Suggestions for a Connecticut town to stay in for one night?

September 6, 2014 11:39 AM

Hi! I'm trying to choose a town to stay in, possibly not all that far from Hartford. I'd like it to be non-urban, non-strip mall, and not a wasteland like near an airport or industrial area. Beyond that, I don't have too many specifications…

I'd like to stay in a hotel someplace where there is at least one decent restaurant and bar. If it happens to be a small, cute or slightly run-down town with one or two streets of shops, that would be fantastic. Preferably it would be not too far off a major or semi-major road. Does anyone have any suggestions for this slightly odd question? Thanks!

posted by roxie110 to Travel & Transportation around Connecticut (5 answers total)

That would definitely be Middletown, CT. Sixteen miles south of Hartford, college town with a nice little restauranty/shoppy downtown.
posted by dayintoday at 11:43 AM on September 6, 2014

Response by poster: I'll check these out, thanks! I guess I should mention the smaller the town, the better, as long as it has one good place to eat and drink. I'm planning to meet a friend there and probably won't explore the town that much or shop, but would love if it had a memorable or distinctive feel, quaintness, sense of history to it, feeling of people living there a long time. Usually affluent areas have a bit of a fakeness and newness to them.

I guess maybe I have more of a specific idea of what I want than I thought! I just don't know if it exists, because I'm not familiar with this area of the country.
posted by roxie110 at 12:14 PM on September 6, 2014

If "not that far" can mean 45 minutes, you're describing Litchfield or any of its surrounding towns, except for Torrington, which is larger.

I agree with Seymour Zamboni that Farmington is your closest approximation that's west of Hartford. Hopefully someone with east Hartford or Tolland knowledge will chime in?
posted by gnomeloaf at 12:51 PM on September 6, 2014

Best answer: Hi! I'm driving down from New Hampshire and my friend is driving up from New York via Danbury.
posted by roxie110 at 8:13 PM on September 7, 2014

With that additional information, I'd take a close look at towns that are easily accessible from I-84. Woodbury might work. On the other side of Hartford, which would cut your drive by an hour or so, perhaps Tolland?

Radius searches from those towns might get you what you're looking for, too. (To be completely honest...in Connecticut, you're never more than 15 minutes from a charming little town, nouveau affluence, or a strip mall.)
posted by gnomeloaf at 6:10 PM on September 8, 2014