Choices (Staying and Dining) When Staying in Buffalo for a Play at Shea's!

We have been fortunate to have gone to 4 musicals at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY.  Since we live 3 hours away, we spent the night at 4 different hotels within walking distance of the theater.  This blog ranks those 4 hotels in terms of many aspects...and the one hotel that we would likely stay at for a 5th visit to Buffalo.  We do purposefully travel during the week instead of on the weekends.  It makes booking a hotel and perhaps getting an upgrade easier than if we try to visit on a weekend.  Luckily, being retired allows us to be able to go during the week. 

First...the plays.  In order, we loved: 

1. Hamilton (2018)

2. Pretty Woman (didn't expect much, and we were pleasantly blown away) (Nov. 2021)

3. Escape to Margaritaville (unadulterated fun) (Nov. 2021)

4. The Band's Visit (interesting story line, decent music...the pace was SUPER slow!!) (Nov. 2021)

 Shea's is a wonderful place for theater.  It's an absolutely gorgeous venue, and the hotels and dining choices within walking distance is amazing.  We ate at so many places nearby. Buffalo generally gets Broadway Touring plays before Syracuse does-so we are willing to drive to see the plays. 

Our favorite hotel that we stayed at... with a caveat, is Curtiss Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection.  This is currently Trip Advisor ranked #11 out of 28 hotels in Buffalo. When we stayed here in 2018, and again in 2020 for 2 nights,  I was working for Choice Hotels.  Through my discount we paid under $100 a night for this hotel, and both visits we were upgraded to a room with an incredible jacuzzi with colored lights, and a huge shower with about 6 sprays.  The room itself was just OK-but the bathroom was incredible.  The entire room (lights, curtains, etc) are all controlled by an IPad similar to those in Vegas.  This hotel has free Valet parking (2020 Valet was not in use, but still free parking), a wonderful indoor/outdoor Urban Hot Springs and a rooftop bar that is indoor/outdoor also. The breakfast is included with the price of the room.  The caveat is that now the room we stayed at is starting at $199-and since our room was an upgrade it is somewhere between $250 and $350 a night.  During the week.  In December.   At that price it is no longer "a good deal", and we would not pay that price for a literal few hours in the room.  However, if price was no object, we really felt this hotel was the best-so much that we returned again to stay for 2 nights and enjoyed Buffalo in August of 2020.   I wrote an entire Blog of our 3 day awesome trip to Buffalo...skip on back 11 blogs to read specific details about our time exploring Buffalo.

During our first trip we ate lunch at Local Kitchen and Beer Bar  (fabulous!!) and we had dinner at Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill (it was OK)

On our longer trip we had lunch at Big Ditch Brewing Company (fabulous), and Pearl Street Grill and Brewery (great).  We ate dinner at Chez Ami, (excellent) which is located at Curtiss Hotel, and The Liberty Hound (great river views and delicious).  Liberty Hound is located at Canalside.  We did walk there, but not really a good walking choice for a play at Shea.

The first link is the Trip Advisor Review for our 2018 first visit to Curtiss.  The 2nd link is for our August 2020 visit where we stayed 2 nights.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60974-d12100260-r635488100-Curtiss_Hotel_Ascend_Hotel_Collection-Buffalo_New_York.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60974-d12100260-r767206132-Curtiss_Hotel_Ascend_Hotel_Collection-Buffalo_New_York.html

Our second favorite hotel was Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Downtown. This is ranked #5 out of 28  hotels on Trip Advisor.   Total cost including all taxes was $111.  ($98 per night)   We should have been charged $10. for self parking, but somehow we were not charged.  Again, we were gifted a free upgrade to the top 6th floor, and we had an amazing view of the city.  The staff at this hotel could not have been nicer or more helpful.  This is the closest hotel we stayed at for our walk to Shea's-it was a 5 minute walk. The included breakfast was delicious, sleeping was very comfortable and quiet. The pool and hot tub were both really great, and we were the only ones in the pool room at the time we went. 

  Dinner was at Local Kitchen and Beer Bar  for a repeat delicious meal!!

Here is a link to my review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60974-d224389-r819920260-Hampton_Inn_Suites_Buffalo_Downtown-Buffalo_New_York.html

Our 3rd favorite hotel was Embassy Suites by Hilton Buffalo.    This is currently ranked #15 out of 28 on Trip Advisor.  This hotel is quite grand and elegant, although older.  There are 8 floors.  Embassy Suites by design have 2 room suites, separated by a door.  For a one night stay it really wasn't necessary for that much room-but the room was great, and our view was spectacular of the city. (More on that later). The room was clean and the bed comfortable.  There was a blanket in the closet that was appreciated. Total price for this hotel was $172.79. ($128. per night)  Included in the total price was a $25 valet parking fee.  That fee is too high given that we had free valet at Curtiss.  So...our issue with this hotel was actually the front desk staff (specifically the front desk "manager").  We checked in the morning before on the Hilton App, booking room 829 facing the Lake.  When we arrived after the check in time our "room was not ready".  In order to stay on the top floor facing the Lake (as 829 was) we would have had to pay another $20...not worth it. The front desk should have either made sure our room was ready for check-in (we checked in 30 hours previously), or given us the upgrade free. There are a lot of reviews complaining about the front desk staff, so I think it is a general issue. We were also given an  "ENJOY YOUR NEIGHBOR AND HOTEL POLICY RULES" paper that we needed to sign before checking in.(photo attached)  I get the concerns (worked hotel front desk for 13 years), but none of the other  hotels we stayed at in Buffalo had us sign a paper. The pool/hot tub is closed at this time, and the restaurant on property is not open.  The hotel was fine overall-but expensive and definitely not worth the price we paid.

Dinner was at Frankie Primo's +39 (fantastic) 

Here is a link to my review for Embassy Suites:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60974-d1484384-r821299935-Embassy_Suites_by_Hilton_Buffalo-Buffalo_New_York.html

The hotel that we liked the least...but would still be worth a stay again was Hilton Garden Inn Buffalo Downtown.   We paid a total of $174.66 which included $12 parking fee, and breakfast plus tip. ($118 per night) This is currently ranked #10/28 on Trip Advisor.  This is the farthest from Shea's...but only a 9 minute walk.  We were up on the 9th floor with a glorious view of the downtown area.  There is a beautiful pool in this hotel, in a room that feels sauna -like.  The pool design is unique, and the pool was very warm, so that somewhat made up for the fact that there was no hot tub.   Our room was nice and clean, but there was only a thin, sheet-like covering on the bed.  There was no blanket in the closet, so I was pretty chilly all night.  The location of this hotel is next to LaFayette Square.  Not the best area of Buffalo downtown as there is not a lot of foot traffic around, but we felt totally safe walking home at night from Shea's.  From our hotel, on the Main Street side we could see the lit sign of Shea's at night.  In the morning we had to purchase breakfast at $7.99 per person. (Or, obviously eat elsewhere).   It was the breakfast that had the least choices (bagels, yogurt, no hot food) of all the hotels we stayed at, and the only one that had an additional charge.  There was a menu to order other breakfast items (pancakes, french toast, omelets, etc.) but those ranged around $15 each-not worth it.

Dinner was at Big Ditch Brewing Company  for another fantastic meal.  First visit we ate outside, this visit we ate upstairs in the loft area!!

Here is a link to the hotel review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60974-d6948068-r817717413-Hilton_Garden_Inn_Buffalo_Downtown-Buffalo_New_York.html

So...the  hotel we would stay at on a return to Buffalo would be...

 Hampton Inn and Suites Buffalo Downtown.  👏👏👏

The price was good, our stay was fabulous overall.  The walk to Shea's is very short, and it is in a busy enough neighborhood (near Chippewa) that we felt comfortable wandering around at night.  Although we loved Curtiss as an amazing getaway, the price is not logical for us to spend for a 1 night stay.

All restaurants have also been reviewed on Trip Advisor for more specific details.