Hotel Rooms Filling Up Fast for 2014 Boston Marathon

PHOTO: Mandarin Oriental Boston is one of the top hotels guests are booking for the 2014 Boston Marathon. (Courtesy Mandarin Oriental Boston)

The 2013 Boston Bombing has not deterred runners and their families from booking hotel rooms for the this year’s Boston Marathon, according to data from hotel technology provider TravelClick.

In fact, Boston-area hotels have experienced a 10 percent increase in bookings in 2014 (Saturday to Tuesday), compared to the marathon weekend last year, per the report. On top of that, room rates are up nearly 16 percent.

There is expected to be 9,000 more runners in the 2014 Boston Marathon, in part because the 5,633 runners who weren’t able to finish last year have been invited back to cross the finish line.

Premier five-star hotels like Boston Harbor Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel Boston, XV Beacon and Mandarin Oriental Boston are gearing up what is sure to be a large crowd before the annual event kicks off on April 21.  When you book a stay of at least two nights at one of Boston Harbor Hotel’s luxurious rooms, you can receive from 20 percent to 50 percent off. Four Seasons Hotel Boston is offering a bed and breakfast package for up to two guests through in-room dining or its Bristol Lounge.

Four-star hotels like Hotel Commonwealth, Seaport Boston Hotel, The Lenox Hotel and Nine Zero Hotel-a Kimpton Hotel are also among the top accommodation options for marathon participants and spectators.

Marathon Tours & Travel, the official travel agency of the Boston Marathon, is offering a weekend VIP package that includes a four-night stay at another top nearby hotel, Royal Sonesta Cambridge. The package also includes a welcome cocktail reception on April 18 and a pre-race pasta meal with guest speakers Roger Robinson (set records at age 44 and age 50 in Boston and New York) and Kathrine Switzer (the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967). The package accepts guests on a first-come, first-served basis.

TravelClick is the only business intelligence provider that gathers real-time reservations data from major hotel chains. TravelClick data is based on actual rooms on the books.