Boutique Hotels in the Finger Lakes

Ithaca · B&B

An 1880 Chateauesque mansion in Ithaca, designed by William Henry Miller — the first architecture student to graduate from Cornell — who went on to design several of Cornell's most significant buildings. The B&B has nine rooms with carved chestnut woodwork, stained glass windows, and fireplaces. Breakfast is a serious affair, prepared daily and sourced locally. On the edge of Ithaca's downtown, a short walk from the Commons. For architecture enthusiasts, the building is the reason to visit.

Designed by Cornell's first architecture student, William Henry Miller, in 1880. Nine rooms with carved chestnut and stained glass. The breakfast. Short walk to Ithaca Commons.

Watkins Glen · Hotel

A 107-room waterfront hotel at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, adjacent to Glen Harbor Marina. AAA Four Diamond. Many rooms have private balconies with panoramic lake views. Blue Pointe Grille and Coldwater Bar on site; alfresco dining on The Patio with a firepit overlooking the water. Indoor pool and hot tub. Watkins Glen State Park, with its mile-long gorge trail and 19 waterfalls, is within walking distance.

Hammondsport · B&B

Six rooms in the T.M. Younglove Octagon House — an 1859 Italianate stucco-and-stone building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of the better-preserved examples of the mid-19th-century Octagon movement. In Hammondsport on 3 acres, with an on-site spa. Full English and Irish breakfast included, with vegan and gluten-free options. The architecture is genuinely unusual; the wine-country location makes it easy to fill the rest of the day.

Watkins Glen · B&B

An 1892 Victorian mansion on 2.5 acres overlooking Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen — the only 4-star-rated property in the area, and the consistently top-ranked B&B on TripAdvisor for the region. Fifteen rooms, including a turret room, sunrooms, and a grand staircase. Views from the hilltop extend across the lake. Complimentary breakfast made with seasonal local ingredients. Short walk to downtown, Watkins Glen State Park's gorge trail, and Watkins Glen International Raceway. EV charging on-site.

Ithaca · Inn

A 10-room boutique inn in the former Mayor's Mansion of Ithaca — which also served for years as the Duncan Hines world headquarters before sitting vacant and deteriorating. Avi Smith purchased and spent four years restoring it, reopening as the Argos Inn in 2013 with LEED certification, geothermal heating, heated stone slab floors, and a collection of original Dali, Miró, and locally commissioned artworks throughout. First building in Ithaca to win the Preservation League of New York State's Excellence in Historic Preservation award. Bar Argos has a zinc parlor bar, floating chandeliers, and a Moroccan lantern patio.

Fayetteville · Inn

A 90-room hotel and conference center in Fayetteville, near Syracuse, with every room furnished in genuine Stickley pieces — the Arts and Crafts furniture manufacturer with roots in upstate New York. The Wood Grille and Tap House restaurant uses a 96-inch wood-fired grill burning maple wood sourced from a local farm. Complimentary breakfast included. Green Lakes State Park is nearby; the location positions it as the practical eastern gateway to the Finger Lakes.

Canandaigua · Hotel

A modern lakefront hotel on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake — the first purpose-built luxury hotel on any Finger Lake. Rooftop pool with lake views, a spa, and a farm-driven restaurant. The property opened to significant regional attention for delivering something the Finger Lakes had long lacked: genuine lakefront hotel infrastructure at the upper end of the market. Canandaigua is the westernmost of the main Finger Lakes and the closest to Rochester, which gives the town a year-round commercial character the quieter eastern lakes don't have.

Lodi · B&B

A B&B on nearly four acres on the east side of Seneca Lake in Lodi, with lake views from the property. Twenty minutes north of Watkins Glen, thirty minutes south of Geneva — well-positioned on the east-side wine trail. Each room has a private bath; daily breakfast included. The draw is the setting and the tasting room proximity rather than any on-site amenities.

Ithaca · Hotel

A 153-room teaching hotel on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, run in partnership with Cornell's School of Hotel Administration since the 1950s. More than 300 students work alongside professional staff each year, which produces a combination of genuine hospitality training and unusually attentive service. TavernaBanfi is the signature dining room; The Regent Lounge, in-room dining, and a student-operated restaurant round out the food program. Renovated in 2010. On the edge of Ithaca's gorge country.

Hammondsport · Inn

A small inn on Keuka Lake — the only Finger Lake with a Y-shaped shoreline — in the village of Hammondsport, surrounded by vineyards on steep hillsides above the water. The lake is one of the Finger Lakes' most scenic and least crowded, and Hammondsport is its natural anchor: a compact village with a small square, tasting rooms within walking distance, and Glenn H. Curtiss Museum a short walk away. The inn is the right scale for the town — small enough that you're genuinely staying in Hammondsport rather than just near it.

Canandaigua · B&B

An 1810 European-style stone mansion on 45 acres near Canandaigua, with beamed ceilings, wide planked floors, walnut and mahogany inlays, and nine fireplaces. Seven guest rooms, each with a private bath and king or queen bed; the mansion’s kitchen and dining areas are available for guest use. Primarily books weddings, so B&B guests typically have the run of a grand estate on non-event weekends.