Boston: YMCA of Greater Boston (Hotel)

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Address: 316 huntington avenue , Boston MA 02115, Usa
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Lonely Planet review

The Village People are right: It is fun to stay at the YMCA. You get to use the gyms, indoor track, and the pool; you get a hearty breakfast and free passes to various programs. Rooms are rented to both genders from May to August, but only to men the rest of the year. Stark, battered furnishings are on par with local hostels and the place is swabbed regularly with industrial-strength cleansers.

Huge windows pour sunshine and street lights into the rooms. Single beds are a couple of notches above cots; linens and towels are provided. Rooms are small, with miniscule closets or clothes racks, tiny desks and why-bother bureaus. But the place is pretty clean, in an athletic-gym sort of way: they splash the place with enough Lysol to drown a sweat sock and discourage living organisms from taking up residence in linoleum cracks. The staff is brusquely friendly and enthusiastically encourages use of everything the Y has to offer, including two gyms with workout equipment; basketball, squash and handball courts; and a strength training and cardio centre. The location is primo for fine arts, historical and cultural excursions, and bar hopping.