My wife and I will be visiting friends who live in Whitehall, New York and will later depart from Albany. We are planning some activities in the Adirondack park area and are considering Glens Falls as a good midpoint between all of our destinations. Does anyone have any advice/warnings about hotels/motels in the Glens Falls area? Or any that are near the Albany Airport? We are more concerned with price than luxury as we are only going to sleep there, but we do not want a roach motel. Does anyone know of any must-see locations while we are there? Any and all info about this general area of the state would be greatly appreciated.

Can't help you with a hotel/motel. The Adirondacks Museum is very good and worth the drive. We just spent a week in the area. It's hard to remember that such a huge area is a park but the small towns are very small and there's a lot of miles in between. We used the tourist hiking guide for a short hike and were lucky to find the trail. Later I read that if you plan hikes to get a detailed trail map. Restaurants are few and far between, so are gas stations. The Paul Smiths great cottage is only open on Saturdays so we were disappointed to miss that. The lodge furniture made of bark and branches is intriguing. Glens Falls is a small city so I hope someone can give you a recommendation for a nice motel on the outskirts. We saw mostly mom and pop places but they ranged from really nice to *ahem*.

I grew up in GFalls and now live in Albany - Albany is about a 45 minute drive to GFalls. Albany has just about every chain of hotel/motel nearby; so I would just check the website of a motel you like and see if they are in Albany.

as for things to do, i will just list-away:

Great Escape - in Lake George it is a 6 Flags Amusement Park and has a separate Water Park included -

Fort William Henry - in Lake George...if you are into history, it is a nice little tour.

They have various boat cruises on Lake George; one is called the Mini Ha Ha and it can be an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so on the Lake...

Some nice golf courses: in Queensbury/Glens Falls - Hilander
in Lake George - the Sagamore - both pricey.

If you are into art, there is an art museum in Glens Falls - the Chapman Museum.

Lake Luzerne, right next to Lake George, has dude ranches, rodeos, and horseback riding...

Of course, about 1/2 hour away is SARATOGA - a lot of people enjoy going to the racetrack....or see a show at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) - they have various concerts throughout the year and the lawn seats are very affordable.

In Albany, there is the NYS Museum in downtown Albany....but not much in Albany really...

A good place to eat in Glens Falls, esp if you like pizza, is The Harvest Restaurant. There are many restaurants in the Glens Falls/Lake George Area and it really depends on what you want to spend - I believe Glens Falls has an Olive Garden, Red Lobster, The Log Jam in Lake George is popular, the Hilander and Sagamore are very expensive - in case you want to impress/romance your wife ---

Lake George also has a lot of outlet stores - geez, take your wife there and then for a fancy dinner and you have it made!

Hope that helps - I do not know that there is a "not to miss" in there, it really depends on your tastes...any questions, feel free to ask - hope you enjoy your trip

(you don't know about Cape Cod or Newport RI do you?? - we are looking for info on those areas)

ps - don't know how far you are coming from or how long your stay is but fyi, the basketball,baseball and soccer hall of fames are relatively close by as well

Dave: If you're into history, be sure to check out Skenesborough in Whitehall, where the US Navy was born, and historic Fort Ticonderoga in Ticonderoga, which dates back to pre-Revolutionary War.

Also, Jim's right about hotels in Albany. Almost all of the chains are here. The ones closest to the airport are Holiday Inn Turf (much better than your typical HI), Hampton Inn, Wingate Inn, Marriott Hotel, Courtyard/Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, Best Western Airport Inn, and Red Roof Inn. The nicest hotel, though, is an independent called The Desmond (www.desmondhotelsalbany.com). It's definitely a cut above the others.

Also, check out "Adirondack-help" on this board for suggestions of things to do in the Adirondacks.

Have a good trip!

Here's a second "thumbs up" for the Desmond. It's pricy, but top notch. I worked there years ago, and if I still worked in hospitality, the Desmond is where I'd want to be. Walking within it's large atriums you will feel like you're stolling a New England town. It's restaurant, the Schrimshaw, is a local favorite.

I love Adirondack Museum too, but it is a little out of the way of the drive from Whitehall (alledged birthplace of the US Navy, vying with Marblehead MA and Philly) and Albany (motto: "the best government money can buy").

Saratoga is a great stop, as all of Jim's suggestion are great.

FOLLOW UP TO MY ORIGINAL POST:
Thanks to all of you for the info. We had a wonderful time. Much of our sight-seeing was cut short due to circumstances but we really enjoyed ourselves. We took a hot-air balloon flight over the Glens Falls area and found it to be really beautiful. We stopped in Saratoga on Saturday night and had a really great meal at the Inn at Saratoga. It is billed as casual fine-dining and cerainly is that. The food was wonderful and our "road clothes" were quite appropriate even during the racing season. Lastly, we had a good night's sleep before an early flight at the Red Roof Inn just around the corner from the Albany Airport. We hope to make this trip again someday with a little more time to take it all in. Thanks again for all of your assistance.

If you ever go again, be sure to eat at Davidson's. It's a micro-brewery in downtown Glenns Falls that is worth the trip alone.