Monastery of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Fancy spending the night in a cell? It's a lot more appealing than it sounds at one of Boston's most unusual lodgings: the guesthouse at the Monastery of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Run by an order of monks affiliated with both the Anglican and American Episcopal churches, the Italianate monastery is a short walk from Harvard Square. This is a place for peaceful reflection and spiritual renewal: many guests are on directed religious retreats, and silence is a strict rule. That applies even in the tiny guest rooms, which served as monk's cells for eight years before the main monastery and its beautiful church were built in 1936. Guests are welcome to breakfast with the monks in the refectory, but there's no chit-chat over coffee. The white-painted rooms are small and sparsely furnished, and although there is one double room, the order of silence means most couples find it easier to lodge in separate cells. There are no TVs or phones, and mobile phone usage is kept to a minimum, permitted only in the common room or out in the garden. Well, you said you wanted peace and quiet…