seoulmanjr

Buy a lounge membership? Are any of the BOS lounges open 24 hrs? That'd seem like the best bet if they are since it'd be a comfy plaec to chill/sleep and you'd be right there for your flight.

peace,
~Ben~

JennyElf

Yup and for the most part as long as you look like a student, campus police won't bother you for sleeping there.

(I've taken far too many naps there and in 7th floor lounge of bldg 56).

bruingirl

If your budget is $100 a night every week of the term, why not check out Craigslist and sublet a room? Given the student population in Boston and the fact that so many leave to study/work elsewhere, you might find a sublet situation that is within your budget.

Otherwise, I think Boston has a few hostels. I am sure they are listed on the Hosteling International website.

Good luck!

bruingirl

P.S. You might be able to post something on a community board for Harvard and MIT. Others university community boards to try: Tufts, BU, Suffolk, UMass Boston, and Emerson. BC might be too far from Harvard and the airport.

mid

Although I might nod off for a second or two, the primary goal for me is to be safe and unmolested during the wee hours. I've found that falling asleep does poor things for your satefy when not done behind closed doors.

That being said, it would be nice to be in a place that has lots of people and a good coffee pot or two. A bookstore would be ideal but I'd be just as happy in a restaurant or a starbucks.

I've heard that there are some good places to go at MIT, maily because they have 24-hour stuff everywhere. In particular, I hear that there is a cafe that's 24-hours.

I'm a little concerned about the distances I would need to travel to get to these places. The goal for me is to get in, set up near where my class is, then get moving to the next spot where I will hole up until it comes time to move to the airport.

tom911

http://www.bostonhostel.org/
$31.99 weekends for members
Lots of photos on their site, too

mid

Have you ever stayed there? I've heard bad things about hostels.

tom911

Haven't stayed at this one. I did stay at the YHA in Seattle for the FT Do there last month and it was fine (and they had wireless). Generally, the YHA hostels are pretty clean and quiet. I've done a couple hundred hostel nights over the years and have only had a handful of bad stays. I'm in Ireland this next week and I have hostels booked every night at 4 different stops.

A couple review sites if you wanted to check:

http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://www.hostelz.com
http://www.hostelworld.com

tom911

deleted

JennyElf

The student center is almost always occupied by people weeknights during the term. The 24 hr coffeehouse shut down sometime my junior year and I'm not sure what is in that space anymore. I think the mini mart has been experiementing with being open 24 hrs during the term, they sell coffee.

I've never been molested during my naps. On the other hand, most of my naps were during the day. There's also the odd classroom that you can take over for a time during the night, but I will warn that if you are found sleeping in one, you may be asked to show an MIT ID to prove you aren't tresspassing.

MIT is about a $5-6 cab ride from Harvard Sq. or a 25 min walk, but like Mateo4321 said, I wouldn't go through Central Sq by myself at that time of night.

mid

Which area is the Central Sq in? I can't seem to find it on the maps I have.

chrisw

Central square is down Mass Ave from Harvard Square, about halfway between Harvard Square and the Mass Ave Bridge over the river. Search for 625 Masaschusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA on your favorite mapping site.

I certainly wouldn't count on sleeping in the MIT student center. While I don't think you would actually be asked for ID, as I recall they replaced nearly all of the couches long enough for sleeping with either short, love-seat sized couches or couches with armrests between each seat. There may still be some full-lenth couches in the reading room of the 5th floor, but just going there to sleep without making any attempt to study might irk the students that are actually there trying to work. I too have only slept in the student center later at night/earlier in the morning than you are thinking (after 4am).

mid

Looks like you and I are neighbors. I'm in Fairfax too.

Back to the thread: it is beginning to look like the airport is going to be the best place to head to after class or after dinner/drinks for the evening. All of the other alternatives have too many variables to be good options.

A taxi ride from Haaaahvaaad won't break the bank too much and the wait will be a tolerable 3 or so hours after the bars/restaurants/other stuff in Cambridge closes.

I can catch up on my reading.

mid

Yeah. The challenge isn't so much being able to sleep but being safe at night. Sleep is a bonus.

I could stand to stay awake in any place that had a soft couch with good coffee.

Or pretty girls to talk to.

mid

Well all...

I'm here at Logan right now, surfing on the internet and none the worse fo the wear.

I'm actually hanging out close to Terminal B in the entrance to the corridor from Terminal B to C. There aren't any couches here but there are some comfy rocking chairs that will do the job nicely.

I actually got myself a coffee at the 24-hour Dunkins Donuts in Terminal B departures.

Without the internet and the coffee this would be much more uncomfortable. There are plenty of people here who are sleeping in the airport. I even saw one lady sleeping on a COT! She must have brought it in specifically for the trip!

Oh well. Another day.....wait, I forget.