Where to stay in Boston
Cheapest of the 6 areas below is Dorchester; guests score Fenway Kenmore highest; Back Bay costs the most. Across all 6, rooms run $54 to $656 a night, read from the booking partner on 2026-08-21.
| Area | Hotels | Rooms from | Median | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorchester Cheapest | 3 | $167–$195 | $183 | 8.8 |
| Fenway Kenmore Best guest scores | 3 | $179–$262 | $219 | 9.4 |
| South Boston Thin sample | 2 | $234–$270 | $270 | 9.2 |
| Waterfront | 3 | $299–$626 | $399 | 8.8 |
| Theatre District Thin sample | 2 | $54–$629 | $629 | 9.1 |
| Back Bay PriciestMost to choose from | 5 | $289–$656 | $645 | 9.2 |
Areas are ordered cheapest first, by the median nightly rate of the hotels we can read a price for. An area needs at least two of them before it gets a row, because one property tells you nothing about a part of town.
Dorchester
Dorchester is the cheapest of the 6 areas below. Rooms start at $167 a night here, and the 3 properties we can read run to $195.
Fenway Kenmore
Fenway Kenmore is where guests score their stay highest. Rooms start at $179 a night here, and the 3 properties we can read run to $262.
South Boston
South Boston is only two properties, so read its numbers as two data points rather than a picture of the area. Rooms start at $234 a night here, and the 2 properties we can read run to $270.
Waterfront
Rooms start at $299 a night here, and the 3 properties we can read run to $626.
Theatre District
Theatre District is only two properties, so read its numbers as two data points rather than a picture of the area. Rooms start at $54 a night here, and the 2 properties we can read run to $629.
Back Bay
Back Bay is the priciest of the 6. Rooms start at $289 a night here, and the 5 properties we can read run to $656.
What these numbers are, and what they are not
Each hotel sits in an area by the address its booking partner publishes, and every figure comes from the same reading that fills the rate on the hotel page: the nightly rate, the guest score and the review count. Rates move with season, demand and length of stay, so read them as a starting point rather than the price of a stay.
What you will not find here is a line about how an area feels. We can read what a room costs and how guests scored it, so we rank on that. We cannot read whether a street is quiet after dark, so we do not put a sentence about it next to numbers that were actually measured.