The Harborside Inn
(185 State Street; 617-723-7500; www.harborsideinnboston.com) is affordable, small and quaint. A couple blocks to Quincy Market, and another to Faneuil Hall. 2 subway stops from airport. Clean, friendly, great location.
Omni Parker House
(60 School Street; 617-227-8600; www.omnihotels.com). The service is exceptional and the friendliness of the staff is second to none. The hotel is centrally located to many of the historic sites in the city, many of which are within easy walking distance.
Liberty Hotel
(215 Charles Street; 617-224-4000; www.libertyhotel.com). A very well done urban reuse project in the historic Charles Street Jail.
Hotel Marlowe
(25 Edwin H. Land Boulevard; 617-868-8000; www.hotelmarloweboston.com) just over the Charles River in Cambridge. Across the street from the wonderful science museum and duck tours, it is conveniently attached to a terrific mall. But in the hotel, you can feel a world away with a comfy communal living room where coffee and tea are served in the morning and wine is shared before dinner. The staff remembers your preferences and requests and seems perpetually cheerful.
Cambridge House Bed & Breakfast Inn
(2218 Massachusetts Avenue; 617-491-6300; www.acambridgehouse.com) is my top pick. It is conveniently located in north Cambridge, close to Harvard Square, Lesley University, Porter Square or Davis Square subway to M.I.T., or downtown Boston to the theater district and the Freedom Trail. Rooms are tastefully decorated with a Victorian style, spacious lounge is ideal for relaxing or meeting friends. Parking, breakfast and Internet access are all included in the rate. An urban gem.
Four Seasons
200 Boylston Street; 617-338-4400; www.fourseasons.com/boston. Perhaps the grandest of Boston’s hotels is the Four Seasons. You can’t beat it for service and it’s just a few streets from the South End. Weekend rates start at $325 a night.
The Clarendon Square Inn
198 West Brookline Street; 617-536-2229; www.clarendonsquare.com is a beautiful surprise. The rooms in this brownstone have been elegantly renovated with antique tubs, fine linens and serene furnishings. Every detail is lovely. Rooms are $150 to $385, May through August.
Jurys Boston Hotel
350 Stuart Street; 617-266-7200; bostonhotels.jurysdoyle.com/jurys_boston is on the edge of the South End in a former Police Department headquarters. A wall of trickling water makes the whole lobby smell of chlorine and feel like the Y.M.C.A., but Bostonians love the bar there. The rooms are lavish, with marble bathrooms and contemporary Irish art. A single is $205.
The Ritz-Carlton Boston
15 Arlington Street, (617) 536-5700, www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/boston, across the street from the Public Garden, offers children’s menus, afternoon teas, boxed picnic lunches and birthday parties linked to E. B. White’s “Trumpet of the Swan,” as well as a children’s suite furnished by B. B. Kids and F. A. O. Schwarz. The Children’s Suite is $795; double rooms with a garden view start at $375.
Camping offshore at the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
($8 a night, plus a $9.50 reservations fee through www.reserveamerica.com), you’re almost completely alone and yet have the city skyline right behind you. There’s an information kiosk on Long Wharf, (617) 223-8666, www.bostonislands.com. Shuttle boats ($10; age 6 to 18, $8; ages 3 to 5, $6) run from Long Wharf and the Quincy Shipyard downtown.
