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Boston · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Agganis Arena

Gerald Whitfield

Gerald Whitfield The American northeast and Canada

Updated 1 September 2026 · 46 Boston hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Boston, out of the 46 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 5 down to 4.5.

All five are within 2.4 km of Agganis Arena.

Ginkgo House on Harvard

Highest rated of the five

Ginkgo House on Harvard

★★★★★5 from 694 reviews

Ginkgo House on Harvard comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 5 from 694 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 3 star property, found under poi and around $461 a night on the dates we checked.

46 hotels in Boston qualified for this list and five made it. The Eliot Hotel is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Ginkgo House on Harvard1

    Ginkgo House on Harvard

    ★★★★★5 from 694 reviews

    2.2 km from Agganis Arena

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    • The Eliot Hotel2

      The Eliot Hotel

      ★★★★★4.7 from 843 reviews

      2.4 km from Agganis Arena

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      • Iris Hotel Boston3

        Iris Hotel Boston

        ★★★★★4.6 from 422 reviews

        1.3 km from Agganis Arena, about a 16 minute walk

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        • Hotel Commonwealth4

          Hotel Commonwealth

          ★★★★★4.5 from 1,863 reviews

          1.9 km from Agganis Arena, about a 24 minute walk

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          • The Verb Hotel5

            The Verb Hotel

            ★★★★★4.6 from 2,101 reviews

            1.9 km from Agganis Arena, about a 24 minute walk

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            How this list was put together

            46 Boston hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Agganis Arena second, then took the top five.

            Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

            The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

            What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

            Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

            Gerald Whitfield

            Gerald Whitfield The American northeast and Canada

            Volunteers three days a week and travels the rest. Maritime museums and working boatyards in 19 countries, mostly by ferry and train, talking to the shipwrights in every one.

            Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.