Hi bogger- Where are you coming from? Will you be shopping both days (therefore requiring proximity to the store), or just want a place to crash after shopping on your way back home? I ask because there are some nice towns nearby New Haven that might fit the bill - the Waters' Edge resort in Old Saybrook, various B&B's in Guilford, Mystic, etc... If you could clarify it would be helpful.

Thank you AH for the reply, we are coming from Cape Cod. We will probably only shop one day and return the next. Also we are not limited to weekends which makes it easier for travel.

If you want to stay in New Haven itself, I highly recommend the Omni, located right in downtown.

Had you considered staying at Mohegan Sun? It's not all that far from Ikea (probably 40 miles or so) and on the way back to the Cape. They've got an excellent spa in the hotel, a first-rate restaurant (Jasper White's Summer Shack), and the rates during the week are very reasonable. They've also got a mid-week package rate that includes spa treatments.

I haven't found that many places like you'd described in New Haven -- most of the downtown seems more downscale -- directed toward either the college crowd or more of a gritty adult crowd.

Try this:
http://local.google.com/local?sc=1&q=hotel&near=06511&btnG=Google+Search
It shows the hotels close to the zip code used in the search...

Wow, I thought this trip would be a drag but now I'm getting excited. I think I can tempt almost anyone of my friends with the choices you have given me.

I live in northern CT and have already been to the new IKEA twice - LOL! Right now, they are super-busy -- I guess both the novelty factor, and all those students moving into dorms/new apartments etc. Talking to one of their "associates", I commented that it was a shame to see stuff sold out so soon. He told me they couldn't keep up with demand, and are getting 14 delivery trucks per day...

Don't know much about New Haven hotels, but there are loads of good restaurants and bars downtown (hey, it is a college town, after all). Might be best to wait till the college-student parents have gone back home and the back-to-school rush is done...

Have a fun outing, and be sure to wear those comfy shoes!

We just got an Ikea outside Minneapolis, near the Mall of America-whoopee! And it, too, has been insanely busy. Enjoy your trip, bogger!

We have nothing on Cape Cod, not even a Target. Years ago I worked for an airline and took a trip to Newark every two months just to shop at Ikea. I've considered the mad rush of students in Sept. and I think this would be a nice trip for October. Did they have a nice selection of sofas? I'm looking for a sofa and loveseat and maybe something for my new sunroom. I would love to see Ikea come to Mass. does anyone know or have you heard any rumors regarding their expansion into New England?

IKEA has been struggling for years to get the permits to build on property they own in Somerville.

And they're underway to build one in Stoughton, right over the Avon line from Jordan's Furniture; that's on Route 24 about 8 miles south of Route 128 (AKA Route 95).

Greetings, bogger, from an Ikea addict.
(Also a Fodors addict.)

As it happens I spent yesterday at the one you used to visit, in Elizabeth - bad timing had I really been hoping to score purchases, as it is the week the catalogue arrived AND the beginning of furnish-your-college-room season - but I was there more on a scouting expedition so it was okay.

Sofas: in my opinion they have gotten better. I saw two I would like to have.
There is a 3-cushion leather one that I like a lot, even though I don't usually think of leather furniture.

In the past they've seemed a little insubstantial to me, the sofas. Also I like the generous feeling of a 3-cushion one and hadn't seen one there before.

As usual everything made of textiles is beautiful and impossibly well-priced. When I am there I want to sell my small NYC apartment and buy a big house anyplace with many rooms to furnish.

Well, well well, just ask a fodorite something and you get more information than months of reading the business section! Yes, I've heard of the Stoughton possibility, but not the Somerville. I never knew they owned land there and what a perfect location with the thousands of students and 30 somethings in that area.

I'm looking at Circle furniture as well, and they carry a great selection of Norwalk furniture. I would say Ikea may be too "apartment" looking for my home but I also have a new sunroom and I might find something there. O.K., I admit it ladies, I'm looking for any excuse to visit Ikea. I miss my shopping trips and love to see their stock.

The Somerville city government, egged on by a small group of residents, completely scuttled the IKEA plans. They complained about the traffic issues, trying to extract (extort?) extra money from IKEA as a condition of getting a building permit. Of course, the location would have been adjacent to the (rotting) mall on the other side of McGrath Highway, which would have virtually no impact on the residential areas of Somerville. IKEA eventually got fed up, chose Stoughton instead. As a result, Somerville lost the money it would have gotten, and the people who live in Somerville and surrounding towns lose the opportunity to shop nearby in IKEA.

While the IKEA in New Haven is certainly closer, the one in Montreal is a great destination. Head up to Montreal on a Friday, enjoy the city on Frideay evening and all day Saturday, get to IKEA early Sunday morning and load up the car with treasures, back to Boston area Sunday afternoon.

Now if Ikea had a hotel INSIDE the store, it would be the perfect destination! Great shopping! Great food! Great prices!

Now I am going to be craving meatballs and ligonberry sauce all day....

IKEA officials CLAIM that Stoughton isn't replacing Somerville, and that they're still trying. Makes sense to me, since the stores would be 25 miles apart and draw different crowds. I suppose that eventually the Slummerville opposition team will die of old age or run out of money for tying the project up in court. We drove past the Stoughton site earlier this week and big earth-moving machines were at work.

I was just there last night! A lot of stuff was out of stock and one table/chair set we want won't be in for at least 2 weeks so if you have your heart set on something, call ahead. Also, they will not "hold" anything for you so get there quickly if they do have it.

As for hotels, ditto on the Omni, it's really the only decent hotel in the area.

As for food, if you've never had New Haven pizza, go to Pepe's on Wooster St., very famous, long lines to get in for dinner. Louis Lunch has great burgers and claims to have invented them. I usually recommend Union League Cafe for classic French, Thai Taste, went to India Palace last night and it was awesome, and there's a place called Trevathan on State St. that has really good food, mostly fish with citrus based sauces.

The bar scene depends on your age and what you're looking for. Live music at Toad's Place can be good, you can drink Guinness out of a half yard at Richter's, and there are a few martini/lounge type places popping up.

Other than Trevathan and Pepe's, everything else is in the same downtown/Yale area. Also, there's a bar called "Bar" that's pretty good and they have good pizza too.

Have fun...I love Ikea!

Thanks for the politics Rizzuto, I'll have to ask a few of my connections in the city about it. I've shopped at Charles Webb on McGrath blvd. and love the furniture but spending upwards of $2500 for each sofa (I need a sofa and loveseat) brought the pieces close to $6000 and no way am I going to do that.
I can see the Cape doing the same thing with a big new store like Ikea, we just got our first Home Depot in Hyannis this past year and we will be getting a BJ's soon. Progress is slow down here and the ma and pa kettle mentality is alive and well. I love our villages and we try to keep them clear of the chain food, etc. stores, but large industrial land and commercial property should be used for just that.

Believe it or not, they want to relocate a homeless shelter in one of the busiest and heaviest traffic sites in Hyannis. Imagine backed up traffic for miles, navigating around our foolish rotaries and then dodging the poor homeless people as they try to cross the street.

From another IKEA addict...

I live very close to an IKEA outside of Philly -- the first few weekends it was open neighborhood traffic was INSANE!! Could hardly get to the wine store -- ahhh!

They are opening a new IKEA in South Philly this coming week -- which I'm happy about because it will decrease traffic in & around my IKEA.

So anyways, no real point here, just make sure you leave enough time for traffic around the new IKEA.

Have fun in New Haven -- been to a few bars years ago around Yale and had a good time.

I have been waiting for yrs for an IKEA in CT & am so psyched it is finally here. The Warf in Madison (on the water) is a reasonably priced hotel in quaint town 20 min N. of New Haven (Exit 61). They also have a restaurant & bar. Food is New Haven: Head to Pepe's for world famous pizza. Walk around downtown for some fun night life. enjoy !!1 They are low on many of their hot items but hopefully in Oct they will be restocked.

Hi IKEA fans! Want to share a story from the Hartford Courant about the huge success of the New Haven opening. Story title was "Rush leaves IKEA gasping / Caught off guard, store has to improvise to keep things in stock."

They apparently have been "overwhelmed" by their staggering success since the opening. Many items sold out quickly, and they are restocking with a cavalry of 19 trucks, vs. the more usual 3-4 trucks a day.

Well, I don't know why they were surprised. Every time I visited an IKEA, my response to the "What would make your visit better" question was "Open one in New England"!! I've been there twice already, but won't go again till it settles a bit and the back to school rush subsides.

Next question on my agenda is why isn't there a Crate & Barrel in CT (currently there is just one, the outlet store on the shore). Plenty around Boston and NYC, nothing in between. Don't they know we're starved for shopping here?