Vacation Help

Hello! As a business traveler, I get to reap the rewards of a year full of hassle by cashing in my points to go on vacation. This year the husband and I are going to head to New England. Since US Air is such a royal pain in the you know what, instead of flying in and out of Manchester, we are going to have to fly in and out of Boston. I wasn%26#39;t too happy about that since the airport area is my idea of chaos, but because parking is so expensive at area hotels, might not be too bad.

Here is what I%26#39;m thinking, please remember that I have to stay at a Marriott or Hilton property due to points, no other options. Fly into Boston, transport to an area hotel (shuttle or cab?), stay without a car for a day or two, rent a car near the airport to get to Quincy and Salem and then head up the coast. We want to go to Portland, ME and do a Puffin tour off the coast. We also wanted to go to Vermont to see Cabot%26#39;s, but it looks why the heck out of the way. Would return the car the night before the flight and stay somewhere with an airport shuttle.

The hotel that I%26#39;d love to stay at is the Residence Inn Wharf on the Freedom Trail. Is pricey points wise, but I like that we get free breakfast to help with food costs. Is it realistic to stay there without a car (since parking is ridiculous)? I read it is about a half mile to a train station and you have to go over a bridge to get there. If anyone else has recommendations for another Marriott or Hilton property that is either downtown, Cambridge or closer, please let me know. We are probably going to be car-less for at least a day and half and don%26#39;t want to be stuck in the middle of no where. Can you take a train to Quincy? Want to see the Adams property.

Thanks for your help, sorry for the long-winded post!

Vacation Help

DRAT! I wasn%26#39;t quick enough in booking the Residence Inn at the Wharf, it is now not available with my points. Any feedback on the Courtyard at Copley? The one thing we dislike about staying in the city is noise. I%26#39;m tempted to stay a little outside the city now that we can%26#39;t stay on the wharf (which looked like it was pretty quiet) since that hotel on Copley looks like loud city.

Vacation Help

Copley Square won%26#39;t be really noisy. I wouldn%26#39;t worry about that, not that I know precisely what hotel you are talking about or have ever stayed there, but Boston is not a particularly noisy city. I stayed once in a hotel in Vienna that was on a very busy street - near the train station where drivers apparently decided to downshift and test the acceleration on their sports cars - that was noisy, but I can%26#39;t think of anything like that in Boston.

Don%26#39;t know about Puffin tours but I would think you would have to go a bit further north to Rockland, Maine, but if someone is offering Puffin tours out of Portland I%26#39;m sure they are great.

Vermont really isn%26#39;t that far from Maine.

Plan to take a cab from the airport - it%26#39;s not that far into town. You don%26#39;t need and wouldn%26#39;t want a car in Boston itself.

Thanks for the info on Copley. We also found a Doubletree Suites, that overlooks the Charles River and offers a shuttle. That is kind of what we are going for. I guess our deal is that when we travel on vacation we don%26#39;t necessarily want to be right in the heart of everything, because it can get loud at night (not just cars, but trucks, people drinking, etc.). Would love to be on the skirts or burbs but close enough to take transit. Also found a Courtyard in Cambridge that might not be too bad.

My husband wants to visit Cabot%26#39;s dairy, but I%26#39;m just kind of dreading that drive from Portland, everyone tells us it takes forever. Long drives have a history of ruining our vacation :)

I think you%26#39;d be making a mistake to stay on Soldiers Field Road instead of intown at Copley Square. Copley Square is a great area to walk around in the evening, whereas Soldiers Field Road is kind of boring. (But honestly, because I live here, I really don%26#39;t have much insight into what it%26#39;s like to stay in a hotel in Massachusetts).

If you could use your Marriot points to stay at the Marriot Custom House, that should be your first choice.

Again, Boston really isn%26#39;t a loud town.

The drive from Portland, Maine to where (apparently) the Cabot Visitor%26#39;s center is would be really nice. It is over 3 hours just to get there but it%26#39;s very scenic. You could continue on to Burlington, Vermont for the evening. A really beautiful little city on Lake Champlain, and then drive back to Boston the next day.

I didn%26#39;t even know Cabot gave tours but if that%26#39;s something your husband is interested in I think that would be really cool. You could also stop at the Ben and Jerry%26#39;s factory on your way to Burlington.

The Doubletree is really not convenient to anything. I think you would regret that choice. Go for either the Copley Square Area or the Downtown/Waterfront. Your hotel choices are the Marriott Long Wharf and Custom House in the latter anf the Marriott Copley Place or the other Copley one you mentioned.

AlanM

Unfortunately those choices happen to be on the highest point scale that Marriott offers. Can you tell traveling on points is super-fun? We don%26#39;t want to waste them all for just two nights. If the hotel offers a shuttle, I%26#39;m okay with it being a little bit out there.

On the plus side, there could be rooms with nice views at that hotel. Ask for river view...

If you%26#39;re fine with the shuttle bit, then go for it. It doesn%26#39;t take long to get from there to Harvard Square and then you%26#39;re fine. Make sure to take a copy of the shuttle schedule for reference.

Have you looked into the Cambridgeside Marriott or the Residence Inn Cambridge? Both are at Kendall Square, just over the river in Cambridge. While still an urban location it%26#39;s pretty quiet at night and from the upper floors you%26#39;d have lovely views of the Back Bay.

I agree with the other posters that a Puffin tour may happen further north in Maine, I want to say Machias or Calais. Puffins don%26#39;t travel that far south.

Both Salem and Quincy are doable on public transpo so don%26#39;t waste money getting a car until you absolutely need it. The commuter rail out of North Station is a quick jaunt to Salem and the Adams Historic Homestead is accessible via the Red Line on the T. Here%26#39;s the deets from the National Park Service website: http://www.nps.gov/adam/

Getting to Cabot would be a bit of a drive but looks like fun. http://www.cabotcheese.com/ Count on it being about 4 hours%26#39; drive each way.

The Custom House would only be noisy on weekend nights. There are some bars nearby but during the week that area is very quiet at night. Plus, the location is top-notch.

Thanks all! A lot to consider here. Is a lot to juggle when you have X points with Marriott and X points with Hilton. If we do go to Cabot%26#39;s, the closest property appears to be a Hilton brand, so we may have to go with Marriott in Boston. I would really prefer a non-full service hotel, so the Residence Inn Cambridge may be more what we are looking for. Bigger rooms and free breakfast :) I%26#39;m real bummed that I didn%26#39;t book the RI at the Wharf in time, maybe I%26#39;ll get lucky and they will have some cancellations. On the plus side though, if we do go with that Doubletree Suites, I%26#39;ll be Diamond by then and should be able to get us a real nice upgrade. Too many options :)

Thanks for the info about the car, definitely saves us some headache not having to rent one until we depart for Maine.

BTW- when do your kids go back to school? Are they back pre or post Labor Day? Thanks!