Money-Saving Boston Hotel Tips

Visit Boston on a Weekend
First of all, if you want to stay right in the city center, by all means plan your visit for a weekend! A double room at any luxury hotel right in downtown Boston may cost $200 during the week. But if you sign up for a two-night stay on Friday and Saturday, you may get that same room for 30 to 35% less, plus a bottle of champagne, breakfast in bed, the morning's newspaper, free parking, or other such treats.

Arrange your itinerary to be in Boston only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. If you arrive here mid-week, go directly to Salem and the North Shore, or to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, or to Old Sturbridge Village.

Country inns and other accommodations in these "country" destinations are less crowded and less expensive during the week, more expensive and crowded on weekends.

Reserve from a Tourist Information Center
A number of moderate to expensive downtown Boston hotels routinely offer special prices to travelers calling from tourist information centers for same-day reservations.

For example, if you arrive at the airport, or train station, or are driving up from Cape Cod or Plymouth and stop at the Regional Information Complex for Visitors on MA Route 3 at Exit 5, and you pick up the hotel's brochure, inside you may find a leaflet offering a special low price. The price may be extremely good, such as $65 to $75 for a room that normally rents for $110 to $125, single or double.

What's the catch? You can usually only reserve for that same day, your stay may be limited to two or three days, and you must call from the information center and tell the reservations agent the name of the center you are calling from.

Also—like cheap airplane seats—these offers are based on availability of rooms, and if the hotel is pretty full, they might not grant you the discounted price.

So if you want to be sure and stay in a particular hotel, or district of the city, these same-day reservations may not be for you. The hotel you want may already be fully booked in advance.

A Word on Taxes
Massachusetts imposes a hotel tax of 5.7%; Boston levies a 2.75% convention center tax and a 4% city tax, so your hotel bill will be 12.45% higher than what the hotel charges you.

It's a bummer! The hotels dislike these taxes as much as you do, but Boston is worth it. There's not much you can do about these taxes, but I wanted to warn you to anticipate them.

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