The Inn at Saratoga

The Inn at Saratoga is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Saratoga Springs — built in 1843, on Broadway near the central park, with thirty-eight rooms and Mary Lou's restaurant on the porch. It's been in operation through the entirety of the town's transformation from spa-water town to racing town to its current state, and the building has the layered character of that history.

Saratoga's hotel inventory tilts toward modern chains in the resort-and-conference market plus a handful of small B&Bs in the residential streets. The Inn at Saratoga is the substantive middle — a working hotel at scale, with a real restaurant, in the historic center.

The setting

On Broadway in Saratoga Springs, walking distance to Congress Park (the springs themselves), the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC, in summer), and the central restaurant and shopping district. Saratoga Race Course — the country's oldest thoroughbred track, with its summer meet running late July through Labor Day — is fifteen minutes' walk or a five-minute drive.

The drive from Albany is thirty minutes; from New York City, three hours; from Boston, three and a half. Most guests are on a long weekend, often timed to the race meet.

The building

A four-story 1843 wooden hotel structure, white-clapboard with a double-decker front porch facing Broadway. The aesthetic is Neo-Victoriana: brass-and-velvet lobby, period light fixtures, antiques and reproduction antiques throughout, a small library off the main floor. Public spaces include the porch (used heavily, with Mary Lou's tables on it in season), the lobby, and the dining room.

The renovation work over the years has been gradual. The 1843 bones are intact.

The rooms

Thirty-eight rooms across the four floors. Categories climb from compact rooms (around $285 in shoulder, climbing significantly during the racing meet) up through suites with fireplaces and the better park-and-Broadway views. Beds are queens and kings, linens are good, bathrooms are functional and updated. Front-facing rooms get the porch and the Broadway shape; rear rooms are quieter.

Food & drink

Mary Lou's is the on-site restaurant, named after a long-running matriarch of the inn. Menu is contemporary American with regional Adirondack and Saratoga influences — local trout, regional steaks, vegetables from the surrounding Capital District farms. The porch service in summer is the main draw. Open to non-guests by reservation.

On the property

A small historic hotel with the basics.

• Mary Lou's restaurant (open to non-guests)
• Double-decker front porch
• Continental breakfast for inn guests
• Walking distance to Congress Park and the springs
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Race-meet travelers in late July through Labor Day
• SPAC concert-goers (Philadelphia Orchestra in summer, the New York City Ballet)
• Couples doing a Saratoga long weekend who want a historic-hotel anchor
• Travelers who'd rather stay on Broadway than at a chain by the highway

Who it's not for

• Travelers who want a contemporary boutique aesthetic
• Anyone seeking a full hotel amenity stack
• Light sleepers in front-facing rooms during the busy summer evenings

Nearby

Congress Park is two blocks — the original mineral springs (Congress, Hathorn, Geyser), the Carousel, and the Casino historic building. Saratoga Race Course is fifteen minutes' walk for the summer meet. SPAC is the summer concert and ballet venue, twenty minutes' walk through the state park. Saratoga Spa State Park's bathhouses and the Roosevelt Baths and Spa are similar distance. For dinner off-property: Hattie's (legendary southern in town), Olde Bryan Inn, Sperry's, Druthers Brewing.