OFFICIAL BOSTON MARATHON LOGISTICS THREAD: Hotels, rental cars, etc.

I stayed at the AC by Marriott hotel in Boston Cambridge, situated at the end of the red line (alewife station).

Nice hotel and lower prices than more centrally located hotels.

Stay at an Airbnb outside of Boston. I stayed in Ashmont and just a 30 min train ride to Boston common. With a late morning start for the race it was no big deal. Avoided parking and saved a lot of cash for hookers and blow.

Got in, booked my stay through the Marathon Tours at Marriott Cambridge hotel where I stayed this year for the 2019 Boston. Great location, walking distance, liked it;)

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/boscb-boston-marriott-cambridge/

In 2020 I'll be staying just 2 nights, April 19-21, at $308 per night, promo for Boston marathon runners, same price as this year. Plus taxes it'll comes at $670-680 total. It's a good deal!!!

The public websites list it at over $500 a night... Crazy, I know!!! I get at least something out of my Marathon Tours membership;)

Well, I found a Motel 6 not too far from Hopkinton for $65 a night. Figure I'll rent a car to get from the airport to the hotel and to the expo and back. I may need to take a taxi to Hopkinton though cause I've heard parking is a nightmare. I hope there is a shuttle from the finish back to the start.

already paid my $205 wrote:

Well, I found a Motel 6 not too far from Hopkinton for $65 a night. Figure I'll rent a car to get from the airport to the hotel and to the expo and back. I may need to take a taxi to Hopkinton though cause I've heard parking is a nightmare. I hope there is a shuttle from the finish back to the start.

You REALLY are trying to save money... I guess my suggestions is out of the window then... But man, you are adding some "stressful" travel back and forth for your Boston;) If it was my first one, I'd definitely stay in Boston area, just to experience it more... If this was my 10th Boston, I guess, I could do it your way;) Good luck!

Not sure if there is a shuttle back to Hopkinton, never heard of one...

KawauchiFTW wrote:

already paid my $205 wrote:

Well, I found a Motel 6 not too far from Hopkinton for $65 a night. Figure I'll rent a car to get from the airport to the hotel and to the expo and back. I may need to take a taxi to Hopkinton though cause I've heard parking is a nightmare. I hope there is a shuttle from the finish back to the start.

You REALLY are trying to save money... I guess my suggestions is out of the window then... But man, you are adding some "stressful" travel back and forth for your Boston;) If it was my first one, I'd definitely stay in Boston area, just to experience it more... If this was my 10th Boston, I guess, I could do it your way;) Good luck!

Not sure if there is a shuttle back to Hopkinton, never heard of one...

I will say it's a lot easier to be closer to the start line on raceday. You never know what the weather will be like. You can sleep longer, not sit on a bus, stay warm, do what you need to do. I am lucky enough to have family close enough to the start that I've been dropped off in years past and then they meet me at the finish & we take our time get food & drive back. That is 100% the way to go but not realistic for most. I am pro looking into an Air BNB in the Hopkinton area. But maybe look into if you can do that before the race and then stay in Boston after the race. That'll make it a ton easier. If you stay in Hopkinton, you still have to get into Boston to pick up your number. You'll miss out on some pre race hype but it's your call on how you want to do it.

First Boston in more than a decade and trying to decide between lodging downtown and out near the start. So any intel is appreciated. More into ease of logistics for actually running a decent race than the touristy experience. Is it tougher to get dropped off near that start due to increased security/road closures, etc. than 13 or 14 years ago when I last ran it? Got dropped off last time and it went super smooth, but I'd hate to run into surprises for my crew this time around. BTW, it poured that day and I was glad I wasn't sitting hours on end under a tarp!

This is my first and likely only time running Boston, as some totally unexpected funding came through that is unlikely to show up again. So I figured I should do it the classic way and stay in Boston, catch a bus to Hopkinton, and all that.

What a pain. I made a hotel reservation early, only for the hotel to decide that the price (which wasn't all that cheap) was a misprint, so they canceled the reservation but offered to let me book a new reservation at a special rate, twice as much as the original price. No, thank you. Then I went with Airbnb and found a great place within walking distance of the finish. It was also not cheap - $400/night once fees were added - and it too got canceled on me, only now it's January and prices have gone up everywhere. I tried one more search on Airbnb and found a place about a mile from the finish for a little less. Hopefully this one works out.

Is taking the Commuter Rail Line to Back Bay a good idea? It looks like it is about 3/4 mile from the bus pickup location in Boston Common. How long does this usually take to get from Brockton (south) or Framingham (west)? Are there other lines that might be faster? And how long does it take for the shuttle bus to make it from Boston Common to Hopkinton? Trying to decide where to get a hotel.

An often discussed topic - for those wanting a cheaper hotel I would recommend staying at the end of the red line - Alewife Station or anyplace within walking distance to a T-Stop the subway runs frequently and would get you to Park Station near the pick up buses in about 15 minutes. The commuter trains don't run that frequently and less frequently on Holidays - In 2019 there was a bus that made one trip back to Hopkinton - who knows if they will run it in 2021. It is also possible to stay out in Waltham where there are plenty of Hotels then uber to Alewife. Boston isn't much fun to drive in and the morning of the Marathon there are all sorts of road closures so you would have to be careful in plotting your route. Parking is also a challenge its expensive and streeet parrking is a crap shoot.

Find cheap Airbnb in Braintree or Quincy. Park at either T station race morning. T is free day of race. Take red line straight to the common to catch the bus to start. After you finish hop right back on red line back to your car.

OK, so I was able to reserve a motel for $200 per night about 4 or 5 miles from the Braintree Station which is on the Red Line. I am going to have a rental car so the plan is to drive to Braintree and take the Red Line to Park Street Station and then just walk across Boston Common to the busses to Hopkinton.

Does anyone know what the parking situation is like at the Braintree Station? Will it get packed early or can I reserve parking online first to be sure I have a spot?

Approximately how long does it take to get from Braintree to Park Street, and how long does it take the busses to get to Hopkinton?

What times do the busses usually run from the Common to Hopkinton?

I am sure I'll be in Wave 1 so I am trying to figure out my timeline for how early I need to get to the station. I haven't run Boston in many years, when the start time was still noon.

I know they were doing construction on the Braintree garage, but pretty sure it just opened back up. I don't think you'll have much of an issue parking there if you are in Wave 1. It is a holiday so most commuters won't be working and you will be getting there pretty early. If for some reason it is full, you could plan on parking at one of the Quincy stations as a backup, or worst case scenario, you could drive all the way in town (won't be traffic and would be quick) part at a Garage in Government Center and take the green line to Park (or Boylston or Arlington would be even be closer if they are open). But, I don't think it will come to that and don't imagine too much of an issue parking in Braintree. It's probably about a 30 minute ride from Braintree to Park St., but trains runs a little less frequently on holidays and you'll want to probably factor in about a 10-15 minute wait time just to be safe. In the past, the buses were by Wave and the Wave 1 buses started at like 6 am or something. It takes probably 45 minutes or so to get out to Hopkinton. I don't know how the buses are working this year since it sounds like it will be a rolling start and seems likely they'll assign you a more precise bus time. After the race, just make sure you take a train toward Braintree and not Ashmont--going south there are two branches of the Red Line and obviously you'll want a Braintree train and not an Ashmont one .