The Gould Hotel occupies a restored 1920s building on Fall Street in Seneca Falls, the town where the women's rights movement was born and where the phrase "it's a wonderful life" carries local weight. The hotel blends nearly a century of architectural character with modern boutique sensibility across 48 guest rooms and suites featuring hardwood floors, pillow-top mattresses, and a design vocabulary that honors the building's bones rather than covering them up. Winning FLX Finest Gold for Best Boutique Hotel/Inn in 2025 — after Silver the year before — marks a clear upward trajectory.
Downstairs, the hotel's restaurant serves a menu built around local ingredients and Finger Lakes wines by the glass, giving guests a reason to stay in for the evening rather than driving to Geneva or Waterloo. The Fall Street location puts you within walking distance of the Women's Rights National Historical Park, the National Women's Hall of Fame, and the canal-side pathways that make Seneca Falls unexpectedly pleasant on foot. The Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, one of the Northeast's premier birding destinations, is a five-minute drive east on Route 20.
What makes The Gould work is the intersection of history and comfort. The building has enough character to feel like somewhere, not just anywhere, and the rooms are well-appointed enough that the character doesn't come at the expense of a good night's sleep. In a region where most boutique lodging options cluster around Geneva and Canandaigua, Seneca Falls' emergence as a destination in its own right owes something to the fact that The Gould gives visitors a genuine reason to book a room and stay.