16 Best Hotels in The Finger Lakes, New York

Rooms at this inn, an 1880 Queen Anne downtown, are imaginatively decorated to highlight alcoves, built-in shelves, curved walls, and steeple views of the city center. Furnishings are traditional and pretty: European armoires, cherrywood sleigh beds and four-poster beds, and wood shutters. Breakfast is excellent, with treats like a homemade English muffin topped with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and asparagus, plus fresh juice and assorted muffins. A dessert buffet is offered in the evening.

This 18th-century stagecoach inn has elegant, spacious guest rooms furnished with a well-assembled blend of antique and contemporary country pieces. All rooms have down comforters and thick robes. In the Hotchkiss Room, which has a fireplace, French doors lead out to a walled terrace. A renovated barn 25 feet from the back door contains the private Barn Suite, with a kitchen and king-size sleigh bed. Grassy grounds, with stone walls, gardens, and a hot tub, surround the inn, which is a 10-minute drive outside the city.

Fresh flowers, lovely antiques, and touches of Portuguese lace set the mood at this Queen Anne–style beauty. Its key selling point is the location, across the street from Skaneateles Lake and Clift Park. You can easily walk to shopping, a boat ride, and dinner. The excellent breakfasts include German pancakes.

The smell of freshly baked cookies welcomes you to this turn-of-the-20th-century home. Guest-room furnishings are a blend of Victorian and country-romantic styles. Two rooms have whirlpool tubs, three have electric fireplaces, and one has a private porch. The living room also has a gas fireplace.

Furniture dating from the 1700s and other antiques outfit this 1852 brick inn. Most rooms have a gas or electric fireplace, and several have a whirlpool tub. The dominant feature of each of the individually decorated guest rooms tends to be the bed—a tall four-poster or a bird's-eye maple sleigh bed, perhaps. Floors are hardwood, with bedside throw rugs. The inn is a block from Skaneateles Lake and the restaurant and shopping district.

Most guest rooms in this luxurious 1833 Federal-style brick inn have balconies with lake views; some have fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Furnishings are a rich and historically appropriate mix of antiques and reproductions. Paintings and Oriental rugs outfit the common rooms downstairs. Modern amenities include flat-screen TVs, Bose CD players, Frette linens, terry robes, and marble bathrooms. The restaurant serves elegant American fare.

The gracious hosts at this B&B win accolades from past guests. In a stately Federal-style home with original olive-green clapboards, rooms are tastefully decorated with a mixture of antique and reproduction furniture and accents, with some gas fireplaces and four-poster, canopy, or ironwork beds. Guests share a hot tub enclosed in a gazebo for all-weather use.

On a residential street off boutique- and café-lined Park Avenue, this 1905 Tudor dwelling has been the home of owners Ellie and Bill Klein for 50 years. The decor is a jumble of patterned wallpapers; original features (like some claw-foot tubs); furniture from various periods (Italian and French provincial, early American, contemporary); and quirky touches like vintage dresses hung in closets. Guests have access to a library of classic VHS movies.

This 1896 Georgian home is impeccably furnished and decorated in a mix of Victorian and modern country-cottage style, with lovely moldings and fireplaces, hardwood floors, tasteful floral fabrics and antique and reproduction furniture. The two larger rooms are the most impressive, with more completely executed decor. A room with a twin bed called the Sleeping Porch can be tacked onto the Cottage Suite. Breakfast is served in a pretty dining room or on a side patio in warm weather.

This exquisitely restored 1833 mill sits in a rural town en route to Letchworth State Park. Rooms are immaculate and decorated in historic country-cottage style with handcrafted and antique pieces. A bubbling creek with a waterfall runs alongside the inn, in view of the patio and flowering garden. The huge breakfast, with homemade granola and maple syrup tapped on-site is a high point.

The large 1848 colonial-revival house sits on 300 private acres of woods and meadows across the street from Skaneateles Lake. Interiors are plush but not fussy, with a leather sofa, silk and velvet drapes, Oriental rugs, and a hallway mural. Two bedrooms have fireplaces; most have four-poster beds. Lake views are especially nice from the front and side porches.

Our pick for Rochester's top hotel, the Inn on Broadway is in the East End within blocks of the Eastman and Geva theaters, Strong Museum, and various dining and nightlife options. A private club originally occupied the 1929 building, and refinement lingers in the air. Every room is unique, but all have featherbeds (queen or king), down comforters, and thick towels; some have hardwood floors, gas fireplaces, and two-person Jacuzzi tubs. Deluxe rooms have baths with multiple showerheads. A sitting area with a small library is a B&B–style touch.

An 1830s Greek Revival mansion was completely renovated to create the main building of this unconventional B&B. Accommodations are rooms, suites, and cottages, some a block away from the main inn. The design is contemporary, with custom-designed furniture by architect and co-owner Kenn Young. Suites and cottages have gas fireplaces. Kenn's wife Madeline, a chef, prepares breakfast. The owners are fairly hands-off.

The waterfront inn next to the city pier has spacious grounds with a pool, a sand-volleyball court, and a barbecue grill. A large lobby-lounge extends out onto a deck overlooking the lake. Rooms are upgraded every few years and are contemporary in decor; those with lake views have either a patio or balcony. More lake views are found in the elegant, contemporary Max on the Lake restaurant, with a menu of steak, seafood, and pasta.

The 1873 Victorian main house sets the tone for this elegant, 12-acre property, which also includes four guesthouses varying in style and number of rooms. You may choose a room with Victorian antiques and no TVs in the original structure; take one of the modern-built but Victorian-style units in the Edgewood house; or opt to stay in a room or suite in one of the guesthouses with country-cottage decor. Taughannock Falls State Park surrounds the 12-acre property and the state park lakeshore is across the street.

The Queen Anne Victorian, built in 1891 by a wine merchant, has spacious guest rooms with lovely, traditional furnishings like sleigh beds, Oriental carpets, and claw-foot tubs. The suite has a fireplace and a private veranda. Guests share a formal Victorian library with a fireplace. The breakfast buffet includes pancakes or waffles made with locally produced buckwheat. Next door, the B&B has a 2,000-square-foot, two-bedroom 1904 Arts and Crafts guesthouse with Stickley and Mission-style furniture.