Where to Stay
in Boston

For a first visit, with family

Furnished Boston apartments for a first visit - an apartment hotel, not a hotel room. Free parking, full kitchen, sleeps up to 10, 15-20 minutes from downtown.

Check dates and availability
Or call or text: (617) 799-4558

4.94 from 594 verified Airbnb reviews

Freeparking, which downtown hotels charge extra for
15-20 minto downtown from our Dorchester apartments
Up to 10guests in one apartment, one booking

The choice most first-time visitors are actually making

Almost everyone searching for where to stay in Boston is choosing between a downtown hotel room and something with more space further out. It is worth being clear about what each one is.

A downtown hotel puts you inside walking distance of the Freedom Trail, and charges you for a room that sleeps two, with parking on top. If you are travelling as a couple and flying in, that is often the right answer and we will not pretend otherwise.

If there are four, six or ten of you, the maths changes completely. Two or three hotel rooms become one apartment. Everyone gets a real bed and a door that closes, there is a kitchen for breakfast before you head out, laundry for a longer trip, and the car parks free instead of costing you a nightly garage rate.

What this actually is: an apartment hotel, not a hotel room

People arrive at this looking for different words. Some search for a serviced apartment, some for an aparthotel or apartment hotel, some for a furnished short-term rental, and a few just want a hotel with a kitchen. They are all describing the same thing, and it is what we let.

You get the whole apartment: your own front door, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer inside the unit, and a living room with a table everyone fits around. There is no front desk, no shared corridor and nobody else in the property. What you do get that a serviced apartment company usually cannot offer is free off-street parking at every address, and an owner who answers the phone.

It suits the stays a hotel room handles worst: a family who would otherwise book three rooms, a work placement running several weeks, a medical stay, or anyone who would rather cook breakfast than queue for it. Stays run from a single night up to 27 nights, and the nightly rate falls as the stay gets longer - which is why monthly rentals and month-long bookings are common here.

What our guests actually go and see

These are the places that come up over and over in three years of guest messages, not a list copied from a tourist brochure.

The Freedom Trail is the spine of a first visit - a walking route through the historic sites, ending around Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, which guests mention constantly. The New England Aquarium and the Museum of Fine Arts come up often with families. Duck Tours get named more than you would expect. The Public Garden is where people end up on a warm afternoon.

Closer to where you will actually be staying, guests regularly mention Franklin Park and its zoo, the JFK Presidential Library out on the water in Dorchester, and Castle Island. Those are the ones visitors staying downtown usually miss.

Getting into the city, and where the car goes

From our Dorchester apartments it is roughly 15 to 20 minutes into downtown outside rush hour, and 25 to 30 from Hyde Park. Both are on the south side of the city.

The part worth planning is parking at the other end, because that is where downtown gets expensive. Garage rates near the attractions run in the same range as event parking - Fenway averages nearly $34 a game and the garages by TD Garden run $30 to $65. Plenty of our guests leave the car at the apartment and take the train in for a few dollars, then drive on the days they are heading further out - Salem, the Cape, or a game.

Either way the car sits free where you are staying rather than adding a nightly charge to your room.

Being straight about the neighbourhood

You will be staying in a residential part of Boston, not in the middle of the tourist district. One guest put it plainly: it is not a touristy area, it is where people actually live.

For some trips that is the wrong choice and we would rather you knew now. For a family or a group who want space, quiet at night, somewhere to park and a real kitchen, it is why people book here instead of a hotel - and then drive or ride the fifteen minutes in.

Apartments that suit this trip

This apartment was perfect for our group of 5 and was clean, easy to access, and located about 20 minutes from downtown Boston - just a short train ride or Uber away. Daryl was excellent to communicate with and made sure we had everything we needed.— verified guest review

Common questions

Are these licensed short-term rentals?
Yes. Every apartment is a licensed City of Boston short-term rental - our registration is STR-629372, and it appears on the listings.
Do I pay a booking fee if I book direct?
No. Booking direct at sparekeysstay.com carries no booking fee, and the code BOOKDIRECT takes 20% off. That is the whole reason the direct site exists.
What are check-in and checkout times?
Check-in is 3pm and checkout is 10am as standard, with self check-in so there is no meeting anyone at a set hour. On a same-day booking tell us what you need and we will work with it.
Should I book through Airbnb or direct?
Either works, and the apartment is the same. Airbnb gives you their payment protection and their messaging, and if that is what you are used to, use it - our listings are there. Booking here costs less because there is no guest service fee, and you deal with Daryl directly rather than through a platform. Whichever you choose, it is the same key, the same parking space and the same host.
Is it cheaper to book direct or on Airbnb?
Direct, and the site shows you the difference before you pay. Airbnb adds a guest service fee on top of the nightly rate; booking here skips it, and we apply a direct discount as well. On a recent three-night booking the discount alone came to $201.60. The saving grows with the length of the stay, which matters most on the two- and three-week bookings we do a lot of.
Are these the same apartments as on Airbnb?
Yes - the same nineteen apartments, the same photographs, the same host. Our guest reviews come from Airbnb, where the portfolio has 4.94 stars from 594 reviews, because that is where guests have been leaving them for years. Booking direct just removes the middle step.

Coming to Boston for something else?

Check dates and availability

Or call or text Daryl directly: (617) 799-4558