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Travelers hunting for a clean and dependable roadside lodging close to Boston need look no further. This eight-floor building has 112 rooms designed for short-term business stays – the rooms have good work areas. Limited free parking available. It’s a short walk to Lechmere “T” stop.

Holy Cross, the largest Roman Catholic church in Massachusetts, acts as the seat of the archbishop of Boston. The cathedral was constructed in 1875 (on the site of the municipal gallows) to serve the largely Irish-American workers who lived in the adjoining shantytown. Today the congregation is principally of Hispanic origin. Of note are the magnificent stained glass windows, which include rare colored glass imported from Munich in the 19th century, and the powerful Hook & Hastings organ, which seems to make every piece of Roxbury puddingstone in the building reverberate.

With its mood crystals, gargoyle statuettes, and witchcraft journals, this rarest of boutiques may hold the ticket to a mythological netherworld, but you will still need cash or plastic to get there.

Opened in 2002, this sleek hotel creates a self-contained world of comfort with internet access and a Sony Playstation in every room. Check the website for last-minute deals.

Wired every which way, this adjunct to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology even incorporates circuit boards as a design motif. It’s sleek and unfussy with ergonomic furniture and high-speed everything. There is a large garden terrace.

House specialties are beef and noodle soups with side bowls of chopped basil and mung bean sprouts.

If only Cambridge’s Puritanical founders could have seen it: fetishist accessories, spiked belts, sexy leather corsets, and not-so-innocent toys line the shelves of this risqué Central Square boutique.

When you’re looking through the glass wall toward the harbor, the public areas here seem to resemble those of a deluxe cruise ship. But the rooms in this sleek hotel are far more spacious and comfortable than cabins. Alas, half of them overlook the airport. The Logan Airport water shuttle to downtown Rowes Wharf docks nearby.

Gaze across the Charles River from the hotel’s revolving, top-floor restaurant.

With excellent parking, this large (415 rooms), pyramidal, riverfront hotel is ideal for travelers who have cars. Ask for one of the rooms facing the water for the great sunset views. The shuttle into Harvard Square compensates for those without cars.