InnBuffalo off Elmwood

It was at a city auction in 2011 where Joe and Ellen Lettieri bought the handsome 1898 Tudor Revival mansion that would become InnBuffalo — it has a storied history as the home of Herbert Hewitt, founder of the Buffalo Brass Company, who entertained as guests a cross-section of the Buffalo aristocracy of the day including, it is rumored, former President Grover Cleveland — and they spent the next three years slowly and painstakingly restoring it to its former glory. "It's like I've been training to rehab [the '''Hewitt Mansion'''] for the last 30 years", the ''Buffalo News'' quoted Joe as saying in reference to his habit of buying and rehabbing houses on his native West Side long before that became the up-and-coming Buffalo neighborhood of the moment, but it's his wife Ellen who took the lead on the interior restoration with her keen eye for artful decoration. Indeed, the restoration of some of the first-floor common areas continues as of this writing — a "preservation in progress", in the owners' words, that your room rates help fund — but the nine suites upstairs are ready to accommodate guests in the lap of luxury. They each boast individualized decorations and amenities: all suites have hardwood floors, thoroughly modernized private baths with heated marble floors, flat-screen TVs, Keurig coffeemakers, individual climate controls, and complimentary WiFi, and all but two of them have king-size beds (the others have either one or two queen beds). Limited off-street parking is available in the rear of the building. The '''Sarah Dutro Suite''' is worthy of special mention as the most luxurious of the guest rooms (though not the largest), with its own ornamental fireplace and an elegant sitting area next to a huge bay window that looks out onto pleasant Lafayette Avenue. In the morning you're treated to a sumptuous gourmet breakfast fit for the royalty your hosts treat you like — of all InnBuffalo's many high points, the impeccable service with a sincere personal touch is the superlative one, with a wealth of information and helpful hints available courtesy of your hosts that will make your stay in Buffalo a memorable one.