Equality of bad taste?

September 9, 2011 9:40 PM

Cheesy honeymoon-type motels / hotels / resorts in New York State for same-sex couple?

I've always wanted to stay in one of those completely cheesy motels/resorts in Niagara Falls or the Catskills. You know the type: a heart-shaped jacuzzi or bed...perhaps even a champagne-glass-shaped-tub-in-the room-type place? Difficulty: we are two women. The recent NYS gay-marriage developments make me wonder if it is now possible. Do I need to give it more time?

posted by Morrigan to travel & transportation around New York, NY (9 answers total)

Kate Pierson of the B-52s runs a motel near Woodstock called Kate's Lazy Meadow. I don't know about a hot tub, but the place is like an orgasm of cheesy kitsch. Maybe a little common and lowbrow for a honeymoon, but I loved it.
posted by 2N2222 at 10:00 PM on September 9, 2011 [4 favorites]

Oh dear...though all of these motels look the same, I do think this was the one I stayed in twenty years ago and that does appear to be the same bedspread. Do not use more than a capful of bubble bath unless you want bubbles up to the ceiling. Or, perhaps, do it! Use any Yelp reviews to determine how many germs and how much neglect you can deal with along with the cheese, and do enjoy. There was one cheesy motel on Grand Island that had those pictures of sad-eyed hobo kids on the walls - try http://www.knightsinn.net/bythefalls/e-rooms.html while you're doing it. (See? Still scarred.) But as someone who spent almost a year working as a maid in a cheesy motel on Niagara Falls Blvd. (but in Amherst), I'd suggest shower shoes, not touching the bedspread and using Lysol wipes on any vinyl furniture. As far as I remember, one person goes in and rents the room, the other can stay in the car if you're nervous. But, considering we just vacationed in the Catskills and stay in Niagara Falls some times, as a "heteronormative" couple with a child, we do that anyway because I'm too lazy to go in. You just need the car's license plate.

At any rate, there is no difficulty to staying at any of them. Googling "heart-shaped jacuzzi niagara falls" with or without the hyphen will bring up a bunch of them. There never would have been a problem, to my knowledge, of having a same-sex couple rent a room. After all, they rented to drunken 18-year olds and people who were obviously paramours, in my personal experience. As of my last visit (not to partake of cheesy hotel rooms this time) to Niagara Falls (I'm from Buffalo) every newspaper article and media segment I caught was about how Niagara Falls is planning to re-brand itself as the same-sex wedding capital of NYS.

As an aside, the Catskills are going to need your tourism dollars after Irene - but many places aren't ready to receive guests yet. With a child, we couldn't stay at Kate's Lazy Acres, but they are gorgeous and the area, especially Phoenica, is fantastic. It's just that some of the towns we love are completely gone. Check the
posted by peagood at 10:16 PM on September 9, 2011

Niagara Falls NY jumped, JUMPED at the chance to welcome same sex marriage into their heart-shaped beds. They vied with NYC to have the first wedding once the law came into effect-- that is the Mayor of NF officiating. So, come on up, the Falls are waiting.

One place to stay...

Start of resources.
posted by oflinkey at 10:18 PM on September 9, 2011

...sorry....Watershed Post for updates.
posted by peagood at 10:19 PM on September 9, 2011

Oh, for an edit option. Sorry for the mess. Past my bedtime.
posted by peagood at 10:20 PM on September 9, 2011

One note: yes, there are people here still filing against the ruling, opposed to the law, etc., but you are unlikely to run into them. Buffalo/NF/Western NY can be conservative, but there is an active gay community, and most people who would be apposed to equal rights in marriage are too lazy or too busy eating chicken wings and watching football to bother. I am totally serious.
posted by oflinkey at 10:23 PM on September 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd take a minute to browse through the offerings of the Roxbury Motel. Some of the themed rooms are close to what you're describing, the staff is excellent, the attached spa is low-key and super-relaxing, and there's a cute little restaurant with good food right next door. Explicitly queer-friendly, too. I had a great time staying there!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 5:10 AM on September 10, 2011

I was going to suggest Niagara too, but do be aware that most of the good stuff is over the river in Ontario. You'll need passports to get over, but Ontario is if anything more gay-friendly than NY.

I don't *think* you're going to find anything as delightfully goofy as champagne-glass love tubs or anything like the scene from Superman 2 with pink shag carpeting all over creation, but I just looked and the Fallsview Marriott in Ontario does have two-level suites with fireplaces and big jacuzzis, and other mini-suites with big jacuzzis you can sit in and watch the falls.

The only thing with Niagara is that wherever you pick, you might want to check around to see just how falls-view it really is... some places still have "fallsview" in the name or description but all they really have is a view of the hotel across the street. The Fallsview Marriott really does have great views.

There's stuff to do on the NY side too -- there's very nice parkland on and around Goat Island, and the Red Coach Inn does a nice enough meal. But there's no way around this: most of the good stuff is on the Canada side, and a lot of the NY side is depressingly run down.

I can reasonably assure you that no hotel within shouting distance of the falls, on either side of the border, will object in the slightest to renting a room to two women who want to do sexy things to each other.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:25 AM on September 10, 2011

N-thing ROU that Niagara Falls, ON is queer friendly, but instead of Fallsview I would recommend Tower Hotel. It was built in the fifties and they have updated it in classier retro style if that is your thing. And you have to eat at the Flying Saucer on Lundy's Lane. Awesome food, great prices.
posted by saucysault at 8:26 AM on September 10, 2011