3 Connecticut Hotels

I have stayed in some crappy hotels in Connecticut.

There was one in New Haven that I decided to check out of — about 20 minutes after I had checked in. There was another in Cromwell that smelled overwhelmingly like cleaning products — and depression. Then there was the one in Middletown that — like too many hotels in New England — hadn’t updated its look (or its towels) since the time of the Thirteen Colonies, knowing that foolish tourists would equate the worn floral carpet with “quaint.”

I grew up in Connecticut, still have family there, and have other reasons to travel to the state from time to time, so you would have thought it would have occurred to me sooner that it’s rather small. This means, for example, I could stay in New Haven if I needed to be in Middletown or in West Hartford if I needed to be in Cromwell or even Mystic if I needed to be in Madison. For those of you who are familiar with LA, traveling those distances are the equivalent of getting from Hollywood to Culver City. On a good day.

And there is a reason to stay in New Haven if you need to be in Middletown; it’s called The Study at Yale. And there is reason to stay in West Hartford if you need to be in Cromwell; it’s called the Delamar. And there is a reason to stay in Mystic if you need to be in Madison; it’s called The Whaler’s Inn.

“The rooms are filled with shelves of books (and comfy chairs in which to read those books) and the lobby has newspapers and coffee for the taking in the morning.”

The Study at Yale is a 2-minute walk to the front door of the Yale University Art Gallery, a 10-minute walk to Vito’s Deli (where I encourage you to order The Godmother: ham, genoa salami, prosciutto, capocollo, sharp provolone, banana peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and dressing on a grinder roll), and a 20-minute walk to Pepe’s (where I encourage you to order everything). The rooms are filled with shelves of books (and comfy chairs in which to read those books) and the lobby has newspapers and coffee for the taking in the morning. Last winter, I was stuck there during a snowstorm and — after a quick trip to Vito’s for supplies and a brief tour of the Art Gallery — I spent the day in the lobby with my laptop, looking out the giant windows, marveling at the snow coming down. The gym could use more floor space for stretching, but otherwise this place is perfect.

The Delamar is situated adjacent to one of those faux neighborhoods/outdoor malls in West Hartford and, yes, you could spit and hit the Cheesecake Factory — a 3-minute walk from the front door of the hotel — but keep your elitist, carb-hating saliva in your mouth. There’s a decent Mexican restaurant (beyond the mall) that’s an 8-minute walk away, you can buy your dinner at the Whole Foods (a 2-minute walk), or you can get plenty to make yourself happy at Maruichi, a Japanese market and deli (also 2-minutes away). Both times that I have checked in to the Delamar, I’ve been greeted by Taylor (holding a glass of champagne), who excels at making good first — and second — impressions. While the decor is not exactly my cup of tea — too shiny and white — I am fond of the artwork that covers its corridor walls, which the hotel borrows from the New Britain Museum of American Art to promote the museum’s latest exhibit. (The museum is a 20-minute drive from the hotel and admission is complimentary for hotel guests.) The towels are exceptionally fluffy, the robes are super soft, and your room comes with a Bluetooth speaker which makes lounging while drinking your coffee from the in-room Nespresso machine and listening to your morning podcasts a pleasant start to the day. (The hotel also provides a free [hot] breakfast buffet to guests until 10 am.) The one truly poor design issue at the Delamar is that the bar is too small. It’s notable that, during both of my visits, the dining room — which is enormous — was relatively empty. Instead, guests had crammed themselves in the bar — elbow to elbow — drawn perhaps by the relative informality of that space. I imagine the hotel generates significant revenue from renting out the dining room for special events, which justifies the disproportionate use of space, but it still means the bar can be less than inviting to the guests that are there day-to-day.

The bed I slept in at The Whaler’s Inn may be the biggest bed in which I have ever slept — in a hotel or otherwise. It’s possible that it may have simply been a king-size bed, but the step stool I needed to climb to prepare myself for slumber made it feel absolutely enormous — and glorious. My room also had a gas fireplace, which would be very appealing to someone who - unlike me - likes a warm bedroom. Unfortunately, it heated the room to the point that I needed to open the windows in early March and led me to make an anxiety-ridden phone call to the front desk to confirm I had turned it off and would not burn to death in my sleep. (It was my fault for turning the darn thing on in the first place.) I stayed in the Hoxie House at the Inn, which is for adults only. (Thank you.) While I ate dinner with friends at Bravo Bravo, the hotel restaurant, I walked into town for breakfast at Rise and then grabbed a treat for the road from the Sift Bake Shop. Both are a 5-minute walk through town from the hotel.

You can easily avoid the chain hotels hugging the many routes and highways streaming through the state. Connecticut has so much to offer; I’m hoping these three are just the beginning.

My Stays: Study at Yale - April 12-13, 2014, March 7-8, 2018, October 2-3, 2018, July 3-5, 2019; Delamar - March 12-13, 2018, April 19-20, 2018; October 3-4, 2018; March 29-30, 2019; The Whalers Inn - March 9-10, 2018