Albany hotels with restaurants worth eating at
Hotel restaurant with white tablecloths and wine glasses
Eight Albany hotels with on-site restaurants ranked by whether locals will actually eat there — the honest test.
Locals eat here
Wellington's at the Renaissance Albany passes the local test — it's the go-to for legislative dinners when the Assembly is in session, and the bar attracts non-guests on weeknights. The menu is straightforward American with a serious steak program. Yono's, tucked inside the 74 State Hotel, is the most accomplished restaurant in any Albany hotel: chef Yono Purnomo has been cooking here for decades and the Indonesian-influenced tasting menu is a legitimate destination, not a hotel convenience. Reservations are essential Thursday through Saturday.
The Desmond's Scrimshaw Restaurant leans conservative — prime rib, a strong wine list, servers who’ve been there 20 years — and it fills up with Colonie regulars on Friday nights, which tells you what you need to know.
Fine if you don’t want to leave
The Hilton Albany's restaurant, Aroma, is competent hotel food: reliable breakfast, workable dinner, nothing you’d cross town for. The Hyatt Place market/bistro concept is exactly what it sounds like — flatbreads, salads, a decent burger, useful when it's snowing. The Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites on Wolf Road only have breakfast rooms, not restaurants; the Chef Geoff's in the plaza next door serves both effectively. Skip the Best Western Sovereign's on-site dining and walk to Cardona's on Delaware Avenue instead.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Delaware Avenue, answered with this month’s numbers.
The Homewood Suites Albany-Wolf Road runs the strongest free hot breakfast in the city — waffles, eggs, sausage, and rotating hot items. Hampton Inn Wolf Road is a close second.
The lobby bar at the Renaissance and the bar at Yono's/dp An American Brasserie inside the 74 State are both open to walk-ins and pull a real local crowd.
