Is there any discernible "low-season" for hotel prices in Boston?
 

I don't know if it is still the case but a few years ago Boston was recognized as having the most expensive hotels in North America.

I know there are the graduation and homecoming seasons as well as the marathon and regatta that are just naturally going to be brutal but is there any discernible "low-season" for hotel prices in Boston?

The lowest pricing we've experienced is in January. ^

Yep - I'd even expand Analise's answer to say November through February are your best chances at catching any kind of a deal on a hotel room, outside of that forget it.

That said, if it doesn't matter which exact hotel you stay at, sometimes Priceline or Hotwire is useful in Boston to at least save you a little, regardless of the time of year.

Thanks,

That probably isn't the nicest time to visit the Boston National Historic Park, but there is no nice time to pay $350 a night for a Holiday Inn.

Be inventive; look outside the city center in Cambridge, Brighton, Medford, etc. There are plenty of properties close to a T line that cost far less than the in-town hotels yet are only 15-20 minutes' ride from the city.

We've gone for New Year's twice in a row. This past January, it was in the 30s. Last year, it was quite warm — maybe in the upper 40s? Sunny and beautiful on both trips so indeed both were nice times to visit.

Thanks for the suggestions.

This is basically a bucket list exercise with some older childless relatives who are something less than the most resilient travelers. Their schedule is flexible but not a whole lot else is. The Revolutionary and Civil War sites are on the list.

Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you end up in a blizzard like I did traveling to Boston back in February. I usually estimate a 15-20% chance that any December-February trip will see snow whenever I have to head back to MA in the winter. But hotel prices are definitely cheaper during those times.

Points are a good thing to use in Boston for this exact reason. The 3 area Hyatts (one downtown close to Boston Common, one near the airport, and one in Cambridge) are all category 4 - 15k points per night for cash rates often fluctuating between $250-350.