I am looking at vacationing in Boston this summer. We plan on staying out in the suburbs to save money. What I am looking to find out is where would be a good, safe location to stay that is near a rail line so we could take the train into downtown each morning and then back to the hotel each night. Thanks for any input you have.
Bonus Question: What is happening in Boston the last week in July. Just checked and hotel prices are vastly higher than normal.
The T does not go out into many suburbs that have hotels within walking distance of the train stations that I know of.
There is Hotel Indigo in Newton that is close to the Riverside MBTA. That might be your best bet. Looks a decent place. I’ve never stayed there. There are reasonable hotels in Braintree, but nowhere near the MBTA stop.
If you are planning to take the commuter rail in to the city every day, you will spend $7-10 per person each way. If there are two of you, that’s going to eat into your hotel savings. And commuter rail stations aren’t usually near hotels either, at least the ones I am familiar with on the South Shore (Providence, Old Colony and Greenbush lines).
There may be a crsp motel or two in Quincy near the Wollaston or North Quincy stops, but none I’d want to stay in.
Also keep in mind that trains are slow here. The trip time from Riverside to South Station is close to an hour.
Pretty much all this. The only way you could save money by staying in the burbs is if you had a car and could drive from your hotel to the end of one of the subway lines every day to park there. Boston is small and expensive and the suburbs kind of out of reach via the T.
Hotel Indigo is not bad, and fairly conveniently located.
The snow will finally have melted. There will be dancing in the streets. 
Ugh, not what I was hoping to hear but I appreciate the info. One other bit of info, by staying in the suburbs I can stay 5 nights free using my Marriot Rewards points so paying a bit for the train isn’t too hateful to our plans.
Not true, When I first came back to Boston I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Somerville, which is walking distance from the Sullivan Square stop on the Orange line. It’s still there and open, and still near Sullivan Square.
Unfortunately, I can’t think of any others relatively close to orange line stops north of Boston. There are hotels close to some Green line stations, but they’re a bit out of town (although they’re not a full hour away).
cncdad, one option is to stay here:
It’s about a 15-minute walk from the Quincy Adams T stop on the Red Line (shorter if you’re willing to cross through parking lots). This is probably ~20-30 minutes from downtown Boston on the train. They might have a shuttle. The area is as safe as any middle class neighborhood. I worked about 2 blocks over for a few years a while back.
I would avoid staying at a hotel on the Green Line if possible. It is by far the worst of the lines and experiences periodic delays. If you have two hotel choices of equal value and one is on the Green line, take the other.
Will you have a car? If so I can suggest more hotels that are within an easy driving distance of a T stop.
We once stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Braintree. The hotel has a courtesy shuttle to anywhere within 5 miles and we used it to get to the T stop (Red line). A quick call when we got back, and they were there to pick us up in just a couple of minutes.
I think this hotel had a different flag when I last stayed there, a decade ago. It’s close enough to Alewife station to walk, but more comfortable to have the hotel shuttle van take you.
There also is a Ramada Inn on Morrissey Blvd right in Boston. I put in dates of 7/24-7/26 (the last weekend) and it came up at $144 per night. Not sure what your exact dates are, but it’s worth a try. The hotel has a free shuttle service to Boston attractions and the T is close by.
Pro-tip if you use the public transit system: Be sure to have enough money with you!
Is taking the bus an option? Or just the T or commuter rail? We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Newton, thinking it was another hotel when we booked through Hotwire. It was an o.k. experience, not terribly expensive through Hotwire, but did require a bit of a bus ride to get us to the Green Line, IIRC. I really didn’t want to rent a car, deal with Massholes’ more psychopathic relatives behind the wheel, and pay extortionate parking fees. It worked out well, but there was a bit of walking involved. I’d pick another hotel again, but taking the bus wasn’t terrible.
How many of you are there? If it’s just two you have a lot more options given some of the boutique hotels in Boston.
Define “suburbs”?
Getting from Bedford into Boston via the T will be a total pain in the arse. But Somerville or Cambridge shouldn’t be too difficult.
Do you have a map of the T and a street map of the Boston area? That can help you find where to stay.
There’s also a mobile T app…which might help. I don’t think it includes regional public transportation categories.
The rider tools might also help.
Even so, unless your family is used to a lot of walking, it might be best to stay downtown or close to downtown, and save on breakfasts/lunches. The regional public transport stops can be further away than a lot of non-city folks are used to walking.
Came here to be sure someone linked to this. Good job. Have a nickel.
I would be hesitant to stay at the Gateway. At least until recently the state was using it as temporary housing for homeless families.
The Best Western Tria on the other side of Alewife looks less sketchy from the outside.
</hijack> I was the project engineer for the structural engineering for this hotel back in the day. Only in the Boston area would they make us design a hotel out of steel. Sigh. </end hijack>
I would avoid the green line if you can. It’s complicated, old, and slow.
The Alewife T station (red line) in Cambridge has a good-sized parking garage, is easy to get to on route 2, and the red line is pretty easy and fast.
The Embassy Suites hotel near Logan Airport is within walking distance of the Blue Line Airport station and a short ride to downtown. (I was project engineer for that one too. Nice hotel, but world’s smallest swimming pool.)
They just built those spiffadelic condos next door, maybe the neighborhood is getting better.