Boston, United States

Cambridge Common House

Price per night from$283.27

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD283.27), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Cambridge Common House Photos

Style

Boston bibliophile

Setting

Harvard Square stalwart

Explore

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Cambridge Common House can spin a story: this centuries-old townhouse has been a governor’s home and Harvard newspaper’s offices — in other words, a hub for intellectuals. A theme that this boutique hotel continues today, with its warm service, scholarly locale and insightful Cambridge-based recommendations. Its lounge-set breakfast, poetry nights and tome-adorned bedrooms add to the literary appeal, making this historic hideout one for the books. 

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Facilities

Photos Cambridge Common House facilities

Need to know

Rooms

16, including two suites.

Check–Out

11am. Earliest check-in, 4pm.

More details

Rates at Cambridge Common House include a breakfast of light, on-rotation dishes.

Also

The Queen Patio ADA is the hotel’s sole adapted room, which is set on the lower level, reached by elevator and has a roll-in shower. The rest of the hotel is also accessible via the elevator, and there’s one dedicated parking space outside of the hotel.

At the hotel

Round-the-clock coffee and tea stations, book-lined lounge, lending library and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning and Lather bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Each bedroom door at Cambridge Common House is framed with a striped, draped curtain, which can be drawn as an extra layer of privacy — or club-like secrecy. There are further nods to your Harvard-facing locale throughout: library-inspired lighting, headboards with built-in bookshelves, and even views of the esteemed school from some rooms. Cozy up in a King Deluxe, which has an electric fireplace and window seat overlooking Cambridge Commons for particularly feel-good reading sessions. Or the Petite Queen with Private Patio lets you tear through your novel alfresco, on a sunken, sofa-toting terrace.

Packing tips

Several cult-classic films center around your neighbor, Harvard University — rewatch Good Will Hunting, Legally Blonde or The Social Network for cinematic fixes of Boston-based rivalry and sorority drama.

Also

Cosplay a local student and swing by the hotel’s lending library to pick up a tome or anthology donated from Harvard Coop and Grolier Poetry Book Shop — your stay might even coincide with one of the reading nights in the lounge.

Pet‐friendly

Only service dogs are allowed to stay at Cambridge Common House. See more pet-friendly hotels in Boston.

Children

Welcome, but not particularly catered to. The Architect’s Two Bedroom Suite is best for families.

Food and Drink

Photos Cambridge Common House food and drink

Top Table

Close to the fireplace in cooler months.

Dress Code

Collegiate prep — chinos, cable knits and a book under your arm.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no formal restaurant, but breakfast is included with your stay. Days here tend to start in the fireplace-adorned, book-lined lounge, where locally sourced tea and coffee, a biscuit bar with maple butter, different scones and yogurt parfait make for fitting fuel.

Last orders

Breakfast is served from 8.30am to 10.30am.

Room service

There’s no room service, but a selection of tea and coffee is available in the lounge at all hours.

Location

Photos Cambridge Common House location
Address
Cambridge Common House
2 Garden Street
Cambridge
02138
United States

Cambridge Common House is poised on the fringes of its namesake park, overlooking Harvard University in Boston’s scholarly west.

Planes

Boston Logan International Airport is a 25-minute drive away; staff can arrange transfers on request.

Automobiles

Your neighborhood is best explored on foot, and the T subway system is on hand to whizz you across the city — Harvard, a five-minute walk, is your closest station for the Red Line. Should you choose to drive, you can pull up at the hotel to drop your bags, and staff will point you in the direction of nearby charged, public parking.

Worth getting out of bed for

If you’re staying at Cambridge Common House, chances are Harvard University is your alma mater (either actually, or in a past life). Indulge your academic fantasies with a nosy around the school: the hotel partners with Harvard’s walking-tour company, which are led by current students, giving you extra insight — and gossip — on this historic campus. Swing by its square, library and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, which is loved for its collection of glass flowers. Make the most of your Cambridge locale and tap into neighborhood favorites; or hop on the T which will drop you in central Boston in under 20 minutes for waterside walks, more top museums and manicured parks.

Local restaurants

Mod-American Althea pairs barbecue flavors with classic, native dishes — its Caesar salad, shrimp ’n’ grits and coffee-rubbed ribs are diner-drawing staples, alongside signature cocktails and local ales. At fusion Pagu, traditional tapas is given a Japanese twist from the open kitchen, which whips up black cod croquetas, duck and shiitake paella, and suckling pig with bao and kimchi. Saigon Babylon delivers fresh, fish sauce-laced Vietnamese dishes in a palm- and rattan-adorned dining room; take your aperitif or night cap on its city-gazing roof terrace.

Local cafés

Universally loved Flour Bakery + Cafe has a scattering of stores across the city; its outpost near Harvard Square is your closest, but can get busy with students seeking a pre-lecture caffeine fix and slice of banana bread. Around the corner, Daily Provisions is another day-starting favorite for cruller doughnuts, bright-green matcha lattes and strong cold brews. 

Local bars

Upholstered armchairs, leather sofas and lantern-like chandeliers bring a bohemian feel to cocktail bar Lou’s, which is only enhanced by its in-the-know crowd and martini-focused menu. At the Longfellow Bar, its lofty, dome-crowned ceilings aren’t the only thing turning heads — all eyes are on its expertly crafted tipples and polished bar snacks.

Reviews

Photos Cambridge Common House reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this historic hotel near Harvard Square and unpacked their varsity jackets and poetry anthologies, a full account of their literary break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Cambridge Common House in Boston… 

Resting on the fringes of Harvard University, Cambridge Common House is much like being welcomed into your English lit professor’s enviable home. There are curated books everywhere: on the shelves built into your bed’s headboard, across each floor of the hotel-spanning spiral staircase, in a quaint lending library, and versatile lounge. 

Like any good tutor, space is created for conversation (over a selection of small breakfast plates, at the all-hours tea and coffee stations, by the convivial fireplace) and contemplation, which you might settle into in your sage-green-dressed room — those with a window seat or sunken patio are particularly primed for introspection. 

This centuries-old townhouse is rooted in its scholarly setting, hosting reading and poetry nights for both students and guests. Thankfully, there’s no coursework or assignments, only life lessons to be learnt from your hosts’ affable nature, raft of local recommendations and appreciation for this corner of Cambridge’s history.  

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Price per night from $276.46

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