Holiday Inn Albany, Albany

I stayed at this hotel when I was taking the NY Bar Examination nearby. It had a pool, advertised "free high speed internet," and was just about the last hotel left in the area with vacancies. Everything's nice, but the rooms are getting pretty outdated, bathroom has no ventilation fan, the internet is slower than AOL dial-up in 1993, and it still cost a pretty penny! I bet you can find a better value for your money elsewhere. There seem to be a whole slew of hotels right around here, most of which look newer/nicer than this, and I bet you they'd have 21st century internet just like the rest of the world. Final pet peeve: none of the lights in the guest rooms is of the incandescent variety. You know, they're using the really weird looking ostensibly "energy-efficient" bulbs that put off the harshest light. Ugh.

The room itself was wonderful--- but its location was terrible and the hotel failed to act on our complaints. Therefore we encountered lots of noise outside the room that ran until 12:20 am and started again at 7:00 am. Result: 6 hours sleep! The hotel put us in a room near the pool. They failed to tell us that "a room near the pool" means: (1) the room is not on a corridor... it is essentially on a loud echoing lobby through which hundreds of people pass on hard tiles (not carpeted floors). They call across the large space to other folks on the other side. They play soccer in the central space. They sit and make cell phone calls on the steps outside your door. They walk by on the hard tiles with their high-heeled shoes, and the laundry carts start rolling at 7:00 am. Around 7:30 am the pool poles start dropping to the ground. From your room, you can hear all of this for hours! (2) It also mean that the room has no "real" window... ie a window on the outside world. Instead its one "window" looks out on the passing throngs in the "lobby" area into which the room opens. Therefore, if you want ANY privacy at all, you can't open your curtain. Finally the hotel has a "We'll make it right" policy in which they promise to not charge you when they don't meet your standard of service. Unfortunately... they don't make it right and they DO CHARGE you. In our case they claimed they got no noise complaints from us, although we called the front desk several times.

I stayed at this hotel on two different occasions within a few weeks time. Each time, the hotel staff were wonderful, the rooms were immaculate, everything was great. The airport shuttle on both occasions was very prompt, friendly and helpful. The arcade room and 2 swimming pools were great for a stay with kids. I would definitely stay here again.

Pros: Spacious pool/sauna/video game area. Pleasant staff with efficient check-in/out. Comfortable bed. Quiet and effective heating unit. Room a bit below the HI average size, but clean. Right off the I-87; Pizza Hut located next door. Free drink for Gold Priority guests. Cons: Stayed over a weekend which included two loud wedding receptions. One could hear the music lying in bed on the second floor at the back of the hotel due to the open concept where the main banquet hall is adjacent to the pool area and many of the rooms. Went out to fill the ice at 12.30am and noticed a handful of cops finally shutting the party down. Heard obnoxious drunks in the halls all night, even with earplugs. Overall, would be an ideal stay on weeknights.

Proximity to major highways and rods. Near SUNY and lots of places to eat. The indoor pool is large and well kept inside of a spacious atrium. The rooms are nice standard hotel rooms.