Downtown/Yale
Five hotels in the downtown/Yale area offer the full range of accommodations. The Omni is a first class, full service, four-star hotel within walking distance of Yale University, museums, restaurants and shopping. The elegant Galileo’s restaurant, on the hotel’s 19th floor, offers a stunning view of the city and the Sound. Still first class but less extravagant, the Colony offers the same proximity to Yale and downtown’s cultural and gastronomic fare, as does the New Haven Hotel, an outstanding independent. The Hotel Duncan in the heart of downtown is a New Haven landmark: it is reasonable and clean, but without the fitness center and Internet portals. Finally, there is the Holiday Inn at Yale, a favorite of visiting parents.

Inns and B&Bs
If you don’t feel like staying in a hotel and want something more intimate or with a bit of character, try one of the bed and breakfast inns located in and around the Yale campus and downtown area. Three Chimneys Inn is an elegant 1870s mansion that offers a first class feel but within a more intimate setting. The Historic Mansion Inn (The) is a little further away from the hub, but still within walking distance of Yale and downtown, around the corner from Wooster Street and its famous Italian restaurants, and across the street from Wooster Square.

The Inn at Oyster Point is a few minutes drive from the green, but offers a homier atmosphere in the historic harbor district. The nearby Swan Cove Bed & Breakfast Inn is located in a lovely 1890s Queen Anne house filled with antiques and charm.

In Westville, just a few minutes drive from Yale, is the more-casual and moderately priced Regal Inn, on Whalley Avenue.