William Henry Miller Inn

The William Henry Miller Inn was our home for a weekend. The innkeeper and her staff made us comfortable with delicious and artful breakfasts, daily evening and afternoon desserts, comfortable and uniquely well appointed and updated ensuite rooms, and attention to every need.

This was an excellent Bed and Breakfast in Ithaca. It was designed as a mansion for the Stonewall family by the Inn's namesake, William Henry Miller -- basically the architect for most of what is now Cornell University and Ithaca. It is self-check-in, pick up your key in the foyer and go to your room. Though the rooms are converted from the various original spaces, my room was very spacious and cozy, with sitting area and a gas fireplace, simulating the real thing. The private bathroom and shower were fine, with the bathroom amenities being very good. If you forgot something, there was a cabinet in the outside hall with other items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, band aids, sewing kits, etc. As with any good BnB there were a few parlors and a dining room. The two parlors were a nice place to just sit and read. Breakfast could be taken in the dining room or at tables in the parlors. As with most BnB's, you got what the proprietor prepared. Breakfast was good and hearty, though; especially needed as the temperature had dropped the night before. From noon all through the evening, there were fresh-baked pastries, tea, and coffee available to consume as you please in the dining room. The house is in what counts as downtown Ithaca, so you are just a block away from the restaurants and shops. I will definitely book again for my next stay in Ithaca.

My husband and I stayed here 2 nights and were pleased to return after our first stay 6 years ago. The inn is in a perfect location, a quick walk to Cascadilla Gorge in one direction and to numerous bars and restaurants in the other. Our room was on the top floor (the Retreat) and was very quiet and comfortable, especially the soft sheets! The innkeepers served a nice breakfast in the dining room each morning.

I've been staying at the William Henry Inn for 30+ nights each year for the last ten. They offer delicious and filling, personally-cooked breakfasts and tasty desserts. The accomodations are attractive--interesting rooms, comfortable beds and newly-remodeled bathrooms. The Inn is conveniently located within walking distance to Cornell campus, Ithaca parks and fine restaurants.

This Inn is beautiful and our room was very comfortable. Our breakfast was excellent!!! We would highly recommend this Inn for anyone visiting the Ithaca area. Very easy to check in and nice to walk around the area.

Hmm. So I've stayed at this inn for years and years. Since it was sold, it's gone downhill in terms of experience. It is completely unpersonal now; there is no inkeeper present. The most you will get from her is a text or two. They leave the key for you in an envelope and you're on your own, so it's basically a hotel experience. You can get a hotel room for much less $ down the road. If it's worth it to you to spend over $100 extra a night for the cool architecture of the home and a light unmemorable breakfast, okay. But otherwise, there is no longer any reason to stay here because you are not getting a typical B&B experience by any stretch of the imagination. I stayed in the Library for the first time. I'm not sure why it's called that; I expected walls of books. There are two tiny bookshelves. But anyway, it was a lovely room in terms of architecture and style. I did not like that there was no way to exit the room in case of fire besides jumping out of a second story window, and the windows were basically locked shut to boot (they open about 10 inches). They did a good job in the bathroom remodel; though odd layout due to space, the bathroom is situation between the adjacent room so any annoying noise their TV etc is making, you will not hear loudly in the room (I feel B&Bs should not even have TVs but that's another story). The absolute worst part of the experience for us however was the air conditioning unit. First, it's just a very small window unit so it did not do a good job of cooling down the room, which was uncomfortably warm for the duration of the stay. The much bigger issue was the NOISE. This thing sounded like a jet engine, and with such a selection of windows in the room, I have no idea why they decided to mount it directly beside the bed. We didn't sleep a wink the first night. It's so loud that the few times I drifted off due to exhaustion, I quite literally had dreams about airplanes and being tortured by noise haha. Since we live less than a four hour drive away, we decided to leave before attempting to sleep for our second scheduled night, forfeiting our $ and just leaving around 7:30. We needed to sleep and there is no way anyone is sleeping in that room during the summer with the noise of that ridiculous unit right next to the bed. Upgrade the unit and put it in one of the far windows. Re: the lack of an innkeeper, I get it. I'm sure these protocols were put into place during Covid to keep everyone safe. I'm sure when the "innkeeper" realized she could make the same amount of money by never having to see or speak to guests or have anything to do with the ins and outs of running a typical B&B, she, like many of us who yearn for the work-from-home days, decided to keep it up. It's just such a shame that this place has lost all of its charm. In the end, I'm very undecided if we will stay here again. We do like the carriage house out back for the privacy and space but I can get an air B&B