When visiting a large city, would you rather stay downtown with more expensive hotel, more expensive daily parking fee but you'd be close to the action, or stay in the suburbs, with cheaper hotel and free parking, but with the inconvenience of commuting to the downtown area?

My favorite place is a village that draws thousands at times, so travel is a bear. I’ll pay the bucks to be downtown so I can walk to places and go out at night for a snack or to take in the sites. During the day I’ll drive out to the areas I want to explore or return to. To me, the extra bucks are dollars well spent. If it was business the answer would be the opposite.

So much depends on the city – and to some degree your personality and what you plan to do during the day and the evenings. And to some degree, the availability of public transportation.

If it’s NY or Washington DC or Chicago, stay downtown no matter what.

If it’s Nashville or KC or Denver or Dallas, stay outside and drive in.

If you could give a little more information about your destination, that would be useful.

@elbanditoroso: It’s Boston. My choices right now are the Sheraton Prudential Center vs. Best Western Concord MA.

I just called Sheraton to find out parking rates, and it’s $40 for 24 hours or $53 for valet, for 24 hours. So with taxes and fees, to stay and park is about $200 a day, vs. half for Concord MA.

Stay in Concord and take the MBTA in. Boston is a great city, but not worth the extra $$ to be downtown. And if you’re going to be doing touristy stuff, there’s a good number of things worth seeing that are not right downtown.

Ouch, that’s expensive. I might opt for the outside area.

If it were a city that I would be driving to (or expect to be driving to), then I think I’d look for some kind of secure park-and-ride outside of the city to leave the car, then take the shuttle, bus, subway or train into the city and stay at the hotel there. The convenience of the private oasis or pied-à-terre (especially with a young one!) is certainly worth the extra cost, at least to me. And she’ll be able to see things from the hotel window, day and night, that will create a lasting memory of the trip. (I’m speaking only of the cityscape, the lights and the motion – including the view from up high if you get such a room as that.)

I only live a little more than an hour away from Boston, and that’s how I would do Boston, myself.

I agree with @CWOTUS.

Ditch the car and stay downtown. At your little one’s age I loved public transportation. Still do, actually… but a big city at night is one of the most amazing experiences.

So, I know you live in NYC. Have you considered ditching the car all together? Take the Amtrak to south station and buy an unlimited subway/bus day pass for $12. Or a week pass for $19. The T is pretty efficient if you’re good with public transportation. No car, less problems. Whatever money you save by staying in Concord is compromised by the gas you use to drive. Stay somewhere nearby, even it means a short train ride. Let me remind you that the green line is as slow as a bus, and the silver line is a bus. I live here, so if you have any more questions about the area, pm me and I’d be glad to hear them.
Oh, and one more thing: the commuter rail doesn’t reach Concord, it only goes to Haverhill (pronounced hay-vrull).

@dxs: That’s an interesting thought. I don’t live in NYC, but I live not far from NYC and there’s an Amtrak station in the area.

I’ve been to Boston before, and I know it’s a great city. I went once on business and stayed at one of the big Prud Center hotels, and I went a few times for leisure, and stayed downtown (Fairmont, Omni Parker House, Marriott Copley Place).

For foreign travel I prefer to stay in the hub pf the city, for US travel I prefer to stay outside city limits and commute in, with the exception of San Francisco and L.A.

Whenever we visit NYC we stay in Queens and save a lot of money. It’s just a 5 minute subway ride to get to down town NYC.

I am famously cheap while at home, but I never pinch pennies while vacationing.
While in Washington DC, we stayed about 4 blocks from the White House. Being able to go for a stroll and see such things was worth it!
Stay in town, and drink in the flavors of the city.

I second @dxs. Take the train. Train rides are a lot of fun. There’s so much to see. In the city, you can easily get around on the rail-transit and buses.

Personally, I enjoy staying in the heart of a city when I travel. I leave the car at home and get around by walking and public transportation.

Always stay close to whatever venue you plan on visiting, walking distance is best. There is only one exception I would tolerate to that rule when it comes to large cities, and that is the availability of a rapid transit rail or subway system within easy walking distance on both ends of the commute. And even that proposition can be problematic at rush hour. I’ll trade money for time and frustration any day of the week!

Great thing about Boston is one can walk or take the T just about anywhere. The Freedom Trail is all walking.

Stay in Brookline or Cambridge, take the train to downtown.

I’ve never been to Boston, but I imagine you don’t need a car downtown.

Tough call. If you are going for just one day then it’s not a big deal to stay in the suburbs. You can stay in a hotel on the way there/back and shorten your trip if you will only be in the city one day. Although, one day might mean it’s worth the splurge to stay downtown, because it’s multiple nights that will really add up.

I wouldn’t want to drive downtown every day over a long weekend to get to the city if I was staying in the suburbs, but if there is a hotel in the burbs right next to public transportation that you can walk to, that I would consider.

If you can take amtrak straight there I would seriously consider that. Depending on the money and how close the train stations are to where you need to be.

How many nights?

I was thinking about two nights. One night is the ballet (Nutcracker), the second night is anything goes.

I don’t live too far from you, and I always take Amtrak to Boston and public transport or walk around town. Because of your relative proximity, going back to other sites outside of the city isn’t a problem, so I would recommend concentrating on the city itself.

Oh, The Nutcracker! Your child will me over the moon! It’s always been a fave of my kids.

Have fun!

Have you tried looking at airbnbs in the city? Most likely cheaper than a hotel and you might even get free parking.

Is there a subway right next to the suburban hotel? Is the suburban hotel also in an area with restaurants and you can walk around easily?

I lean towards staying right downtown, taking the train if it’s convenient and the right price. You won’t have to focus on driving and you can just focus all your attention on your daughter and the vacation. Possibly, the train adds a little time to the the travel time though, because you have to get to the train?

Just curious why Nutcracker in Boston? I used to go every year and see it at Lincoln Center when I was little.

@JLeslie: I saw it in Boston about 10 years ago, because someone in my family went to school in Boston and so I’d go up there once or twice a year to see her. Usually one trip would be around the holidays. I guess Boston because it’s a little more of a “vacation” feeling than NYC, which, for me, is only an hour away and we do that all the time.

The suburban hotel is accessible to train into Boston. I googled Concord MA and it’s historic and has restaurants and shopping within walking distance. It’s about 35 minutes on train. Not sure how easy the train is to figure out. Staying right in the Prud Center is great, as it’s so convenient, but we’re “either way” which is why I asked this question.

I’m intrigued by the thought of Amtrak up to Boston but it’s a few hundred per person, which is about 4–500 bucks onto the trip. Driving is easier as far as the logistics of it all. There are pluses and minuses with any mode of transportation.

I would drive in that case. Amtrak prices vary so much. I take Amtrak 4 hours across FL for $30. I used to take it about the same amount if hours from DC to NYC for $80—$100.

I agree it’s a vacation! Sounds like a great idea.

Really it sounds like a toss up between the two hotel options. Driving in Boston is supposed to be a bear, which might be reason to stay in the suburbs?

Does the weather make a difference? It likely will be very cold. Maybe that will influence you one way or the other?

My friend that did a convention last year told me that they drove to Providence, parked in a secure lot near the train station, then trained into Boston. She couldn’t remember which lot, an Internet search would probably help with that, but it was very successful. Train not too pricey from close by, parking reasonable, and yay train ride!

I agree with @dxs and @zenvelo Take the Amtrak to Boston, forget Concord, and look at Brookline or especially Cambridge (Harvard Yard, etc.). You have the Red Line to Boston. I love the Red Line.

The negative about Cambridge is that I’ll have to pay for a parking garage and yet have the inconvenience of traveling to and fro.

There are plenty of buses that get to Boston in less than 5 hours as well that are much less pricy than a train. How much will it cost in gas to drive and then park your car? Is it also worth the hassle? And a 35-minute train ride from Concord to Boston?!
If you drive, be aware that there’s a toll going into Boston from East Boston via the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels. It’s $3.50 last I remember but may be more now. That’s where the airport is, so I know there are a lot of hotels there.

Are you doing anything else while you’re visiting Boston? If not, you might as well explore around. The train would be better than a car for this.

I would look into AirBnB.

I don’t know Boston, but for comparison you can get a one bedroom in a really nice neighborhood here in Chicago for $110. Less than $100 for a guest bedroom with a host family.

Also I heartily agree with those who say skip driving and take the train or bus.

Call me paranoid, but I’d be incredibly leery of spending a night in a stranger’s house with a small child.

I would not do airbnb. Pull out your Sheraton rewards or similar, and rack up the points and hope for a suite upgrade.