haven. The location is great, and the prices are very good. Tell them you’re visiting Yale with your kid , and let them know if you’re a AAA member for the best rates. $119 is the rate I’m paying next month for a double with two double beds. It has a nice little dining room. This is the one my D stays in when she goes back early for any reason, by herself. They’re great to the kids.
I don’t like the location of the Marriott, which it used to be the Holiday Inn- it’s very noisy because of the path to the hospital (lot’s of sirens.) If you have to stay there, take a very high floor. It’s also on the outskirts a bit - not unsafe, but it might give you pause.
Both the Omni and Colony Inn are quieter, but the Omni is more expensive- $189 per night.
The Fairfield Inn is about 5 minutes outside of town and is nice if you actually end up going to Yale, as it’s a decent, resonably priced family motor inn with a coffee shop, but I wouldn’t stay there if you’re trying to see what New Haven is like. It’s much better to stay in town and be able to walk everywhere.</p>
<p>We have a son at Harvard and have stayed many times at the Doubletree Guest Suites Boston/Cambridge(it’s at the end of the Mass Pike in Boston right across from Cambridge); we like it cuz my other kids get their own room. However, we do share 1 bathroom for 4 people. The Doubletree number is 617 783-0090. Twice we have stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott/Cambridge, near MIT, at
the corner of Ames Street and Broadway. There you have a big kitchen and there are 2 BR suites as well with 2 bathrooms. The Residence Inn tel no is 617 547-8504. From the Residence Inn, you can walk to Kendall Square which has some shops, movie theatres, and
restaurants. Somwhere nearby Kendall Square is a store the kids all love – The Garment District at 200 Broadway. First floor sells used clothing for a dollar a pound; second floor has vintage clothing. Enjoy.</p>
<p>We stayed at the New Haven Hotel in New Haven. Just a few blocks from campus. We would have walked if it hadn’t been hailing (! Hence no application to Yale…) Very old fashioned, not a chain. Wonderful, wonderful service, friendly people at the front desk, luggage guys. Clean, a little threadbare. Food the likes of which we don’t have in Silicon Valley, iceberg lettuce, etc, but delicious. And I really can’t stress the service enough. Same rate $110 on the web, and they have wireless internet!</p>
<p>Hi twinmom!
We stayed at the Doubletree Hotel on 821 Washington St. in Boston (617)956-7900 and did all the Boston area colleges from there. They have valet parking and it was conveniently located. You can walk to Ye Old Oyster House restaurant, which I highly recommend. The food was great.
We did Brown from the Hampton Inn in Franklin, MA (508)520-2999 and Amherst College from Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield, MA (413)886-8000.
We didn’t stay in New Haven. We drove directly from there to Providence and stayed at the Hampton Inn. I have no idea what the prices are, because we used my H’s points to stay at every single one of them!</p>
<p>Hi again-
The Residence Inn MIT/Cambridge is the one I was trying to describe above. Free parking is a nice benefit.
I should also clarify something-- We visited NE schools in two separate trips. The First was Williams, Amherst, Dartmouth, MIT, Harvard. The second was Columbia, Yale, Brown, Tufts. I agree with those above-BU/Harvard/Wellesley/Tufts can all be served from one hotel. Just keep in mind the Boston traffic!! What a mess! I think the entire city was under construction when we were there. And ditto for the drive from Boston to Providence. But, you should be going against traffic once you get outside Boston. Up there, they let you drive in the emergency lane during rush hour. Funniest thing. Doesn’t make traffic move that much faster, but it is a strange sensation to drive downthe emergency lane.</p>
<p>New Haven - Sheraton New Haven - it’s new (walking distance to Yale’s campus - free parking)
Providence - stayed at Biltmore
Cambridge - stayed at Sheraton Commander in Harvard Sq
Amherst - stayed at the VERY new Holiday Inn Express (free breakfast)</p>
<p>Momsdream - Tried to get info on Sheraton New Haven … the Sheraton people said that “not all Sheratons are part of our chain.” Do you have a contact number for the hotel? Thanks.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Courtyard at Yale last night. It is 1/2 block from the Yale bookstore. The Radison Cambridge is good and they have a free local area shuttle (Harvard Square, etc.) I shopped Hotels.com. Amherst to Yale is a fairly easy drive but I can’t remember the time from last year. Yale to Harvard is 2.5 hours or more depending on the time of day.</p>
<p>Best Western Tria or Princess or something for the Boston schools - they have a special where one room is $300 for three nights. It’s a short walk to the Alewife T, and they run shuttles to area destinations. Free parking.</p>