Martin Rosen

Planning 2 weeks in Finger Lakes region. I want to stay in a top-grade hotel in or near to a town with plenty to do - restaurants, theatres, concerts, museums etc. During the day, planning to tour the lakes by car. What is the best town to be my base, and any info on great hotels?

Neal Sanders

I'm not altogether sure why someone would want to spend two weeks in the Finger Lakes; it's beautiful but somewhat, ahem, backwards. First, there has been no meaningful hotel construction in the Finger Lakes in roughly 50 years, and most of the places you'll see have names like "The Lucky Chucky" (no kidding). Just south of Geneva, NY, however, there is a hotel called Geneva-on-the-Lake, which is a genuine robber-baron-era villa built on a bluff overlooking Seneca Lake. The villa has been carved into perhaps 25 rooms and suites, the restoration work is excellent (as are the furnishings). The lake vistas are inspiring and the property has about a thousand feet of lake frontage. It is not cheap: $150/night for a double and $350+ for a suite in a locale where the Holiday Inn has $59.95 weekend specials. (Please don't confuse Geneva-on-the-Lake with a place in Canandaigua called Inn-on-the-Lake. I was at a wedding at the latter hotel two years ago and the kindest think I can say about it is that it is run down.) Good food, culture, and nightlife are spread very thin in the Finger Lakes. There is an excellent Amish market just south of Penn Yan called the Windmill; if you have ever thought about owning an Amish or Mennonite quilt, this is the place to go. The village of Seneca Falls still retains much of its 19th century charm and the Women's Rights Monument is well done. There's a restaurant called the Deer Head on Cayuga Lake outside of town that serves unpretentious and well-prepared meals. In Rochester, Highland Park is a luscious botanic garden with one of the best rose gardens you'll ever see. Also in Rochester, the Strong Museum has one of the most eclectic collections of objects you'll ever encounter – akin to the Forbes Museum in New York. Watkins Glen State Park (south of Watkins Glen) is a beautiful place to hike and swim, with dozens of waterfalls. The Corning Glass Center in Corning features the apogee of American craftsmanship in glass making (Steuben glass is made here), and the adjacent glass museum is marvelous. Best drives: the SR 54/54A loop around Keuka Lake, SR414 from Watkins Glen to Seneca Falls and SR89 north from Ithaca.

amy

Another top hotel in the area is La Tourelle. It is describe as a french country inn. The prices are fairly reasonable (under $150). There is also a wonderful restaurant there...John Thomas Steakhouse.
(800) 765-1492

I have heard good things about The Rose Inn as well, although I have never been there.
(607) 533-7905

Both of these are in Ithaca, a fairly cosmopolitan town for a "backwards" part of the country. Home to both Ithaca College and Cornell University there are many opportunities for night life, excellent restaurants (Renee's, Moosewood, Giovanni's, Maxie's. Madeline are some favorites), concerts, plays (Hanger, Kitchen, Cornell, Ithaca College, Firehouse Theaters) and wineries as well as numerous outdoor activities.
http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/
http://www.ithaca.ny.us/Commerce/about_cvb.html
Enjoy!

Owen O'Neill

Neal and Amy have covered the area quite nicely but I'll add a few more possibilities... Skaneateles (at the North end of the lake by the same name) is a charming village worth spending a bit of time in. There's an outstanding Italian restaurant (Rosalie's Cucina), a decent "country" inn (the Sherwood, a mailboat and/or dinenr cruise on the lake and of course Doug's Fish Fry. I Ithaca I second the motion for Giovanni's Osterai Paesano (great and reasonable Northern Italian), the Moosewood for world class vegetarian (yes... it is the same restaurant that has spawned a series of popular cookbooks) and Thai Cuisine for what may be the best Thai food in the state (certainly the equal to nearly any Thai found in NYC). Also consider a trip to Letchworth Park, southwest of Rochester. It's a beautiful region and fall is a good time to visit - you might even arrive when the grapes are being pressed and the "Wine Trail" tours are in full progress. As for nightlife and a single location where all can be reached in an easy drive? Rochester is probably the best bet but don't go with heightened expectations. Central NY is a great place to live but rather low-key in many respects.

gtc

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents. Please choose your words carefully. I would not refer to Finger Lakes as backwards". It is a beautiful part of NY where you will find some extremely weathly people who have absolutely spectacular homes. Not many big hotels or resorts because that's the way people want it. They like their country weekend getaways without the crowds of tourists. Some homes of course around the lake are pretty shabby and most of the farmers in the area are not very well off. But be sure not to generalize. You will also see a number of private planes coming and going from the lake areas. I wouldn't consider that "backwards".

Owen O'Neill

A note I forgot to mention: Belhurst castle in Geneva (close to Geneva-on-the-Lake) is a gorgeous facility - very romantic, but word has it that the food has gone downhill in recent years (I never heard rave reports aaabout the rooms but never had reason to stay there since it's within driving distance of my home). Can someon who's eaten there recently confirm or disprove this rumour?

mwg

I thought Skaneateles (or however it's spelled)was really beautiful. Also, how about Corning? While not directly on a lake, its in the area, has several hotels and many things to do.

Neal Sanders

…and Ted Turner has a 50-square-mile spread in Patagonia, but that doesn’t make it Aspen. At the risk of digging myself in further, the Finger Lakes are a beautiful area, which I made clear in my first post. The “backward” comment pertains to accommodations and dining for tourists. My wife and I travel at least twice a year to the Finger Lakes to see her family. Every year, the motels get a little shabbier, the restaurant quality declines a little further. Two specific examples: There’s a large Holiday Inn at the Waterloo/Seneca Falls exit of the New York Thruway. This place has got to be a gold mine for the owners. As the only “name” motel between Syracuse and Rochester, their occupancy rate hovers near 100% year round, and their rates reflect that room scarcity ($89 a night the last time we stayed there). Yet, the towels are as worn as the carpeting in the hallway; the rooms have not been renovated in 20 years, and the winter room temperatures are a stifling 88 degrees (changing the thermostat has no effect). The cash flow from that motel is doubtlessly going into some beautiful private home on Cayuga Lake.

Fifteen miles down the road on Route 5 in Geneva is that city’s first new hotel in half a century, a Ramada Inn right on Geneva Lake. We took my wife’s parents there for lunch a few months after the hotel opened. The restaurant was pretty, but the food utterly inedible, with boiled-in-the-bag or microwaved entrees, rock-hard rolls, and salad greens you would not serve your family. I had the temerity to point this out to the restaurant manager, whose response was the classic, “this is the way our guests like their food.” With rotten lettuce? “We’re still in our shake-down phase.” We were offered -- and declined – free desserts.

The litany could go on, but I think you get the picture. For the Clinton’s three-day-stay, there was a palatial private home on a lake, food brought in from far away, and all of the comforts that privilege can buy. For the tourist who does not have access to that private, lakeside home, the lodging and dining pickings are exceedingly slim. When most of us travel, we seek some level of comfort that approximates what we left behind at home. We expect a choice of good restaurants and a level of hygiene and cleanliness at the one we select. In my view, the Finger Lakes fails on those counts, and that is the definition of “backwards.”

martha python

Granted, national chains should be providing a reasonable level of comfort. But why stay in a chain rather than an inn or B&B, especially if you're familiar with an area? And why eat in a chain motel's restaurant if you care about good food?

PS: MWG, you spelled it right (congratulations!). And, in case the news anchors all mispronounced it--I know some did--the locals pronounce it as though it's a thin book of maps.

liz

Has any one noticed this question was posted 2 years ago?

martha python

I assume we all have. But the chance to be useful is only one of the reasons we post.
Besides, now there'll be nice thread waiting when someone asks abotu the Finger Lakes and we say "do a search."

Owen O'Neill

In a region with so many Greek and Roman town names (Virgil, Solon, Marcellus, Ithaca etc.) one might wonder where the name Skaneatles comes from... not-so-authentic local lore relates the supposed Indian legend of a chief whose frustration wiht his wife's obesity caused him to push from the edge of a tall hill. She rolled to the bottom, losing the excess pounds in the process and upon landing in the lake (which was at bottom of said hill)as a newly svelte squaw, he joyfully pronounced her to be "skinny at last". Don't blame me - I'm just repeating it! By the way... the lake is so clean that the nearby city of Syracuse (my hometown) uses its water UNFILTERED as the municipal water supply (yes it is chlorinated as all water supplies are but it'e the only major municipal water supply in the country that doesn't get filtered - and the water tastes great).

Helen

I've lived in finger lakes region most of my life. Geneva on the Lake is rated 4 or 5 *** with good reason. It would be a good base to drive around to other lakes and towns. Belhurst Castle restaurant still very good. The Crow's Nest is a neat place on the water between Geneva and Waterloo--could still sit on the deck in good weather or inside..Good music on weekends. Watkins Glen small but glen is fantastic sight. Lots of shopping in all the towns--PennYan,Geneva, Canandaigua. Many wineries and tours in the fall througout the whole area..bus tours available, scenery in the lakes area is unbeatable in Oct. For more action, museums, zoos, etc. you would want to check out Rochester, Syracuse, even Buffalo. Skannatales, has Sherwood Inn--old inn, but quaint and well kept. Excellent pub or restaurant. Many fall festivals in various places, apple fesitval in Hamlin, grapes in Naples, Buckwheat in Penn Yan. Fox'x Bed and Breakfast in Penn Yan very nice!! Inn at Canandaigua has been redone, new owners and it really quite nice now. Ramada Inn in Geneva greatly improved..I've been there twice this summer. Hope you manage to get to this neck of the woods.
Helen

curious

Hmmmmmmmm are Neal Sanders and Owen O'Neill the same person?

Neal Sanders

For Owen's sake, I certainly hope not!

T.J.

Very cute, Neal! But it's an interesting thought, isn't it?

dave

yes, i know this is an old post but i am searching... Does anyone know of a bus tour of this area for seniors? thanks

Owen O'Neill

For info on bus tours I'd suggest calling the Syracuse area AAA. I can't seem to find their phone number on line but directory assistance will have it. the travel section of the Syracuse Sunday newspaper always has ads for a company that does bus tours throughout various parts of sntral and northern NY including the Finger Lakes. IIRC, it's called Birnie Bus Tours but I'm not certain. The tours aren't specifically for seniors but are frequented primarily by that age group. In a side note... I howled with laughter at the suggestion that Neal Sanders and I might be the same person! Having misse part of the original thread, I'd never seen that comment. I enjoy Neal's writings immensely but a quick assessment of our different traveling styles, budgets and writing styles should make the difference self-evident (not to mention the abundance of typographical errors in my postings due to the paucity of my typing skills). Regardless, I am flattered (even by the flamer awhile back who decided that both Neal and I were pompous and condescending - what a relief that someon'es actually reading this stuff, huh?).