Hyatt Regency Cambridge Rating: 3.5 Pearls

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

The 75-foot pool

At first glance, the 469-room Hyatt Regency might seem like a bare-bones business hotel -- lots of convention space and a location that, while scenic, doesn't put you all that close to the action -- but its quality on-site features and proximity to jogging and biking trails along the Charles River make it a great value for leisure travelers, too. The rooms are, at about 400 square feet, spacious and they all look great since the hotel completed its renovations in May 2010. Outside the rooms there's also a lot to admire, from the huge, open lobby with its four glass elevators whizzing up and down, to the impressive Stay Fit gym, with separate rooms for its Life Fitness aerobics machines and its weight machines, free weights, and yoga mats. The 75-foot atrium pool has a mirrored ceiling and adjacent sundeck that looks out over the Charles River to the Boston skyline beyond. If you plan to drive or take a cab around Cambridge or over the river to Boston, the Hyatt Regency is a home base worth considering.

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The Hyatt Regency sits on the western edge of the MIT campus, right on the Charles River, and is just steps from jogging and biking trails that run along the water.

Situated to the northwest of Boston, just across the Charles River, Cambridge seems at once part of and distinct from the city. Cambridge provides much of the classic and academic -- some would say dowdy -- imagery for which Boston is known: stately red brick townhouses; the sight of rowers launching from ancient boathouses on the banks of the Charles; the almost colonial atmosphere that envelops Harvard, the nation's oldest university. And yet Cambridge virtually buzzes with energy; biotech companies, startups, and the studious whir of college-town activity combine to make it one of the country's most vibrant intellectual centers. Cambridge is also home to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and just as Harvard exudes a musty air of American influence and success (Kennedys, Roosevelts, Obama), MIT proudly embraces its own brand of nerdiness: Where else do you find a street named Galileo Galilei Way?

• About a mile from the nearest T stops (Central Square and Kendall Square/MIT)
• Five- to 10-minute drive to shopping and dining in Harvard Square, and Harvard University
• 10- to 15-minute drive to Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox
• 15- to 20-minute drive to the Boston Common and the start of the Freedom Trail
• 15- to 20-minute drive to Faneuil Hall
• 20- to 25-minute drive to Logan International Airport