The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center Albany Review

The conference facilities and flood are great. Though it would be nice, for the price, if the rooms had microfridges.

wonderful hotel just about my favorite in the suburban Albany area.

Excellent hotel. Very clean and the service is great.

The room is nothing overly special it is suitable for a night or two and has a bit of extra space. The hotel does have a nice restaurant with good service. The hotel also has a small gift shop. The interior courtyard has a pond with fish and a attractive large sitting area. They run conferences from here so it can be busy. Plenty of parking.

It is a great hotel to go for lunch and or diner the staff there is always helpful and nice. I would go again soon

We recently stayed at the Desmond for a wedding, the rooms were lovely and the hotel was very accommodating!!

It's a good venue to have social events at. The ambience and staff are well kept together.

This hotel is conveniently located near the airport and Saratoga Springs. It is spectacularly clean and the staff is very efficient and would recommended very highly for any stay in Albany

Great location that is close to the airport. Comfy sized rooms that have charm, but might be a touch dated. Free shuttle to and from airport! Friendly staff.

Food is great, I had hot wings, hummus, and calamari for appetizers and then turkey avocado panini. Everything was fresh and only took 15 minutes to come out.

Came for a conference. Conveniently located close to airport and restaurants. Rooms and decor was quaint but dated, then again this is not a resort. The gym and heated pool were small but sufficient. Food was average. Beds and pillows were extremely uncomfortable and the hallways were very noisy, probably my worst hotel experience for sleeping.
Pros: quaint, convenient location
Cons: dated decor, uncomfortable beds

Love the setting of the hotel and the staff is always friendly. However, this hotel could use more comfortable beds and definitely a refrigerator in the room. In addition, bring back the hot tub.

This hotel is one of the best I have ever stayed. Cost was very reasonable. The hotel design was spectacular. Pool could be larger. Service is professional and courteous. Wish it were in Brooklyn, I would go at least 2x a month.

We had attended for the beer festival, the location was very nice and there was plenty of room to fully enjoy the event.

Comfortable bed. Somewhat friendly staff depending on who you speak with. Hotel is very large so it can be a longer walk to your room. Restaraunt was good. Rooms are visibly clean but smell a bit musty.

This hotel not has a lot of style and comfort for those staying the night, but the conference experience was also great. My only constructive criticism is that signage for the conference rooms could have been made more obvious.

Super friendly staff, very quiet room and awesome indoor courtyard!

Very beautiful hotel. Although a bit dissatisfied with the fact that there's no microwave or fridge in the room. And also the beds and pillows could be updated.

I did not stay the night. Only there for an event. The hotel is very nice and luxurious, but does need some updating like carpets and wallpaper.

The colonial style rooms are simply awesome and I had a great time staying here

Odd place but looked clean. I was only there for a conference.

My family and I stayed here for the night. We enjoyed the layout and the design of the hotel but the front desk service was lacking. We didn't get much sleep because of a party that was taking place across the hall. It too four calls to the front desk before the party was shut down. The complimentary water for guests in the lobby had fruit in the bottom that looked to be rotted. The service at this establishment has gone down quite a bit, it is no longer a 5 star more like a three.

Great looking facilities and great staff. Common areas were a bit tight for a conference crowd. Good food.

Go there yearly for a work event, always a good time, but the rooms are very outdated. furniture dark and clunky. And if you have a room that looks out to the inside courtyard be prepared to hear any event all night long. Only reason I gave two stars is because of the staff, they are extremely helpful and always happy to help.

My husband took me here for the Wine & Chocolate Festival. I was SO excited! The hotel and courtyard are beautiful! All of the staff we encountered were kind and just generally wonderful. The only thing I would change would be to have more chocolatiers. That's more of a festival issue though, not a hotel issue. Would definitely go back.

Main Street USA Main Street USA feel, lots of services, great meeting space, and friendly staff.

I was checking The Desmond out as a potential wedding venue. The woman we met with was an incredibly helpful professional.

It was an amazing place and so happy i was abke to be there

The hotel rooms have not been renovated since I stayed there 25 years ago. The toilet bowl ran all night long and the room had a musty smell. What made me really annoyed is that I was planning on staying 2 nights but after a night of discomfort and a 12"+ snow storm coming, I decided to check out first thing in the morning at 7am after just 1 night stay. They adamantly charged me for the second night regardless of my bad experience and the storm. Definitely not a good customer experience at all and completely unreasonable.

I was there for a holiday party and had a wonderful time. The staff was beyond friendly and helpful. One very kind woman went out of her way to find me something gluten free for dessert. The hotel is clean and beautiful with a very unique indoor courtyard.

Hopefully my experience was atypical. The shuttle driver forgot I was at the airport so I sat on a concrete slab for 35 min. I could have walked there faster. It took 5 phone calls to get the hotel to fess up to him forgetting me. They gave me a free $12 drink voucher that didn't cover a double rum & coke at their bar after being ignored at the bar for 5 min. The internet was so spotty that it took 3 trips from tech support to setup a router and hard line in my room. The walls are paper thin and I heard a complete sex act next door at 620am. The clock radios barely work and crackle. The place looks like olde Williamsburg. Which is unique and well executed. The gym is well appointed. My room overlooked one of two courtyard where they were hosting a priest convention so I heard chanting and latin hymns from the group. Overall I would rate this place a hit or miss and I got all of the misses. You might have a great experience.

This is one of the older hotels in the area. You can smell the old wood and carpet as soon as you walk into the hotel. Bathrooms and elevators are also out dated. However some conference rooms are very nice. There also is a nice computer room. A small pool and a small gym. The food offered for conference is average.

Everything was great! I accidentally left my wallet behind, but housekeeping found it and gave it to the front desk! Clean and old fashioned, but with modern amenties! Would recommend!

The girl at the front desk was as happy as a dead rose. Room was nice and cozy and the place had character.

It's ok. The place is looking a little dates and all the construction out front makes it really hard to turn into the parking lot.

Attended an event for 250. The food was well prepared and timely. The bartender's were slow and unorganized. The servers were not friendly or personable.

Nice venue for a group event,nice private rooms, professional and courteous staff and good food.

Really need to stay here. Nothing else like this. One of a kind. Great Place.

Event was amazing. The staff was very helpful and kind. The interior of the building was amazing and super clean.

We stayed here for a wedding. The hotel was great and the bar was open late.

Reasonably priced, and much needed renovation is underway. Seeing crude paving over the hot tub was disappointing.

Staff a table for my company at a conference at the Desmond. It was immediately after a blizzard. Worst thing I can say is snow removal was poor, but between guests and conference attendees, ability to remove snow is challenging. Whole city was really having a challenge too.

Great hotel, great staff. Best in the area. Clean and quaint.

Was very nice. Just wish the room had a fridge in it

Customer service was rude and unqualified. I had numerous issues with checking in. Two desk workers and a supervisor didn't know the proper CLC Lodging check in procedure. In total, I dealt with 6 front desk people at one time or another, including two supervisors and they were all unaccommodating. This place looks nice in pictures but is very dated and has an eerie unwelcoming feeling inside. I got stuck here in a snowstorm and it felt like I was in 'The Shining'. Since this huge hotel was totally empty the last night of my stay, I asked the front desk if I could have a room upgrade. I also explained that I would have additional work in the area and was looking for a steady place to stay. After the front desk worker found me a better room the supervisor came to me and said no, your room was already cleaned today..it's too late.. maybe next time.. Her attitude was disgusting and you should be ashamed to have such employees. I will never set foot in there again and I hope anyone that reads this doesn't as well. Your workers are the face of your business. Apparently, it's slim pickings out there because it appears they hire anyone. There are no fridges or microwaves for rooms. They want u to spend money at their two restaurants. Tiny little flat screen TV. If you like the feeling of staying at your dead grandmother s house, these are the rooms for you! This place is way past its prime and needs a big time do-over.

Was great besides the fact they had construction going on all morning and I couldn't sleep due to it

great place for conventions. nice restaurant and bar

Top notch establishment; service is fantastic, food is delicious, and the bldg is beautiful.

The layout of the hotel is incredible with views of courtyard. Conference room was elegant and spacious for 100 individuals or more. Food was absolutely incredible.

Had my entire wedding party and guests stay for 2 nights. Complete lack of communication between sales dept and front desk. Nothing but attitude and excuses from them both. This was the only part of our wedding that had hang ups. Staff attempted to make good on their mistakes but the damage was done.

Great place. Good food. Layout is good for open format conferences, but secure meetings are an issue. WiFi is weak. Sound and visual tech support is inconsistent, but they are quick to respond. Priced for business and large groups. Out of range for small or regional groups.

The Desmond is an incredible hotel! It has two indoor courtyards and some of the most beautiful decor I have seen in a hotel. There is even a Koi pond in one of the indoor courtyards. The rooms are very antique like with bed posts. The hotel itself is very large. It is also in a very good location with some restaurants and shops nearby. It is approximately 10 minutes away from the Albany airport. The tavern inside the hotel also has very good food. I had some of their delicious jumbo wings. Overall I had a very pleasant experience at the Desmond.

Beautiful hotel, amazing courtyards. Pool and gym are good. Restaurant and bar are welcoming. Great venue for conferences.

The location was beautiful and quiet. The staff were kind and helpful.

The food was not great given the price we paid but I love the decor and the service

Great food
Great service
Bartenders charge for doubles that aren't flagrant rip off!

Rooms where clean and comfortable, the food was delicious, the staff was friendly, and the pool was a hit! I really enjoyed my stay.

Hotel felt very very outdated. Toss of conference space as I went there for a work conference. Beds were okay. Staff was nice. Wi-Fi was acceptable.

The hotel is beautiful with wonderful indoor courtyards and indoor building facades. It would have gotten 5 stars had it not been for the mediocre customer service. The staff greets you kindly and is verbally responsive but action is hard to come by.
I requested a refrigerator in my room and was granted the request. After a half hour, I called again to clarify if I should come get it or someone was going to bring it to me. I was told one would be brought to me and, over two hours later and one trip to the front desk later, one was brought to me. The bellman chose to go get gas rather than take care of customer service first.
Secondly, not a huge deal but definitely differentiates from, say, a Hilton Hotel, the staff in the halls and corridors will make you wait for them to get by rather than yielding the right of way to the customer.

If this place has been voted the top Albany hotel for the last 15 years, then the system is freaking rigged. I've been in Hampton inn's nicer than this place. It feels like the hotel from the pirates of the caribbean ride. I had to stop my shower as it went from scalding hot to ice cold multiple times. See the attached pics for the shower machinery and upkeep. Will never stay here again!