Boston marathon: Hotel tips

Most hotels will go for under 100,000. Never know with inflation anymore

Boston is the only city I've visited that sells out hotels. You'd want to schedule early. They probably cost more than $100, less than $200 if you find a good offer.

Is that the daily rate you refer to? Do you know any specific hotels?

Why do you want it to be close to the marathon start? Hopkington is 26 miles away from the finish, why on earth would you stay there during marathon weekend?

I just thought it would be easier to get to the start?

I can see Hopkington is at the start, is it better to stay close to the finish?

Or where should i stay?

I've run Boston numerous times. The closer to the finish the better. Of course those hotels are most expensive. They generally get cheaper the further out from the finish they are; however, as long as you're near a T stop you can easily ride the T to Boston Common to load the buses that take you to the start. A relatively small number of people do stay near the start, but there aren't many hotels out near Hopkinton, and getting from them to the athlete's village can be challenging. And of course there's the issue of getting back out there after the race.

Which hotels have you stayed at?

I’ve stayed at The Liberty twice, the Sheraton Copley, Westin Copley, The Intercontinental, Le Meridian Cambridge and Westin Seaport.

All of them are nice places to stay, but the Seaport area is probably the least convenient. Cambridge is nice but a little tougher to get around than staying downtown.

The Copley / Back Bay Area is great for the Expo and close to the finish, but the hotels are priciest there.

I’m staying at The Liberty again next year. It’s an old prison turned boutique hotel, so it’s got some character. $415/night at Marathon Tours. It’s just about a mile from the finish line. I’d recommend Marathon tours for the best current prices. The downside is they charge a cancellation fee if you decide to cancel or change hotels. There is a small chance that prices go down closer to the race, but I’d rather lock in a group rate now.

You have a decision to make. Do you want to stay near the finish/Boston proper, taking in the marathon vibe/history or do you want to save money and stay outside of the city and deal with the logistics? If you stay in the city you WILL pay for a hotel. If you stay outside of the city you will pay substantially less for a hotel but will need to navigate the T/trains. If you are willing to do the later then I can recommend places for you to stay, closer to the start but a train ride into the city. Heck, you could even take an Uber/Lyft to the Hopkington exit off of Route 495 on marathon morning, and then take a marathon bus (free) back to the Hopkington off-site parking area (assuming they still offer that), or take a train back close to the hotel.

Thanks, I guess as a tourist I should stay in the city , also considering I want to see the sites (after the race).

I totally understand. As someone said, you can also consider staying in Cambridge, just across the Charles River. A short T or Uber ride away and may be a bit less expensive. Remember, you will need to get to the bus early on Marathon morning and then be prepared to sit around in Hopkington prior to the start.

Good luck!

If you want anything downtown and near the sites, you won't be below $400/night, and you're probably looking at at least $500-600.

I agree with BAA about being near a T stop. Stay downtown or relatively close to a T, ride to Boston Common for the shuttle. Also, my experience hasn't been all that different from Jogger262's. I've stayed in Cambridge, East Cambridge, and downtown. Among those, the best deals I've found have been through Marathon Tours, but there are few options left, with Le Meridien being among them at a good price, but that isn't the easiest access (not at all bad, though). I like the Godfrey in the Opera District by Boston Common (= easy access for the shuttle on race morning). And there's a T stop right there at Boston Common for things like the expo, transit from airport, going to a Sox game, etc. It was easily the least expensive on Marathon Tours downtown when I stayed there, but they appear not to be booking through that service anymore, and their own website appears not to book this far out in time, so I can't tell what their rates would be (I'd guess >$500/night, but not sure).

Royal Sonesta in East Cambridge may not be going through Marathon Tours anymore, but on the regular booking sites, they are showing as $420/night nonrefundable and $495 refundable. Two times I stayed there, they ran a shuttle to the MBTA Green Line on race morning. I walked to and from the station for other things there. I think the shuttle operated post-race, too. But I don't know if they still do that.

A number of those are fairly pricey, but many of the nice downtown places go for $750-$1250/night that week in their cheapest rooms.

And friends of mine have gone a few miles out from downtown for lower prices but close to T stops and have been pretty happy with their experiences. I don't recall the exact hotels or locations, though.

Good luck.

I've stayed at Logan airport hotels a couple of times. There's nothing else to do around there, so you'd have to take the T or Uber/cab to do just about anything fun. But it is easy to get from there to Boston Common on race morning on the T. Also, if you must fly out the afternoon/evening after the race (which I wouldn't recommend) you'll be right there at the airport after you pick up your bags from the valet bag storage (which you'd have to do because you wouldn't be able to get back to the hotel until well after checkout time). One perk the Logan Hilton offered though was to let marathoners who had already checked out of their rooms race morning use the fitness center shower when they straggled back to the hotel after the race. I was able to do that, retrieve my bags from valet storage, then walk right to the departure gate at Logan.

I stayed south of the city in Quincy on the Red Line. Easy subway trip to/from the expo and the finish and cheaper than downtown.

Lots of info on the boards.

I ran Boston in 2022. I stayed at Hotel Commonwealth. The hotel itself was excellent, but expensive. It at mile 25, which was great for my family to watch the race out of the hotel window, but it's a solid 1 mile from the finish.

It was a very quick and free subway ride to the start. But since it's a mile from the finish, me and my family had to take an uber back to the hotel which wasn't ideal, since the city is insanely crowded race day, with the marathon and always a Boston Red Sox game.

If I had to do it over again, I'd stay as close to the finish as possible. Those hotels are expensive though, and they sell out fast, usually the day registration notices go out, or sooner. Book now, cancel later if needed.

Not many people stay near the start. I'm not very familiar with Hopkinton, but most of what I saw around there is residential. I'm not sure where the hotels are, if any. I'm sure you could rent an air bnb or VRBO. But then you've got to get back out there at the finish when you'll be dehydrated and exhausted. The advantage is, you wouldn't have to spend so much time standing, waiting for buses race morning and spending so much time on the bus before the race.

The general consensus is, if you've got the money, stay as close to the finish as possible, and take the buses to the start line, when you're fresh and rested in the morning. There are hundreds of them running every few minutes. Then where you're tired at the finish, a short walk to your hotel. I tend to agree, staying at the finish is better than staying at the start. Neither are ideal, when you have a point to point course.

Just stay at a nice hotel near the finish/bus pickup. The comfort and ease of logistics is worth paying for.