Always on the lookout for a bargain, Mine has tried to wade through the tricky waters of the hotel biz to find rooms where you can stay for well under $100 a night. In fact, some offer rooms for under $50 a night. These waters are tricky because hotel rates ebb and flow with the seasons. And don’t forget that taxes are always going to be added on top of any quoted price. Here, then, are the results of this not-necessarily scientific survey.
Two important tips: First of all, you should always, always ask about discounts. No hotel room ever has only one price. Take advantage of any discounts you can including corporate, AAA, military personnel, American Association of Retired Persons, and others. Furthermore, if you’re going to be in town long enough, ask about weekly rates.
Finally, if you can at all, be sure to make reservations and make them early.
Days Inn
1234 Soldiers Field Rd. Brighton, MA 02135; (617)254-1234
Daystop
1800 Soldiers Field Rd. Brighton, MA 02135; (617) 254-0200
Reservations for both: (800) 325-2525
In recent years, a pair of older motels became franchises of this well-known national budget chain. Both offer terrific values with basic amenities, and great location for just about anything in Boston, Cambridge, or Newton.
Days Inn is the larger and nicer of the two, just a mile from Harvard Square (you can see the college spires from front windows). Its 113 rooms offer color TV with free Showtime movies and air conditioning, plus an outdoor swimming pool. The lobby restaurant, Enzo on the Charles, is attractive and moderately priced; it presents live jazz every night, and at Sunday brunch. Rates in summer are $99 for a single, $109 for a double; prices drop significantly in late fall and winter.
A mile or so further from downtown, Daystop is more like your basic roadside motel. It has the same basics in each of its 55 rooms, which tend to be smaller here. There is no pool, and no fancy restaurant (just a
But then, they’ve got a newly spiffied up IHOP next door, one of the few restaurants in all of Boston that’s open 24 hours! Daystop’s rates are lower than its sibling, more like $79 to $89 at the height of summer, $59/$69 in the offseason.
Both motels also offer 10% discounts for AAA and AARP members. Both have free parking, and are situated across the highway (if you can get across) from a wooded, waterfront park with walking and bike trails, picnic areas, and in summer, the outdoor Publick Theatre. Meanwhile, that same highway can get you downtown in ten minutes flat
