Pine Hills
College-town Albany: The College of Saint Rose, cheap pizza on Madison, and $99 hotels that are honest about what they are.
Madison Avenue in Pine Hills lined with pizzerias and student housing
Why people stay in Pine Hills
Pine Hills sits west of Washington Park, roughly bounded by Western Avenue, New Scotland Avenue and the Manning Boulevard bend. It's the student neighborhood — The College of Saint Rose is right here, and SUNY Albany students spill in from the uptown campus. What you get is Madison Avenue lined with pizza-by-the-slice, cheap Thai, hair salons, coffee shops, and a decent Sunday farmers' market at Point Park.
Housing is mostly wood-frame two- and three-family homes, some beautifully kept, some rented six-ways-to-Sunday to undergraduates. It suits families who want more space and lower prices than downtown, and budget travelers who don’t care about being in the tourist core. At 9pm on a weeknight it's quiet houses and pizza places. Skip it if you need to walk to Empire State Plaza — you’re a 25-minute walk or a short bus ride out.
There aren’t many hotels in Pine Hills itself — mostly Airbnbs in the two- and three-family houses, $85-130 a night for a whole apartment. If you want a real hotel, the small motels along Western Avenue west of Manning ($99-140) are functional and clean, and put you on the bus line into downtown. Best streets for rentals are anywhere between Western and Madison, east of Manning. Avoid West Lawrence Street on weekend nights during the school year — student parties.
What to see
Hotels in Pine Hills
Getting around Pine Hills
CDTA bus 10 runs the full length of Madison Avenue and puts you downtown in 15-20 minutes for $1.50. The bus is frequent (every 15 minutes weekdays). From the airport, cab is $28 or bus 737 to downtown plus route 10 — figure 50 minutes on transit. From Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak, Uber is $18, or bus 22 to downtown plus route 10. Inside Pine Hills, walking is easy but the neighborhood is bigger than it looks — 20 minutes end to end.
Questions about Pine Hills
Yes for budget-conscious families — you get a whole apartment for the price of a hotel room, plus quiet streets and cheap food. The trade-off is 15-20 minutes on the bus (or a $12 Uber) each time you go downtown to see the Plaza or the Capitol.
Some blocks yes, most no. West Lawrence Street, Ontario Street between Madison and Western, and the streets immediately around Saint Rose can be loud Thursday-Saturday nights September through April. Anywhere north of Madison is fine.
