Lakefront Stays in the Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are 11 long, narrow glacial lakes, and the properties here sit on or above four of them. Keuka Lakeside Inn has more than 230 feet of frontage in Hammondsport, with a boat launch and slips, and Lake House on Canandaigua has a heated lakefront pool and rents boats, kayaks and paddleboards. On Cayuga Lake, The Inns of Aurora fill five restored 19th-century buildings on the east shore.
6 Properties
The Inns of Aurora
Featured StayAurora · Inn
Five restored 19th-century buildings on the east shore of Cayuga Lake in Aurora, bought and renovated by Pleasant Rowland, founder of American Girl, starting in 2001. More than 60 rooms are spread across the Aurora Inn, E.B. Morgan House, Rowland House, Wallcourt Hall, Zabriskie House and Orchard Cottage, each with its own room layouts. Aurora is a small village, where Wells College operated until 2024, and sees less traffic than the Seneca Lake wine corridor.
Five historic buildings and 60+ rooms, restored by Pleasant Rowland. On Cayuga Lake's east shore, away from the busier Seneca wine trail.
Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel
Watkins Glen · Hotel
A 107-room hotel at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, next to Glen Harbor Marina, where many rooms have private balconies facing the lake. Blue Pointe Grille and Coldwater Bar are on site, with outdoor seating on The Patio around a firepit. There is an indoor pool and a hot tub. Watkins Glen State Park, with its gorge trail and 19 waterfalls, is within walking distance.
Esperanza Mansion
Bluff Point · Inn
Built in 1838 by John Nicholas Rose as a wedding gift for his bride, a 2.5-story Greek Revival mansion with four Ionic columns and 6,000 square feet on a bluff overlooking Keuka Lake. The property later operated as Chateau Esperanza Winery (1979), and reopened as lodging in 2003 as The Mansion at Keuka Lake. Twenty-nine rooms are split between the historic mansion (8 rooms) and a newer inn building (21 rooms).
Lake House on Canandaigua
Canandaigua · Hotel
A 124-room hotel on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake, 26 miles southeast of Rochester and a few minutes from downtown Canandaigua. Rose Tavern and the Sand Bar serve food and drinks, and the Library is a coffee shop and cocktail lounge. The Willowbrook Spa has cedar barrel saunas facing the lake, and there is a heated lakefront pool and hot tub. Boat rentals, captained cruises, kayaks and paddleboards are available.
Keuka Lakeside Inn
Hammondsport · Inn
A 17-room inn on Keuka Lake in the village of Hammondsport, with more than 230 feet of lake frontage, a private boat launch and boat slips for rent. There is a fire pit at the water's edge and a gazebo, and the inn is open from early April to late October. The village square and tasting rooms are a short walk, and the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum is about a mile south.
Inn at Taughannock Falls
Trumansburg · Inn
A Victorian inn inside Taughannock Falls State Park, overlooking Cayuga Lake and the trail to Taughannock Falls, a single drop of 215 feet. The inn's restaurant serves non-guests as well as overnight visitors. Trails and gorge views surround the property, and Ithaca is about 10 miles south. It is open year-round.
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Browse Now →What Makes It
- •Seneca and Cayuga are the two largest lakes. Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel sits at Seneca's southern tip beside Glen Harbor Marina, and Inn at Taughannock Falls overlooks Cayuga from inside the state park.
- •Lake access differs: Keuka Lakeside Inn and Lake House on Canandaigua have direct access for boats, while Esperanza Mansion and Inn at Taughannock Falls look down on their lakes from above.
- •The lakes run north to south, so properties on an east shore, such as The Inns of Aurora on Cayuga, look west over the water toward the sunset.
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