6 Best Hotels in Niagara Falls and Western New York, New York

Built in the 1860s in the Second Empire style, this beautiful mansion was thoroughly renovated for the hotel's opening in 2001. The decor is classy yet up-the-minute: hand-carved original walnut pocket doors paired with midcentury-modern sofas and contemporary paintings by local artists. Beds are dressed in down duvets and Frette linens. Some rooms have fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Complimentary cocktails are served in the evening.

Stay at this five-story hotel in a 1920 building just off Chippewa Street for spacious, updated rooms and suites with views up busy Delaware Avenue. Rooms have traditional decor with fluffy white duvets; some have whirlpool tubs (some in the bedroom rather than the bathroom) or gas fireplaces.

Fronted by a fountain and incorporating some of the original 1923 facade, this contemporary theater-district hotel connected to the convention center has an '80s-chic glass atrium with a café and great views of surrounding historic buildings. Rooms were upgraded in 2008 and 2009, and are contemporary, with earth tones and warm woods and ergonomic desk chairs. Suites have whirlpool tubs and CD players. Until the new gym opens in late 2009, guests can use the health club across the street. E.B. Green's restaurant (named after the architect of the building) earns high marks for its steaks, in particular.

Established in 1923 and modeled after an old English inn, the Tudor-style building has spectacular views of Niagara Falls' upper rapids from street-facing suites. The size of apartments, suites have full kitchens and living rooms, one or two bedrooms, and some have a second bathroom. Rooms and suites are furnished with antiques, gas fireplaces (some), and four-poster beds with toile duvets. Champagne and cheese is served upon arrival. The dark-wood restaurant ($$), with three meals daily, has snug seating, plush chairs, a stone fireplace, and a patio. Rib-sticking dinners might include sirloin with garlic-herb butter or an 8-ounce lobster tail.

This 11-story hotel is in a casino complex with restaurants, bars, a deli and two cafés, plus a spa-salon, large fitness center, and a rooftop pool with a great view toward Allegany State Park. Rooms include corner suites with 46-inch plasma TVs, standard king or queen rooms, and suites. All rooms have Jacuzzi tubs.

This 26-story glass hotel, opened in 2006 as part of the Seneca Niagara Casino complex, is a beacon of rainbow-LED-light glam in downtown Niagara Falls. Rooms are spacious and contemporary in design, in caramel tones, with floor-to-ceiling windows (some with views of the river and the skyline of Niagara Falls, Ontario), big flat-screen TVs, and large bathrooms with oversize showers. Suites have stand-alone Jacuzzis at the foot of the bed. The hotel has four restaurants (Asian, Italian, steak, and Southern), a 24-hour café, and the requisite buffet, here the size of a basketball court.