hockeyinsider

Hotel Henry opened a year or so ago as an upscale, 4-ish star boutique hotel. It's housed in a gorgeous 19th century building that was once a mental hospital.

Anyways, I just received this offer by email:

Yoshi212

I had a college professor whose aunt was a resident back when it was a mental hospital and swears to never visit because of that but I know people who have stayed and who have does meals there. Seems to be a good spot. I went to UB and did a class at Buff State too. The area could be a bit more touristy but it's not bad either. Easy access off the 33 (Airport to downtown) highway and Elmwood ave.

hockeyinsider

I had a 2-night stay there a few months ago. It's a beautiful building, but the hotel isn't run the greatest.

Outside the nice restaurant, which was crazy busy even on week nights, the services and amenities -- or lack thereof -- were below a limited-service Four Points by Sheraton or Courtyard property. You expect better for a 4-star boutique hotel. No bellman or valet, no in-room hotel directory or even restaurant menus, no in-room clock , no bathrobes or slippers, only two pillows instead of the usual four pillows for a king-sized bed, no dental or shaving kits, no bottled water (free or paid) in the room, and no stationary (not even a pen).

There were also some big design flaws, like not having the lobby at the ground level. And for such a big building -- let alone a hotel that calls itself a resort -- there's no pool. Yes, it's a historic building but they could have easily added a pool somewhere. They also didn't invest in signage and use paper signs taped to walls to direct guests where to go (it's easy to get lost).

I prefer the downtown Marriott, which I have always thought to be really nice. With that said, the rates at Hotel Henry are low enough that I would consider staying there again because the parking lot is preferable to a cramped downtown parking garage or expensive valet parking.

Yoshi212

Sounds like they're in a bit over their head operationally. They could probably benefit from joiningg something like Curio or Tribute lines of a chain to get the operational help they need.

I have a wedding this June and will be trying out The Curtis.