Hillside Inn

Do not stay here if you are expecting a normal hotel experience. It seems to be more of a boarding house or youth hostel type of place. The rooms are more comparable to rooms in an old house than they are a hotel room. Furniture is old, bed was shot, what few pillows we had were flatter than the Bible they did provide. This isn’t ‘run down Motel 6′ bad, it’s not even in the same arena as a legitimate hotel. It’s not quaint. At all. If cost is your ONLY concern, then*maybe* stay here, but otherwise I would suggest the Super 8 downtown, or the Ramada by the airport for low cost but comfortable accommodations.

A perfectly comfortable little hotel near Downtown Ithaca. Our room had everything we could have possibly needed (air con, bath, shower, plenty of blankets, television etc.), and the staff were very friendly. It isn’t the kind of place that’s going to win awards for style, but it’s clean, comfortable, and cheap all things considered.

Are you charmed by plugged-​up plumbing, furniture that looks like it was bought at a Salvation Army sale and then dropped from the top of the Empire State Building, dangling and falling chunks of wall paneling, melted plastic lamps, nonworking alarm clocks (no radio), filthy walls, paint applied sometime during the first Nixon Administration, bars of soap too small to hold, huge nails sticking out of bed frames, towels so harsh you wouldn’t use them on a horse, «night tables» created from a piece of plywood perched on a radiator, hammering and banging at 8:30 in the morning? Are you comforted by a «staff» consisting of one of the scariest women alive who avoids eye contact and never speaks, an elderly man obviously suffering from advanced dementia who sits mutely in the hallway, and a friendly enough guy who asks a lot of questions and cannot ever shut his trap so that you cannot get out the door? Are you satisfied with a continental breakfast of instant coffee and a teeny-​weeny muffin? Are you familiar with Deliverance, the Addams Family, Grey Gardens, and the Bowery in Lower Manhattan? Can you please scrape together just a few more dollars and get a room anywhere but this deplorable flophouse?

As my mother and I wandered aimlessly in the countryside of Ithaca, searching for a suitable place to stay for a few days, we stumbled upon this quaint little inn.
The front desk guy, Robert (I believe his name was), shook our hands exuberantly and gave us a brief tour of the place. It was hard to believe that for an establishment seemingly tiny, Hillside Inn held an astonishing forty-​two rooms!
Rob told me a few anecdotes about another young patron and their trek to see the sights in Manhattan, a refreshing escape from the tranquility and idyllic grassy scenery of Ithaca. I told him that it was vice-​versa for my mother and I! We explained to him that we were staying to visit my younger brother who attends Cornell University.
At first glance, the first detail that struck out to us was the unique décor framing the exterior walls–
Not to mention, the university was only about a ten minute walk and if we wanted to, Ithaca Falls was approximately the same distance-​a two minute drive.
A room is an estimated sixty dollars, which is an awesome bargain. Don’t expect too much out of the rooms though. It’s just got the bare necessities with a vintage feel coming through from the wallpaper, blanket spreads, and furniture.
The true advantages come from the inn’s locality to Collegetown and the university. Driving the car to my brother’s new off-​campus house never seemed so much easier (though the lack of stop signs and steep hills call for a different story).
Give this place a chance if you simply want to lay your head down and briskly walk a short distance to the center of the «city» here in Ithaca!

Folks, If you are only sleeping here and want a place close to Cornell then bring a bottle of something strong and take a few stiff shots before going to bed. There are old places that have charm or character, are nostalgic, or have something redeeming about them. The Hillside Inn — not so much. It is old, dirty, and rundown. The owners have done nothing, and I mean nothing to try and maintain or update the hotel. The room was beyond dirty with hair everywhere. The bathroom looked like something out of a horror movie. I honestly can’t believe the place hasn’t been condemned. As for the free continental breakfast listed on their website — it doesn’t exist.
Trust me — this place is not worth the cheap rate. Go somewhere else or drink enough before going to your room where you won’t notice how bad it is.

Did someone say Bates Motel? Yes, accommodations in Ithaca are EXTREMELY overpriced, so at $ 69/​night the Hillside Inn seems like a pretty damn good deal. But just how much do you get for that $ 69/​night?
I was initially kind of creeped out by the place. It is right out of the 70’s which means it has scent of cigarettes permanently ingrained in all of the walls and carpets. My room which had a double bed was pretty tiny, and kind of looked like a basement: mismatched wood paneled walls, grid ceiling, lots of mirrors and weird old furniture. The bathroom was also extremely small, good thing I’m not claustrophobic!
My main beef with the Hillside Inn is that it was just straight up dirty. I kept finding gross black hair (not mine) on the bedding and in the bathroom, I had to buy a candle to get rid of the smell, and the most disgusting part of it all (and what pushed me to write this bad review) there was DRIED BLOOD, or something that looked pretty freaking similar to dried blood on one of the bathroom towels. Yeah, I know, gross. During my 3-​night stayed my room was never cleaned once. I even put the tag on the outside door handle that is suppose to be a signal for the maid to come, but alas, no maid.
So what do you get for you money? Apparently not much. I didn’t think it would be that bad since all I really needed was a place to sleep and keep my stuff for the weekend. If you can look past the dirtiness I guess it’s not that bad. I wasn’t very upset with the Hillside Inn until I found the bloody towel, but that was definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back.
On the plus side, it is the cheapest room you will find in Ithaca, it has a good location if you want to hang out in College Town, the parking is free, and the people were pretty nice. Just be prepared and know what you’re getting into before you book your room at the Hillside Inn.