A Note on Where We Stayed

We stayed at three places while vacationing in Massachusetts.

Our first night in Boston was spent at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge. We awoke to a beautiful view of the river and row teams out for early morning practices.

The hotel itself was fantastic. The children loved the see-through elevator, and there was a nice breakfast buffet available.

I would have booked this hotel for our last two nights as well had the price not dramatically risen.

Now would be a good time to mention that Boston is expensive. Not just pricey in some areas, but altogether ridiculously expensive. I'd heard people mention this before and thought it had something to do with the time they went or that they just weren't looking hard enough to find reasonable rates.

Nope.

It's expensive all the time.

Embassy Suites near Logan Airport offered the best rate for our last two nights of the vacation. While I wasn't too keen on staying near the airport, it turned out to be fine. There was a park nearby, and we were able to easily hop on the subway to journey around town.

If you've never stayed at an Embassy Suites there are two things that might allure you.

First, every night at 5:30 there is a cocktail hour and light snacks provided for free. In most states that means you can get a beer or a glass of wine, but in Massachusetts they can't give away alcohol. It wasn't a big deal for us because we weren't much in the mood for drinks, but the light hors d'oeuvres were a big hit with us all.

Second, breakfast is always included in your stay at Embassy Suites. I don't mean continental breakfast either; you get the works. That's always a big plus, especially with children in tow.

So enough about Boston. What about the rest of the trip?

We stayed in a great cottage in Hyannis. The property is known as Harbor Village, and it was a real find!

I came across it online and decided to book it before realizing the form of payment.

No credit cards.

I sent the check for the deposit and then started to freak out a bit. What if it wasn't real? What if it was a scam?

We've all heard of this kind of thing happening. It didn't help that our babysitter started laughing when I mentioned it to her and told me we'd be looking for a place to stay once we got there.

But it definitely exists, and is a wonderful place to stay. The couple that maintains the property lives onsite from May until October.

There's so much I could say about the property itself, but the website does such a great job I'll let you check it out for yourself.

I can envision the Cape becoming a regular vacation spot for us.