Days Inn Albany SUNY, Albany

I booked this hotel because of price, as most other hotels in Albany seem to cost too much money, depending on where you're from. Some of the other reviewers are right. This is fine if all you want to do is sleep. The Days Inn chain has way more to offer than this particular hotel actually does offer, notably breakfast can be delivered to your room at select Days Inn hotels. The room was a little bit dirty--the white sheet on my bed had a stain on it (looks like maybe the kind that won't wash out, rather than a fresh stain), some of the towels in the bathroom had stains. Air conditioning is almost completely worthless, so, especially if you don't like being hot/warm, it can be torture in the summer. Sometimes it felt cool, but other times I actually sat sweating and wiping sweat from my face. It seems like the staff knows this, as the window in my room was open when I arrived. It's very dark; almost like not even turning the lights on in the room. And if you open the shades, you basically can see into other people's room and they can see into yours, as your view is of another part of the hotel, as well as a white brick wall. You're almost forced to eat out--I've seen other reviews of people unsatisfied with the breakfast, and they don't seem to offer any other meals. You can call for delivery, but my experience was some delivery places in the area don't make the food as good as places back home. Very difficult time getting/keeping cell phone reception in the room, as it's almost like you're in a cave. You need to bring your own ethernet cable to use the high-speed internet, as they don't have wireless, and their "high-speed" isn't the fastest. The guy who checked me in took forever, as he seemed mentally slow and needed me to repeat everything multiple times. I like the price and I got from here to the airport in almost no time, but I really think I should have just gone ahead and spent extra for a hotel that has more/better meals, free shuttle rides to/from the airport, cleanliness and real air conditioning, at the very least. Even without free shuttles, every other hotel I've ever stayed in has been better than this one--the Marriot Courtyard has been the absolute best, and it only cost about $5 more than this one per night in the Boston area.

I'm not very particular about hotels... I expect a clean room for a good price, extras like a pool are nice but not essential. As this hotel didn't have any amenities like that, I booked this hotel for the price and proximity to Albany. The hotel shares a parking lot with another, surely better, hotel -- The Best Western Sovereign Inn. Immediately you look at it, and at the Day's Inn, and question your reservation. The Day's Inn is not a horrible place, but plain and a little run down. The room was very small, the bathroom just had a stand-up shower, and my view was of another section of the hotel. Couldn't get wi-fi. Breakfast was bagels and cereal. I wouldn't mind this enough to write a review if I wasn't charged an extra $26 for my stay a few days after my visit, for no reason. I contacted management twice and never heard back. If the surly teenager who minds the front desk is the manager, I know why. Bottom line is stay here ONLY if you get a great deal on a room. And, it turns out, even that's not a sure bet they won't rip you off after you leave.

I was a little apprehensive about this as it was one of the lower priced hotels. But I must say I was very surprised. I have stayed in rooms 3 times the price and they were dumps. The employees all took pride in their jobs. The rooms were very very clean. You did NOT feel like the walls were closing in. There is no tub, but a huge shower with excellent water pressure. I would definitely stay there again, and would recommend it to anyone I know going to the Albany area. A cab only cost $20 to fo to the Pepsi Arena and around that area. Although traffic during the day is not that bad. Thank you for all the helpful reviews, they helped in my decision making. Restaurants and Bars within walking distance.

I go to a music festival every year in the Albany area, but this year my regular motel (next door to the Days Inn) was fully booked. The Days Inn room rate was much lower than my regular motel, so it was with some trepidation that I decided to give it a try. When I arrived I was very pleasantly surprised. The room was simple but spacious enough for me and my significant other, and very clean with no off smells. (We're both non-smokers and always notice smokiness if present.) The bed was very good, although I would have preferred a slightly firmer mattress, but it was no big deal. I'm picky about bathrooms and showers, and this one was superb. The walk-in shower was roomy, had a great massaging shower head. Everything was very clean, well-stocked and worked flawlessly. The bathroom would get a 10 except that the exhaust fan was fairly loud. In terms of amenities, all that I wanted was cable TV, which it had, and an internet connection. It turns out that this place didn't use WiFi, but had an Ethernet jack in the wall instead. I hadn't brought a cable with me, but the desk loaned me one. I didn't have the continental breakfast so I can't rate it. In the end I came away very impressed by what a great value this motel was. It's my new regular place to stay in Albany.

I came to this hotel to recover for 24 hours during my one day "break" amidst a highly intensive round of work. The four features that caused me to choose it were: 1. Pool 2. Fitness Center (“free pass to Bally’s Health Club") 3. In-Room Free Wireless Internet 4. Proximity to the Airport Here is the way this hotel delivered these promised amenities: 1. The pool was closed, even though the hotel’s own website gave no indication, and it was a more than reasonable assumption that the pool would be open by May 29--the whether was sweltering. 2. The hotel does not have a fitness center, and while they did at one time offer a free pass to Bally’s Health Club, within walking distance, Bally’s Health Club has now moved several miles away­-the website does not indicate this change and I did not have a car. 3. The in-room “Free Wireless Internet” was down, and "oh yes, we've been having problems with it for weeks." 4. Even though most Days Inns that are near airports have free shuttles, this one does not, it turned out. The staff was courteous but unsympathetic about any of these problems, as if I should have expected them at a Days Inn. To make the stay worse, my "non-smoking" room smelled like smoke smell buried under perfume. And the only good thing I can say about the free "Daybreak Breakfast" is that it is good that there is an IHOP next door. My brief 24-hour break after an intensive work schedule, where I so needed to exercise and catch-up on e-mail, was punctuated with frustration after frustration. I would have far preferred to have spent twice as much and gotten what was promised and what I needed. If I ever return to Albany, you can bet that I won't be staying here, and I doubt that I will ever stay at a Day’s Inn again.