Stay in front of the Stewart House, at 2 North Water Street. The Stewart House and the building across Second Street from it were the two main lodging places for folks in town waiting for the ferry to Hudson, which was a main crossing before construction of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to the south. Originally built in 1883, the Stewart House has had surprisingly only five owners, and hosts a lovely bar and restaurant as well as the River Bar on the waterfront on the other side of Water Street.
Possibly the best film to be made in Athens, Ironweed, starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, is set in depression-era Albany but took advantage of the interior of the Stewart House for one of its most dramatic scenes. Helen, played by Meryl Streep, is a homeless singer who uses a bit of money she has come upon to rent a room for two nights, to give herself a respite from street life and reclaim, for a brief period of time, a sense of dignity and glamour.
The third-floor suite was long known as “The Meryl Streep Room,” but in the hotel’s latest incarnation is just known as Room 6. You can read more about the Stewart House on its website.
Go across the road into the waterfront park.