Buffalo hotels

Downtown’s Curtiss Hotel is one of the best hotels in Buffalo, located in a historic 1913 landmark. The Harlow C. Curtiss Building now houses this 68-room boutique property, where guests can drink cocktails at the panoramic rooftop bar or enjoy a gourmet meal downstairs at Chez Ami.

The Curtiss is a picture of elegance, with finely appointed rooms boasting high-tech showers, where temperatures and nozzles are controlled at the touch of a button. The spa is well worth a visit too. Here, you can swim through the indoor/outdoor pool even when the weather is trademark Buffalo cold.

If you’re visiting Nickel City, I highly recommend hitting the rooftop at the Curtiss to meet friendly locals. I’ve had many a night start here, and end carousing around the city with people I met over the firepits.

Delaware Avenue was one of America’s original Millionaire’s Rows, a street where 19th-century captains of industry built their grand palaces. One of those stately homes is now the Mansion on Delaware Ave., one of the grandest hotels in Buffalo.

Once a Second Empire masterpiece belonging to industrialist Charles F. Sternberg, the Mansion is a testament to all that’s great about Buffalo—first-class architecture, warm hospitality and fascinating history. The rooms remain suitably historic but have been updated with modern furnishings, so you’ll get a sense of how 19th-century royalty lived but still find outlets for your phone charger.

The place feels more like a charming bed and breakfast than a luxury hotel, so I suggest making a point to hit the nightly happy hour. Wine and refreshments are served in the old living room, where you can mingle with fellow travellers—much like Sternberg’s guests might have decades ago.

If you’ve never spent the night in a former mental asylum, you can check that off your spooky bucket list with a stay at The Richardson Hotel. Once the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, the gothic building casts an imposing shadow and could feel a little like the opening to a horror movie if you arrive on a particularly stormy evening.

Inside, it couldn’t feel more different, however. The brightly-lit Richardson is a testament to preservation and design, making it one of the most unique and best hotels in Buffalo.

The rooms are set along wide, hospital-style hallways, with high ceilings and windows looking out onto the sprawling lawns. The layout can be a little confusing, though, and I’ve definitely got lost trying to get from one end of a floor to another.

Note that you sometimes have to go up or down to get across the entire hotel, but that kind of confusion really drives the mental asylum motif home.

Sometimes the best hotels in Buffalo aren’t actually in Buffalo proper, as is the case with this luxury property in Williamsville, located about 20 minutes northeast. While many Buffalo hotels bring rich history and great architecture, the Reikart House delivers an extra element of fun, too, with playful touches like top hat light fixtures, trumpets in the bookcases and a vaudeville monkey as its mascot.

The Reikhart House offers the perfect combination of quirky boutique hotel and luxury property, thanks to its expertly designed rooms and fireside living room lobby.

I love staying here when I’m in the mood for something relaxing and luxurious that’s not in the centre of the city—ideal for a serene escape after the intensity of a Bills game. Buffalo traffic is never too bad anyway, so staying outside the city isn’t likely to cause logistical complications.

This downtown Courtyard by Marriott is hard to beat when it comes to convenience, as you can step outside and be in the heart of Canalside, the city’s waterfront entertainment district.

I like to stay here if I’m coming to town for a Buffalo Sabres hockey game at the KeyBank Center, as the arena is almost next door. You won’t be sacrificing any amenities for this prime real estate though, as the Courtyard has the sort of sleek, comfortable rooms you’d expect from the brand.

The on-site restaurant is a great spot if you’re hungry and not up for exploring. The rooms also come with refrigerators and microwaves, in case you feel like heating up some leftover wings from Pearl Street Grill a few blocks away.

The Lafayette Hotel was one of Buffalo’s earliest luxury hotels when it opened in 1904. The French Renaissance building comes from America’s first female architect, Louise Blanchard Bethune, and though it’s been a number of other things since its inception, the hotel returned in 2012 after a huge multi-million-dollar renovation.

The current iteration of the Hotel at the Lafayette is hands down one of the best hotels in Buffalo, a 34-room boutique property steeped in history on Lafayette Square.

Though the light-toned rooms feel modern, I love admiring the big black and white pictures that serve as each room’s accent wall. Each one reveals something different about the city’s storied past, and if you look closely, you’ll get a sense of how booming Buffalo once was.

If you’re looking for something a little more upscale in an ideal location, the Westin is undoubtedly the hotel for you. It’s set right along the main drag on Delaware Ave., just a short walk from Shea’s theatre and the entertainment district. You can also hop on the streetcar pretty easily from here, and catch all the attractions down near Canalside and the waterfront.

If the weather is cooperating, I like to take advantage of the Reddy bike-share hub at the hotel. These solar-powered e-bikes make it easy to ride over to Allentown for lunch or pre-dinner drinks, or down to the historic Old First Ward for wings and kayaking. You can also use them to follow the Buffalo Wing Trail and discover the city’s history through its most famous food.

Buffalo is a city that thrives on its uniqueness and classical design. One of the best hotels in Buffalo to combine both of these elements is The Edward, where every room boasts a different motif and every stay is different. My favourite room is the Deco, which departs from the Victorian style of the 1900’s Delaware Avenue mansion and uses ’20s and ’30s accents in the decor—including an acrylic four-poster bed.

The property is small and, like a lot of Buffalo’s converted mansion hotels, gives off more of a bed and breakfast vibe than a boutique hotel. Its location is also fantastic, as you can pretty much walk to anything downtown, as well as the bars in Allentown if you’re feeling ambitious. If I have downtime, I love to bring a book up to the solarium, which even on cloudy days is a bright space in which to relax.

These days, Buffalo isn’t exactly known for its opulence. But that’s exactly what you’ll find when you check into The Delavan Hotel & Spa, located just east of Buffalo Niagara International. Here, design elements of marble, crystal and rich red curtains combine to make the Delavan not only the best hotel near the Buffalo airport, but one of the best hotels in Buffalo overall.

There’s a definite air of over-the-top elegance that lends itself perfectly to a pampering vacation. The on-site restaurant Italian Prime offers old-world Italian fine dining, with white tablecloths, dark wood and purple velvet everywhere. Stop in for a big prime steak and a glass of red wine—a classy, throwback meal that just feels right in this place.

The spa is pretty spectacular too, and you’ll find no shortage of weekend visitors here soaking up the glamour.

The Hilton Garden Inn is a bit of an architectural anomaly in downtown Buffalo, a steel-and-glass tower standing amidst century-old Italianate and Art Deco skyscrapers. So, if you like the sleek, modern look, this is your go-to hotel, where you can reside firmly in the 21st century while exploring the history that came before.

The Hilton Garden Inn sits right on Lafayette Square, an ideal location for making the most of downtown’s attractions. The hotel ranks among the best hotels in Buffalo due to its familiarity.

The breakfasts and furnishings you know and love from the brand are all here, and even on the coldest of Buffalo winter afternoons, it feels like home. It’s also not far from the starting point for many of Explore Buffalo’s fantastic architecture tours, so before coming to town I like to see which tours are running and book one ahead of time.