Albany Hotels
 

Will be traveling to Albany on Business next month. Any recommendations on hotels. I will be staying one night but would like to see something while up there.

Do you mean Albany, NY?
There is not much to see in Albany, NY especially in February. Albany is one of those places without any charm.

Albany has a terrific art museum, designed by architect Phillip Johnson. There are some wonderful Hudson River Valley artists featured inside the (rather small) museum. Be sure to look at the Thomas Cole exhibit if you should attend!

The Crowne Plaza is located downtown, and seems to be a nice hotel. Since you are a lawyer, I assume you'll be downtown, for either courts or legislative business. The Albany Institute of History & Art (518-463-4478) is the place Paul writes of, and is walking distance from the CP. Also nearby is the NYS Museum, connected to the Empire Plaza, our big government center. There are various theaters (live, not movie) in the downtown area as well as a Jillians. Not as close are the mansions "Cherry Hill" and "Schuyler Mansion". If you are without a car, being at the CP places you near the "hub" of major buslines.

If you are looking more for shopping and dining, you'd probably wish to stay at one of the hotels on (or off) Wolf Road. The Desmond, near the airport, is the area's finest hotel, altho most expensive as well. Their "Scrimshaw" restaurant is fine dining in 18th Century surroundings. A number of restaurants all along Wolf Rd. If you are NOT with a car, do not stay at the Washington Ave hotels - they are mostly newer, but there isn't much for public transportation, and there are few dining or shopping venues nearby. There is a Holiday Inn Express (or Select?) on Western Ave that seems nice, and as long as the temps aren't as cold as they are now (-8 at noon) you could walk or take a bus to Stuyvesant Plaza (an upscale "strip mall") or Crossgates, the area's largest shopping mall, as well as taking the bus downtown. If you are here to visit SUNY Albany, that Holiday Inn would put you close to the university. A little closer to downtown & further from the malls is the Best Western Sovereign. Also downtown is a Ramada, but it's an OLD building (1950/60?) and not the nicest part of town. I'll try to answer more if you wish. Try my eddress rb_traveler ,at, yahoo.com

I haven't been there in a few years, but I used to go there on business very often. I always stayed at the Marriott on Wolf Road. Often ate the Desmond but did not like staying there...the rooms were cold (very unusual in a hotel where the rooms are usually too hot for me). Hard to see anything because most museums and historical places are closed at night.

I second the Marriott on Wolf Rd.

Many places to eat, etc. on Wolf rd.